When Carol Hughes started as a teller at Prospect Bank in 1977, she received a voluminous printout each morning listing every customer's account balance from the previous business day's close. She worked in a bank building across the street from its drive-up lanes, so she viewed customers not through a window but on a video screen. Transactions were conducted by a pneumatic tube system that ran through a tunnel under the street, and if a canister got stuck in the tube—well, somebody had to go down there with a mallet and bang on it.
Indeed, things were different then. The financial institution wasn't even called Prospect Bank yet—it was still known as Edgar County Bank since its founding in 1873. It had a single location in Paris and was yet to branch out to other communities in Central Illinois. The assets managed by the bank stood at around $25 million, a far cry from the $734 million that Prospect Bank oversees at its ten locations today.
"Technology has been the biggest change over the years," says Hughes, now Senior Vice President and Cashier at Prospect Bank. "It's amazing what it was like then and what it's like now."
Through all those changes, though, a few constants have remained. Prospect Bank this year celebrates its 150th anniversary, capped by an Oct. 20 open house at its headquarters in Paris. Banks, small and large, have come and gone over that span. But Prospect Bank endures because of the relationships it builds with its customers and the bonds it forges with local businesses. Prospect Bank has become so engrained within the communities of Central Illinois that "as they grow, we grow," President and CEO W. Eric Volkmann says.
People serving people
That is not by accident. At the core of Prospect Bank is a dedication to serving commercial and retail customers where they are, of tailoring products specifically to the needs of clients in Central Illinois, of getting outside of the bank office and meeting with people across their desks. Volkmann's week is full of breakfasts, lunches, volunteer work and work with nonprofits, further evidence of Prospect Bank's longstanding commitment to its community. As part of its 150th anniversary celebration, Prospect Bank has helped fund an outdoor amphitheater that will host community events in Paris.
"It's about our people serving people, and they really care about that," says Volkmann, who's been with Prospect Bank for over two decades. "That's really what makes things happen. And we try to strive for that because, in the short term, you may have issues you have to deal with. But in the long run, if you take care of people, you're never going to have a bad outcome."
Founded in 1873 as Edgar County Bank, the financial institution in 2017 changed its name to Prospect Bank to better represent an entity that has since added locations in Ashmore, Brocton, Champaign, Gilman, Homer, Kansas and Sidell in addition to its main facility in Paris. Initially, "there was the perception we had been bought out," Hughes recalls of the rebranding. "But we just kept emphasizing, no, we had not. Eventually, people figured it out because nothing else had changed."
That commitment to serving the community, which Hughes has seen firsthand since her arrival at Prospect Bank in the 1970s, remains. Especially at the Paris location, Hughes has seen many of the same names and faces for years. They're not just customers—they're neighbors within the tight-knit communities of Central Illinois, the kind of folks you can run into at the grocery store. "You meet a lot of people over the years, and it's been very enjoyable," Hughes says. "So, everyone strives to do everything we can to go over and above to meet their needs."
It certainly helps that many of the people at Prospect Bank, Hughes and Volkmann included, have been familiar faces to customers for decades. "Having tenured employees with a lot of experience is an essential strength of ours," Volkmann says. "And making sure that we pick the people that are very good at serving our customers is extremely important to our success. But when you have somebody that truly cares about what they do and how they do it, it also helps our customers succeed as well."
Steady and consistent
It wasn't too long ago that regional banks were in the news for all the wrong reasons, as stories about collapses and cash runs dominated the financial headlines. At Prospect Bank, "we didn't experience any of that," Volkmann recalls. "We had a whole team of people monitoring the business we had and whether there were any customers we should be concerned about. But by the end of that week, when all the news hit, it was a complete non-event for us, which tells you the confidence level our customers have in what we do here."
While the U.S. banking industry has undoubtedly faced periods of volatility over the past 150 years, Prospect Bank has always managed to remain stable and reliable. Customers recognize and appreciate that, Volkmann says, which only enhances the bank's profile in the communities it serves. "We've never been a boom or bust bank," he adds. "We've just been steady and consistent, delivering what we do and how we do it over time. And I think that gains a lot of trust."
Likewise, Prospect Bank has nimbly adapted to the digital age—the days when tellers would receive a vast printout each morning with every customer's account status are long gone. Hughes' son lives in Mississippi but still banks with Prospect thanks to its online banking platform. The bank has introduced a suite of products known as Wise Solutions that can help individuals, businesses and municipalities better manage their money. Its commercial banking arm can help companies automate payment processes rather than sending physical checks through the mail. Oh, and nobody has to venture down into a tunnel and bang on pneumatic tubes with a mallet, either.
A lot has changed over 150 years at Prospect Bank—but that commitment to serving the people of Central Illinois has always remained the same. "That definitely has not changed," Hughes says. "Customers come first."
Interested in learning more about Prospect Bank and how it can help you with your financial needs? Contact Prospect Bank by phone at (877) 465-4154, visit its website at BankProspect.com, or stop by any of its 10 Central Illinois and Indiana locations, including the headquarters at 177 West Wood St. in Paris.
