Client Story with the Bank of New Albany

The Bank of New Albany was founded in 1896 in New Albany, Mississippi.

Today, it has more than $750 million in assets and eight branches. It also has an A rating by Weiss Bank Ratings Service and has been recognized as one of the leading community banks in the nation by Seifried and Brew, and a recognized leader giving back to its community.

BNA signed with StrategyCorps in 2018. Since the original signing, people have come and gone, but in recent years, BNA has revived its work with StrategyCorps and is now looking to expand its use with customers.

In this effort, BNA became the first bank to launch BaZing’s new telehealth feature. We had a chance to talk to BNA’s Vice President of Marketing Carolyn Brownson and Kaycee Dodd to find out more about reinvigorating their BaZing program and how the new telehealth feature has given BNA an edge among its competitors.

 

Committing to Renewal

Brownson recalled, “the contract was up for renewal, and I reached out to StrategyCorps to discuss its value and features because I wasn’t at BNA when we first signed the contract.”

“The people that launched BaZing were gone, and after looking over the features and how it works, I thought it was a good idea to move forward,” note Brownson. “But I wanted to discuss with StrategyCorps to find out how to revive the product.

“After talking with one of StrategyCorps’ Client Relationship Consultants, BaZing additional products sounded like they would be ideal for BNA’s current needs. We decided to deepen our discussions on how we could revive the checking product.

“We relaunched BaZing in 2024,” Dodd recalls. “Before the relaunch we only had limited benefits. After the evolution, we’ve included more of the benefits provided by BaZing.”

BaZing has different tiers of involvement to fit the unique needs of each financial institution we serve.

“The primary reason for our reboot was our need for product differentiation,” notes Brownson. “We have two large banks across the street from us, and we wanted to compete with them as well as the other community banks.

“Some of StrategyCorps’ competitors were already offering telehealth benefits, and we wanted that feature to stay competitive. When we spoke with our StrategyCorps representative, Carmela, she explained that StrategyCorps was in the process of launching it and assured us that if we could wait a few months, they would have the feature ready.”

BNA thought that the ADD insurance coverage would be of value to customers, and it’s turned out to be a big differentiator. Telehealth was another benefit that not only attracts more customers but also set BNA apart from its competitors.

“Telehealth gave us an edge over the competition and spoke directly to our customers. It allowed for the perfect benefit combination” says Brownson.

 

Getting Ready to Go Live

This was the first big project Kaycee and I spearheaded together,” recalls Brownson. “She’s on the operations side and I’m on the marketing side.

“The more we engaged with StrategyCorps and our client representative, the more we recognized that relaunching BaZing was the right path forward. Their approach and personality aligned seamlessly with our bank’s culture. At that point, we knew we wanted to bring someone from StrategyCorps into our offices to share their ideas and energy with the entire team.

“We coordinated the relaunch in three stages:

• A quick 30 minute all-hands Zoom meeting introduce the benefits
• Then an in-person training with customer facing employees
• After that, we had a 30-minute follow-up zoom to answer any questions post launch

“During the second step of in person training, the BNA CEO and the President attended to observe,” recalls Dodd, “they were impressed by the information, the energy, and how our Strategycorps representative made the products engaging and enjoyable.

“In the final stage, we brought in employees with any specific questions before we re-launched – they had great questions and were very engaged.”

 

Working with StrategyCorps

“My favorite attributes are how StrategyCorps’ representative brought patience and understanding to our interactions,” says Brownson. “They came in and helped us understand the current benefits and how we could evolve our lineup. That was impressive.

“The communication was and continues to be great between us. StrategyCorps tailored the benefits to fit our customers’ needs – it wasn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. And to get there, they were active listeners and delivered what we needed.

“We have a larger bank across the street that offers BaZing but we’ve been able to customize the benefits to fit our customers’ specific needs. This customization setups us apart in the marketplace, even from competitors that offer BaZing.”

 

Sharing the Experience

What’s the best way to determine if BaZing could benefit your financial institution?

Brownson advised, “Take a deep dive and explore BaZing’s offerings to evaluate whether its benefits align with your customers’ needs and your financial institution’s goals. Maintain open communication with your BaZing representative to explore ways the program can evolve to best serve your institution.

“The key is to engage in conversations, while you analyze your business, and allow StrategyCorps to demonstrate the positive impact they can have on your banking relationships.

“Don’t hesitate to reach out—StrategyCorps is personable, highly knowledgeable, and well-versed in their benefits and checking account implementations.”