Goldleaf Financial Solutions (NASDAQ: GFSI), a provider of integrated technology-based solutions designed to improve the performance of financial institutions, today announced that First National Bank of Smith Center, based in Smith Center, Kansas, has partnered with the Company to redesign its Web site.
Catering to a mostly agricultural community, the bank viewed its Web site as being an excellent way to brand and differentiate themselves from competitors.
In developing a new Web site, the bank had three key criteria. By far, the most important objective was that the site be secure and compliant. Bank executives cited this as a specific reason for selecting Goldleaf, as the Company has extensive experience in both security and compliance. Secondly, the site needed to be visually attractive. And lastly, the bank was committed to having a site that was easy to navigate without compromising functionality.
"Based on the specific things we were looking to accomplish, it was crucial we partnered with a specialist in the community bank market," said Karen Cole, First National Bank of Smith Center's director of marketing. "Goldleaf easily met that requirement, which enabled the bank to create a completely customized Web site that really speaks to our customer base. The site is user friendly, informative and secure - and it allows the bank to serve a diverse customer base, including seniors as well as agricultural and younger customers. Working with Goldleaf, we were able to hone in on specifics to develop a site that is unique to our bank and the market we serve."
The bank began the process by looking at several vendors and quickly narrowed the search based on references and vendor meetings. Facing several unique challenges with such a diverse customer base, First National Bank wanted to create a Web site that would be appealing and useful for its various audiences. Cole worked with Goldleaf experts to design a Web site that had a strong focus on the community. The site features a link to commodity markets for its agricultural customers, in addition to community photos and information about the bank's young savers club, a program geared to kids.
Lynn Boggs, CEO of Goldleaf, said, "With more customers being driven to the Internet, First National Bank of Smith Center is being proactive by using the Internet as a tool to differentiate themselves in the market. Working with community banks is our core business - we do it all day, every day, and we believe we do it better than anyone else. In addition, Goldleaf has the foresight and vision to create solutions to address the future needs of community banks, which is why we have positioned our company to be a leader in Web design and development."
From sales to design to implementation, Cole cites Goldleaf's service as another factor in the decision to partner with Goldleaf. Once Cole began working with Goldleaf, she was impressed with how quickly the site came together. Within three months, the bank had successfully launched a new Web site. While Cole is hoping to bring additional functionality to the site in the future, for now, she has already received positive feedback from the bank's customers, who have commented on how well designed and easy to use the site truly is.