How will Country Banker help me during bank examinations?
By using Country Banker examiners will immediately see that your institution has gone above and beyond what is required; this sends a strong message to regulators that you have precision information with which to make loan decisions. Examiners will have fewer questions regarding your ag portfolio and see that you are in a position to see early warning signs of problem loans. The system also eliminates pricing questions from regulators, and the loan officer is viewed as being extremely knowledgeable about the business. Management at your bank will be viewed as being ahead of the ”curve” with ag loan portfolio management.
What kind of returns will Country Banker give our institution?
Country Banker will help you to build a stronger loan portfolio. You will be able to correct and rid problems quickly. Addressing problem loans at an early stage saves your bank time and money which results in a more profitable customer base. Country Banker also helps you to recruit potential customers who are good managers seeking an institution that has gone to the ‘next level’ in lending.
What kind of training do I need to run Country Banker?
Country Banker is a very user-friendly and intuitively based program. It is designed to maximize your time by having very straight-forward data entry areas and easy to read reports. Country Banker is designed using the recommendations from the Farm Financial Standards Council (FFSC) with slight adjustments for practicality. For this reason it is strongly recommended that anyone using Country Banker complete one of the following:
- The Schools of Banking Agricultural Lending School sponsored by the Kansas and Nebraska Bankers Associations. This is an intensive school designed for junior- to mid-level managers and lenders. Dr. David Kohl is the lead instructor for this school, which incorporates the FFSC recommendations in its curriculum.
- Agricultural Lending is an online, ten-week course offered by the American Banker’s Association. The textbook for this course is Weighing the Variables by Dr. David Kohl. In this course students complete weekly quizzes and assignments pertaining to each chapter of the book. They also participate in lively discussion sessions with other ag lenders from across the country to expand their worldview with regard to ag lending, enhancing the ”hands on” aspects of the course.
- If it is not possible for a sizable ag lending staff to complete one of the above-mentioned trainings, our training staff would be available for a 3-4 day in house agriculture lending seminar teaching the “standards” that our program is based on at an additional charge.
What are the computer requirements for Country Banker?
Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4 or newer), XP (Service Pack 1 or newer)
PREFERRED REQUIREMENTS
512 MB RAM or more
2.0 GHZ Processor or faster
500 MB available hard drive space or more
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
256 MB RAM
788 MHZ
300 MB available hard drive space.
Will Country Banker work on my Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN)?
Yes. However, it does require a different version of the software. Please call for more information and technical specifications.
If an ag loan officer leaves my staff can anyone come in and run Country Banker?
As mentioned under training requirements, it is strongly recommended that anyone using Country Banker complete one of the ag lending courses listed.
Weighing the Variables by Dr. Kohl is included in the Help section of Country Banker. By reading this book (which can be accomplished in approximately 12 hours), the lender will gain the basic knowledge of the ag analysis guidelines that Country Banker is based upon. The Country Banker Software system is very simplistic in design. Data entry in the system is clear-cut. We encourage you to hire the right person for your bank, not for our software, because anyone will be able to easily utilize our program.
What kind of support and maintenance will I receive from Country Banker?
Our service and support team is ready to help whether by phone, e-mail, or fax. The annual service agreement includes pre-paid upgrades, maintenance, and support of the software program. Major enhancements will be made available under separate agreements.
I currently obtain balance sheets from customers throughout the year, how will using Country Banker affect my workload?
We understand that managers want their staff to utilize time as effectively as possible. With Country Banker this is exactly what happens. While obtaining balance sheets throughout the year may seem the simplest way to use time, this approach often leads to many problems. (See pros of using a timed, double columned balance sheet under the ”Why country Banker” tab) When Country Banker is introduced into your credit culture, it must have the commitment of both senior management and the ag loan staff. This will include committing to education to learn the “standards” taught in such courses that are listed in our training/education section. After initial set-up of our system, balance statements can be completed in 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours and accrual income statements can be done in 20 – 40 minutes per customer.
How will this system affect customer relations at my bank?
Customers will appreciate the fact that you are requesting financial information during a time when their operation is least demanding and tax information is fresh. Customers will quickly realize the value of seeing ‘their’ numbers and become reliant on the financial analysis for direction in their operation. The relationship with your customers will continue to build as they see this value added service that the bank provides them.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For purchase information or for further details regarding Country Banker please contact:
Tim Ohlde or Edmund Rudolph
Country Banker Software
328 Washington
PO Box 99
Clyde, KS 66938
(800) 780-5479 or 785-446-2257
Fax (785) 446-3654
tim@elkstatebank.com
edmund@elkstatebank.com