Business View Magazine l November 2022

134 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 11 teller training. So, it is just coming up with ways to get everybody on the same page across the branches.” Creating a culture of togetherness is another effort underway for Georgia Community Bank, where employees from across the institution gathered to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Reynolds Branch. An annual Christmas party and a company-wide newsletter are other initiatives to build team spirit across locations. On the technology side, Georgia Community Bank is investing in ITMs, which Breeden describes as “a fancy ATM” where customers can have a more diverse selection of options, including loan payments, along with the usual withdrawals and deposits. “Pretty much anything that you can do with a teller, you should be able to do with these machines,” says Breeden. Currently, in the testing phases, the ITM services have not yet been offered to the customer, something Beeley conveys is out of the GCB’s control at this time. She says, “It is between our core provider, which is Fiserv, and the ATM manufacturer themselves, which is Hyosung. We Situated in an economically poor area of the state, Beeley admits that many of Georgia Community Bank’s customers are living at or below the poverty line, providing a notable opportunity for the bank to meet the needs of the communities it serves. She shares, “We don’t have a minimum loan size. We will make a $500 loan if we need to make it because that is sometimes what our community needs.” Dianne Singleton, Chief Compliance Officer, adds, “We do most of those smaller loans unsecured. Not everybody that we serve has collateral to use. We help them out with Christmas, we help them out with vacations. We serve our areas, and we try to serve everybody.” Consolidating all of the branches under one name has meant also streamlining the customer experience, and creating a comprehensive training program that is the same for all of the bank’s seven locations. “We are working on trying to get everybody on the same page, as far as the CSR and the tellers go, “says COO Heidi Breeden. “Of course, BSA training is another thing that we’re always working on, but the main part right now is the customer service and