What others are saying
Testimonials
What’s happening in the industry today can have an impact on your business tomorrow. We’re here to provide the information you need and the insights you want from people you can trust. Come back often as we update frequently.
What Bankers Say
I have seen nothing but forward thinking and innovation recently at [IntraFi], and I love it! There is beauty in simplicity, and [IntraFi] offers this along with bells and whistles when we need them.
We signed up for ICS for three key reasons. First and foremost, it fills a need of our customers by providing them with flexible funds that are eligible for FDIC insurance. Second, it lets us keep those funds on our balance sheet, which gives us the dollars to lend into our communities. Finally, we have been long-time users of other [aspects of the product]. We and our customers have come to trust the quality and professionalism of [IntraFi].
We love that [IntraFi] gives us options. We can either attract deposits through and sell the excess to other banks through or purchase funding. This is especially helpful in today’s regulatory environment.
Delivers a great product with absolutely phenomenal client experience. A true partner.
One of the most powerful aspects of our relationship with [IntraFi] is our ability to attract depositors who believe what we believe - believe that placing capital in an institution that is focused on making a difference in the community is a worthwhile practice. But they want to do so with a fair rate, without additional risk. [IntraFi] has provided, if you will, a wonderful tool for us to fund the expansion of the bank. As we grow the scale of the bank, what we do is grow our capability, our capacity, to be able to lend back into the community. And that’s what it’s really all about, so that we can lend back into the community and really make a difference with these underlying businesses.
Customer support is awesome. They are knowledgeable and great communicators.
Investors used to ask for our financial statements, loan portfolios, delinquency rates, and so on. Now, the first thing they mention when they come into our bank is CDARS or ICS. They know the services, and they want the insurance access. As far as our customers are concerned, it’s a no-brainer.
Since the ICS was introduced more than a decade ago, we have been recommending that all banks include this innovative product in their funding toolbox…it has been a game-changer for so many of our clients.
The most important factor in a turnaround is to ensure your capital is adequate….One-Way Sell allowed us to move deposits off our balance sheet to shrink the asset size of the bank and help our capital ratio.
We were one of the first banks to join the [IntraFi] network. We realized that CDARS was a game changer - one that would give banks like ours not just competitive equality with large financial companies, but a real competitive advantage in attracting local customers.
With ICS, we compete by having the opportunity to offer a valued product that offers security to our depositors who want to earn interest. A community bank may be well-known in the community but often must compete with the global banks that may have more notoriety and the perception of greater financial strength.
[IntraFi] wants to serve us. It’s all about the relationship.
I have worked with [IntraFi] since 2009, and I have been continually impressed by the way they continue to seek out innovation with not only the financial institutions in mind, but also the customer experience. Staff [is] typically top notch and extraordinarily responsive.
IntraFi offers a diversified set of tools that can benefit community banks in any environment they encounter
With the help of [IntraFi] and access they provide to multi-million-dollar FDIC insurance, we’ve been able to build loyal, large-dollar relationships.
[Reciprocal deposits] have been a key driver for us in the last several years. We’ve been able to drive the wholesale brokered deposits down and substitute [them] with [reciprocal deposits]. The big difference that I see, in addition to just sheer volume, is the pricing. Wholesale pricing is a lot higher. You can drive and price these deposits the way your market [commands] and the way you would your other pricing decisions.
The flexibility of IntraFi’s variable priced funding options for 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months was huge for the bank.
Reciprocal deposits absolutely give us a competitive edge, It levels the playing field by helping us attract and keep large deposits.”
What Depositors Say
An important motivator in our using a single bank is that the business is a cash business, and every day we must make trips to the bank, as the company collects money from customers on a daily basis. Many still pay in checks. Having one bank to work with [using ICS and CDARS] makes it much easier.
I will never again bank with a bank that is not part of the IntraFi network.
We need things as simple as simple can be. That’s how we started with [ICS and CDARS]. Been with them since 2008.
Tell me a reason not to be doing this(reciprocal deposits)? There isn’t one.
[My boss] has an ‘on top of it’ philosophy. [ICS] gives us a single statement and we know we’re protected, and where the money has been transferred to. The service was made for someone like him.
I have found participation in the CDARS [service] to be simple and a time saver. We earn very competitive interest rates on our investments while freeing up staff time. We were in the CDARS [service] during our last audit and passed with flying colors!
I was looking for a flexible investment vehicle that I could use for a special need we had. With ICS and CDARS, I found safety, flexibility, and yield - all in one place!
If I am going to take money from investors, it would be a fiduciary lapse not to use these products (ICS & CDARS)
We face the important, but cumbersome task of making certain that our deposits are eligible for protection. To do so, we required our bank to pledge millions of dollars of collateral. It was our responsibility to track the changing values of that collateral every day. Now, thanks to [our bank], we discovered ICS. By placing our funds through ICS, our funds are eligible for FDIC protection beyond $250,000 and earn interest - both of which really benefit us and local taxpayers. The best part is that Capitol Bank can use our deposits to fund local lending and economic growth. And the recurring burden of tracking collateral values is gone. The service is truly a benefit for us.
There is just no downside. This is one of those few products (ICS & CDARS) that work as advertised and there are no gotchas.
The previous Treasurer kept all the money in local government pools, and then had pledged securities as collateral. All of the money was not local. They didn't have any local banks. So what I did when I came in as treasurer was analyze those accounts and move a large portion of our money to local community banks. [Our city] is the state capital, but it is a very small town so to speak. Now, having that money in municipal local banks was important for me because then the local banks can then lend that money out to local businesses. I worked for 25 years in banking and understand that concept, so it was important to me that the municipality helped support the local financial institutions. Without IntraFi that would not have been possible.
I like that I can log in [to the ICS Depositor Control Panel] and see where funds are and can show a client to explain how more than $250K is insured. It’s nice to pull up a website and show them where their money is, even if in 25 different banks overnight.
Upon joining the county treasurer’s office, I was intrigued to learn that a portion of the county’s funds were placed through CDARS. I quickly appreciated the security and ease of placing large deposits through a single bank while keeping the money FDIC insured, and have since added the ICS serivce as well. CDARS and ICS free up the capital of smaller banks to finance community growth while still allowing them to accept our larger deposits. We can support the prosperity of the community while investing the taxpayers’ money competitively and safety through a community bank. A winning combination.
I was looking for a flexible investment vehicle that I could use for a special need we had. With ICS and CDARS, I found safety, flexibility, and yield - all in one place! I’m comfortable we are protected [with ICS and CDARS]. The money was sitting in a non-interest account. Watching interest come in was lovely. And we need to have access to cash quickly. Some restricted, some operational, some for purchase of land we account for that separately in house but it’s all lumped into one account for interest purposes.
We were mainly interested in ICS for the security." “You know, one less thing to worry about. But the time savings have been huge, too. For many companies, this would probably be the main selling point—most people think they need relationships with ten other banks to get insurance coverage. They don’t.”
This product offers us both the liquidity and safety that we are looking for and allows us to capitalize on the cash needs of our growing, evolving company, especially through our relationship with [our bank].
The tool(reciprocal deposits) provides a very healthy balance for the safety, liquidity, and yield.
With ICS, our town can access multi-million-dollar FDIC insurance protection, as well as earn interest. Plus, our bank can make these funds available for investment within the local community.
