Bank of the Valley is a community bank in Nebraska with a big emphasis on the word “community.” It began serving customers at its Bellwood branch in 1984 and after decades of growth, now also has branches in Columbus, David City, Humphrey and Platte Center.
As a vital part of these communities, Bank of the Valley takes a personal interest in the needs of its customers who live and work there. The goal is to be more than a good bank. The goal to be a good neighbor.
Community Commitment Runs Deep
Dee Hanson is the Marketing Director. She said, “We take great pride in our commitment to the communities we serve through financial support and the countless volunteer hours contributed by our staff. That is the heart and soul of community banking, which is a relationship-focused endeavor. We believe in relationships because knowing our customers helps our experienced team deliver the best solutions. We believe in making decisions right here where their impacts will be felt. We believe needs and goals change, and so must our services and solutions—sometimes on the spot. Together we go further. It’s how Bank of the Valley approaches each day and each customer and how we continue to better serve our customers and communities.”
When historic flooding devastated Nebraska in March 2019, Bank of the Valley responded quickly to help. Its Facebook page posted this message, “For those looking to help our local flood victims: An account has been opened at Bank of the Valley that will go to the local Fire Departments to help with supplies and food/drinks for all the flood victims in need. If you would like to help, please stop at any Branch location in Bellwood, David City, Platte Center, Columbus or Humphrey to drop off a donation.”
Our Internet Service at Work in Columbus
The Columbus branch of Bank of the Valley — which moved into its newly constructed facility in Columbus on April 6, 2018 — was selected as the focus of this Business Spotlight since it’s a Great Plains Communications customer. Employees at this branch depend on our symmetrical 20 Mbps Internet service to work efficiently and productively.
“While traditional banking activities are able to be carried out without the use of modern technology, everyday operations are made much more efficient and less time-consuming with the help of high-speed Internet service. We have not experienced any outages or issues with Great Plains Communications Internet equipment or service thus far, and we’re grateful for that,” noted Hanson.
Like every bank, Bank of the Valley must protect the access and security of customer data and comply with regulatory and reporting requirements.
Hanson said, “Bank of the Valley uses multiple avenues to ensure that our customers’ personal and account information are secure. While this again is independent of the role that Great Plains Communications plays in providing our Internet, the overall process is made less time-consuming with the excellent speed and reliability of our Internet connection.”
Inside the Bank or on Your Phone
Bank of the Valley offers a full range of personal, agricultural and business banking services. Customers can make in-person visits to their local branch to get personal assistance with banking decisions or use mobile banking for convenient everyday management of Bank of the Valley accounts from their phones.
Mobile banking is popular with Bank of the Valley customers and with banking customers in general. Hanson shared a statistic: “BI Intelligence’s Mobile Banking Competitive Edge study found that 83 percent of respondents use mobile banking, and that trend doesn’t appear to be declining any time soon. Today’s banking customers don’t always have time in their busy schedules to visit their nearest branch, so mobile banking offers a simple, time-efficient solution to fulfill their needs while still maintaining contact with their bank.”