April is Community Banking Month, a perfect time to highlight and celebrate the important role that your bank plays in supporting local families, businesses and schools. By creating personal relationships with customers and keeping financial decisions close to home, community banks are uniquely important in helping local communities thrive.

Collectively, community banks make more than 60% of small-business loans, more than 80% of agriculture loans, and contribute tax dollars that help maintain local municipalities. Community banks:

• -  Are committed lenders with loan growth that has outpaced noncommunity banks for a decade.
• Demonstrate safety and soundness with higher capital ratios and better loan quality than the largest institutions.

• -  Offer high-touch, high-tech service. This gives consumers access to modern-day conveniences and technical capabilities while maintaining the personal service for which community banks are known.

• -  Have a track record in helping underserved Americans by providing greater flexibility to low-income and minority borrowers. Community banks serve 93% of majority-minority communities and 96% of low-income designated counties.

• -  Understand and embrace local small businesses. In fact, community banks made 60% of total Paycheck Protection Program loans to small businesses and provided 72% of PPP loans to minority business owners that reported such data.

• -  Give back to their communities. Civic service is a way of life for community bankers.

• -  Are favored by small businesses, earning a 76% satisfaction score compared to 62% for large banks, 46% for finance companies and 39% for online lenders.