Ask most business owners what they need from their bank, and they’ll start with the practical: competitive rates, quick approvals and convenient service. Community banking at its best goes beyond the basics and involves deeper engagement.
We engage regularly visiting business owners at their job sites, storefronts, shop floors and farming operations. We can stay connected with our customers, get to know them, their business and their teams and gain a better understanding of their needs, challenges and dreams.
Core Advantages of Community Banks
Relationship Banking
A defining characteristic of community banking at Hills Bank is personalized service. The bank takes pride in offering individualized attention to each of our customers. Our business customers often work with the same, familiar staff, who are accessible and ready to assist with any financial questions or needs. We can provide the same comprehensive service as a regional or national institution, but with local expertise and availability to provide the best possible support for their growth and success.
Local Decision-Making and Speed
Decisions on business loans are made locally, enabling faster and more flexible approvals that cannot be easily replicated by larger banks with remote, centralized underwriting. For our team, we often work closely with small- and mid-sized business customers to maintain a “state of constant pre-approval,” through regular conversations and by asking questions. It’s not uncommon for our bankers to spend more time assisting small business owners who do not have a CFO on staff in compiling financial information and helping to create a plan for their unique situations. This hands-on approach helps us to know where our customers are heading and what they’ll need to get there.
Commitment to Community
Hills Bank is proud to be a community bank that is both locally owned and operated. This foundation ensures that the bank remains closely connected to the communities we serve.
Your deposits are reinvested locally and directly contribute to local lending that helps neighbors buy homes and businesses grow. Community banks actively support local initiatives, charities and economic development projects. Our main priorities are in the well-being of those around us and in making our local communities better places to live and work.
The Community Banking Difference
Community banks offer nearly all the same financial products and range of robust services offered by the bigger banks, including treasury management, payroll, merchant services, digital services and fraud mitigation, with greater agility, customization and availability that larger banks often cannot match. We make local decisions and are invested in our communities. Our success is directly tied to the success of the customers and communities that we serve. Every time one of our customers succeeds, that’s a proud moment for us, because whatever role we play in helping them reach their goals matters – not just to them, but to all the communities we call home.
Member FDIC.
