What others are saying
Testimonials
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What Bankers Say
Every dollar that you put into our bank through ICS or CDARS (IntraFi’s brand names for reciprocal deposits) comes right back here, and we can then lend it back out to help keep the local economy vibrant.
The ACT Deposit Program created a secure and efficient way for community development banks to attract and retain large institutional deposits
Without reciprocal deposits we couldn’t do what we do in this community
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.
Reciprocal deposits are popular because they tend to be associated with multi-million-dollar depositors, enabling banks to attract deposits in large chunks with lower acquisition and maintenance costs as costs tend to be spread over much larger deposit amounts. Moreover, they tend to come from local customers at rates that are more in line with local pricing norms. They also tend to come from customers who are more likely to be interested in a broader, more long-term relationship that may include mortgages, credit cards, and other profit-generating services.
It’s fair to say that [IntraFi's] offerings provide a lifeline to minority-owned banks by enabling our members to attract large deposits from civic-minded and socially motivated investors and to put those deposits to work in communities we serve.
Outstanding record of being responsive and engaged.
IntraFi offers a diversified set of tools that can benefit community banks in any environment they encounter
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.
Offering CDARS has been instrumental in helping us fulfill our mission of building the economic health of the underserved communities in the Washington, DC area. We have been able to address the investment policy constraints of many of our socially motivated investors - not-for-profits, foundations, and public agencies - by offering access to multi-million-dollar levels of FDIC insurance coverage so critical to these depositors. In turn, we are able to put these large-dollar deposits to work in the communities that need it the most.
[IntraFi] gives us a lot of advantages that some of the largest institutions may have today so that we can provide some of our more sophisticated borrowers with the products and services that they really want.
IntraFi’s customer service is top-notch—they’re proactive, they anticipate our needs, and they do the extra leg-work to make things as seamless for us as possible. I’ve never worked with a more supportive team, much less had a negative experience.
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.
IntraFi can be so helpful to banks in terms of their liability management. It can help them attract and maintain their deposits, typically from their local customers, and it can help them earn fee income in addition. I think one of the great things about it is [that] it helps community banks, particularly, compete with the largest banks for deposits and compete with money market mutual funds. And so this is something that's so important to community banks in terms of having the money they need to lend in their communities.
I would highly recommend IntraFi to other banks. They've been such an incredible resource to us, both in good times and in bad, helping us with resources to help our customers. I also love the fact that I can be completely honest with them and transparent about our business situation. They're not competing with me. They're there to help me keep my customers, rather than to take them away.
CDARS is the perfect match for us and our public fund customers. It can eliminate the need for deposit collateralization, which frees up our time, frees up their time, and reduces everyone’s administrative tracking costs. It also allows our previously restricted funds to work harder and for their funds to be channeled back into the local community. We all win.
Administratively, IntraFi made it really easy for us. The whole process was so quick and seamless. And every time I call IntraFi, whoever I speak with is terrific.
With reciprocal deposits, we can confidently accept large deposits from our customers.
What Depositors Say
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.
Great partners! Critical to achieving our on-balance-sheet deposit goals.
If I am going to take money from investors, it would be a fiduciary lapse not to use these products (ICS & CDARS)
When we looked at this product (ICS & CDARS), we said yes, absolutely, this is something we need to jump on. It was a no brainer.
Our school system has utilized the CDARS service for years and is very pleased about the addition of the ICS service. With CDARS, we have access to FDIC insurance on our funds that are invested for a longer timeframe while meeting our investment policy mandates and earning CD-level returns. With ICS, we can protect and invest our funds on a shorter-term basis while earning a return. CDARS and ICS combined provide us with an efficient cash management solution.
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.”
We need things as simple as simple can be. That’s how we started with [ICS and CDARS]. Been with them since 2008.
There is just no downside. This is one of those few products (ICS & CDARS) that work as advertised and there are no gotchas.
[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.
. . . You know, we've gotten a little bit more sophisticated since I've come. They used to make about 50 to 100 grand a year in interest. Last year, or this year ending June 30, we probably will make almost half a million [while protecting our investment with FDIC insurance].
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 will never again bank with a bank that is not part of the IntraFi network.
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 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.
The tool(reciprocal deposits) provides a very healthy balance for the safety, liquidity, and yield.
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].
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!
