High Tech Banking With Home Town Charm:
Bank of Botetourt
Bank of Botetourt has served Botetourt County and the Roanoke Valley for nearly 100 years. Established in the town of Buchanan, Va., in 1899, Bank of Botetourt took 90 years to open its first branch, and only nine more to be recognized as one of the Top 10 banks on the Internet, alongside industry giants Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
Room to Grow
"When I came to the bank in 1989, it was a $30 million institution with a single office," said Andrew Shotwell, vice president of operations. It was also stagnating, having saturated the market in Buchanan. As new developments began to spring up in the southern part of Botetourt County, bank officers decided to seize the opportunity to expand. Bank of Botetourt opened its first new branch in 90 years in Troutville, VA, followed soon by three more offices in neighboring cities.
"Expanding into new and more urban markets made us realize we had to be more technologically savvy," Shotwell said. Customers in these areas had higher expectations. Many were migrating from area banks swallowed up in mega-mergers. Choosing the comfort and personality of a community bank over a regional conglomerate didn't mean they were willing to give up the convenience of big bank services.
"We created a web site in 1996, just to have a presence on the web," said Michelle Alexander, vice president of marketing and manager of the Troutville branch. "We started with advertising for the bank and its products, but we knew that to stay competitive, we'd have to offer full-service, Internet banking." As Alexander and Shotwell began looking for ways to provide that interface, one of the first things they did was consult with the bank's core processor, SPARAK.
"When we set out to find an
Internet solution for our
customers, we spent over a year
talking with several different
companies. We were looking for
a company with banking
experience, industry knowledge
and Internet know-how."
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Forming The Perfect Partnership
More than 200 banks in 27 states trust SPARAK for core accounting processes and other banking services. "Our goal is to provide cost-effective, best-of-breed solutions for our customers," said Steve Anderson, SPARAK's director of marketing. "When we set out to find an Internet solution for our customers, we spent over a year talking with several different companies. We were looking for a company with banking experience, industry knowledge and Internet know-how. With nFront, we got all that and more."
The relationship with nFront allows SPARAK to provide a single-vendor solution for customers who want a banking presence on the Internet. Through similar partnerships, SPARAK also provides telephone banking and check imaging services to its client banks.
"We deal exclusively with community banks, and we offer tiered pricing based on asset size," Anderson said. "We want our solutions to be accessible to $20 million banks as well as to $200 million banks. nFront was willing to work with our pricing structure."
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