In an era of increased mobile and online banking, Park Sterling Bank is choosing to invest more resources in technology than in bricks and mortar. The bank, which has one physical location in Wilmington – although officials say they may open another in the future – premiered several products within the past year that officials say are proving popular with customers.
“We’re excited about our mobile platforms,” said Bill Bunn, Raleigh-based Park Sterling’s head of retail banking. “We have the same features as big banks and some that traditional banks don’t have.”
One is Park Sterling’s bill-paying feature that lets a customer take a picture of a bill using a smartphone and then click on “pay.”
“This is very unique to the industry,” Bunn said, saying that the product has been successful, especially with millennials and other young customers. “The payment shows up in a transaction log, confirming the payment.”
Park Sterling also gives its customers the ability to turn their debit cards on and off electronically.
“This took off even faster than the payment feature,” Bunn said. “You can turn your card off until it’s needed for a transaction. And if you misplace your card, you can turn it off.”
Another recent product for Park Sterling is a program that lets customers pull their assets together for review, whether the accounts are with Park Sterling or elsewhere, said David Parker, the bank’s eastern North Carolina regional president. Parker oversees the Wilmington branch.
“You are able, through your relationship with the bank, to measure how funds come in and go out,” Parker said.
“It’s a personal finance tool similar to Mint and uses three aggregators to pull assets together,” Bunn explained. “We just launched it in February. Most of our customers have multiple relationships, and they can pull them together through the Park Sterling site. It lets customers create budget goals for their net worth.”
Parker added, “You can create a budget based on what you spend and get an alert if you are ahead of your spending goal.”
The features are free. Bunn said the only criteria for using them are to have an account with Park Sterling and to have online access and a smartphone.
“Most of our competitors don’t have these, or at least not at this level. These features are an advantage for us, people engaging with us and coming back to us and letting us help them with their financial needs,” he said.
Parker and Bunn said the bank is continuing to refine its technology. For instance, in a couple of months, people will be able to open Park Sterling accounts online.
After developing technology targeted at individual retail customers, the officials said, Park Sterling is getting ready to launch mobile banking for small businesses. The bank is also looking at programs that will work with companies to address their employees’ needs in financial management and even wellness.
A greater use of technology by banks and their customers translates into less traffic in branches, and an emphasis on technological innovations has allowed Park Sterling to do more with a smaller workforce, Parker said.
“All our branch employees are well versed in the personal finance tool,” Parker said, explaining that those employees can give advice and service on the new products.
