A very telling catch phrase for Covenant Bank has been "They know what's
important and they're putting it back into banking." The administration and
staff of Covenant Bank know what is important in banking because of their
years of experience in the banking industryover 300 years of combined
banking experience at the Clarksdale office alone. They also know what is
important because they are hometown folks. And, they know what is important
to customers because they know what is missing from many large banking
companies-personalized, quality customer service.
What began as a vision for Freddie Britt, President, and Willis Frazer,
Chairman and CEO, in the fall of 1999, has become a reality in the fall of
2000. At its inception, the two former Union Planters administrators with
over 30 years of combined banking experience, targeted $5 million in capital
to begin the bank. Now, almost exactly one year later, Covenant Bank has
raised $10.5 million in capital and has hired a combined staff of 30 at the
bank's three offices.
In an age of mergers and acquisitions throughout the industry, the trend
toward new bank start-ups is seen as a reaction to the impersonal and
red-tape-heavy banking practices that have become the norm. Customers want
personal service, they want to go to someone they know to handle their
finances, they want someone who understands what is important in their
community. Britt and Frazer understand what the customers want and why they
want itwhich is why they started Covenant Bank.
"We want to try to bring back strong personal relationships," says Frazer.
"People want a hometown bank because they like to have people they know with
whom they can discuss their financial matters and who can respond to their
questions and needs right here in their city without going outside for those
answers."
Britt added, "They want their questions answered, but they also need to have
mistakes corrected. People can go to someone they know with a problem and
it can be corrected locally because all transactions and administrative work
is done here."
A strength of Covenant Bank is that all three offices work with customers as
individuals. Frazer says in an earlier interview with the Delta Business
Journal, "This will not be a Clarksdale-driven bank with branches in Tunica
and Robinsonville. Covenant Bank views all three communities vital to its
success. Administrative offices will be located in Clarksdale, but other
than that, we want people in Tunica County to realize they will be equally
as important to this organization."
This statement is proven in the placement of Billy Wood as the Executive
Vice President at the Tunica office. Wood comes to Covenant Bank with 37
years of experience, 15 of those with a locally-owned bank in Tunica.
"I feel very good about Covenant Bank. We are all excited about what is
going on here. There is a strong local flavor in the bank in that the
stockholders and board members are locally affiliated. We want to support
these communities as they support us by doing business with us," says Wood.
Britt went on to say that the local influence is something that has been
lost in the corporate banking of today.
"One of the challenges in the corporate environment is the lost control of
local influence. A bank needs to be able to assess the needs of the
community and pick and choose the things in which we need to be involved.
We have the input of a local board that has their fingers on the pulse of
the local community. This community board is active and experienced. They
bring knowledge to us regarding the local economy that we may not have
otherwise."
In addition to the return to personalized services, Covenant Bank is also
looking to the future with the provision of high-tech services such as
Internet banking and check imaging. In keeping with the bank's commitment
to the communities they serve, they will also seek to meet the needs of
customers in the agricultural sector.
"We will offer every type of loan made from residential home to car loans
and will be very aggressive in agricultural loans. Covenant Bank will be
farmer-oriented with experienced and seasoned lenders to take care of all of
our customers," says Britt.
Frazer says, "We feel like we have as good an inventory of banking products
to offer as any of the larger banks."
Both Britt and Frazer believe that they know what is important to banking
customers in the Delta. They feel that their combination of understanding
customers' needs, friendly service, and technical expertise will make
Covenant Bank the hometown choice for now and years to come.