3 min read March 2024 — In an interview with Invest:, Curt Kruse, executive vice president and San Antonio market president of Vantage Bank, highlighted the institution’s success in growing deposits and non-interest income. Looking forward, Kruse shared Vantage Bank’s optimistic strategy to innovate and diversify revenue streams, even in challenging economic conditions.
What have been Vantage Bank’s achievements in the San Antonio region over the past year?
Vantage Bank has seen success in increasing our deposits and non-interest income, two crucial aspects of banking today. This success can be attributed to the efforts of our Premier Group, which specializes in assisting foreign nationals with transferring their wealth to the United States, particularly to Texas. Our foreign exchange group has also played a pivotal role in boosting our non-interest income. Despite the industry’s challenges, we achieved net positive deposit growth in 2023, a notable accomplishment in a competitive and sensitive market environment.
How is Vantage Bank capitalizing on opportunities in the Greater San Antonio region?
In facing the headwinds for 2024, including rate pressure, inflation, and the volatility of commodities, real estate, and labor markets, Vantage Bank remains optimistic about the future. Our strategy involves evolving and diversifying our revenue streams beyond traditional banking products. Our leadership is committed to innovation, exploring banking products that differentiate us and drive non-interest income.
Although the deal-making pace has slowed in 2024 due to economic pressures, we believe in the importance of continuous evolving and improvement to stay competitive. By investing in new treasury solutions and talent, we are laying the groundwork for success in 2024 and beyond. Our goal is to position Vantage Bank as a world-class institution by making strategic investments during slower economic periods to reap benefits when the economy rebounds.
How is Vantage Bank managing new talent acquisition in a labor-constrained environment?
The key to managing both new talent acquisition and retention for us revolves around the central driver of employment, which is profitability. We’ve been focusing on diversifying our revenue streams and expanding our product base, which has enabled us to enhance our profitability significantly. This improvement in our financial health not only allows us to better support our existing employees but also positions us to attract new talent. Moreover, being an active and positive corporate citizen in the communities we serve is fundamental to our strategy. This comprehensive approach helps us navigate the challenges presented by the current labor market.
What are the main insights Vantage Bank has drawn from the previous year’s market challenges?
Reflecting on the previous year, we saw it as an opportunity despite the challenges. Our business leaders were not only faced with difficulties but were able to be remarkably successful in expanding their footprints and increasing their revenue streams. As we make our way through 2024, which has its unique challenges, we believe we’re positioned at the peak of the interest rate bell curve. While there’s no way to predict the future, we’re hopeful for a cooling of interest rates, which would greatly benefit the business leaders we work with, enabling them to further expand and grow.
Our experience has reinforced the importance of innovation, creativity, and a solution-oriented approach. Spending time one-on-one with each business leader, identifying their specific challenges, and working together to find solutions is crucial. This effort, time, and compassion are what sets us apart. We believe our bank is currently at an optimal size — not too large as to be impersonal, but with sufficient resources to support significant growth for our clients. This balance allows us to offer both the necessary financial support and the personalized service to truly understand and meet our clients’ needs.
Regarding the regulatory forefront, are there specific areas of focus for Vantage Bank?
Currently, the banking industry, including our peers, faces significant challenges with fraud, particularly with corporate account takeover tactics by bad actors aiming to penetrate our customers’ firewalls and email systems. We’re actively working with regulators to inform them of recent tactics and methods used by these actors. Our efforts are focused on vigilance and safeguarding our customers’ accounts, akin to an alarm system for their business and personal accounts to protect them from such dangers. Despite making a lot of progress in preventing losses, the challenge of staying vigilant against these threats is ongoing and appears to be growing.
Also, the long-awaited loan loss provision standard referred to as “CECL” was enacted. This change had been on the forefront so we were well-prepared for this enhanced measure of conservatively accounting for potential loan losses.
How is Vantage Bank continuing to improve financial literacy in the San Antonio region?
Vantage Bank has engaged in financial literacy efforts at various levels, although our presence with some of the former nonprofits we’ve been active with has diminished. We focus on working with emerging leaders through smaller programs, facilitated by individual relationship managers at the bank. These programs involve one-on-one interactions, often through nonprofits such as Young Life and Child Safe, aiming to assist families or equip their leaders with financial literacy tools and knowledge. Additionally, we recognize the importance of generational wealth among our customers and strive to be a trusted adviser and resource for their future generations, helping to enhance their financial literacy.
How are you capitalizing on the region’s sustainability efforts?
Sustainability in the San Antonio market presents challenges, especially with the recent pressures on rates and the need to maintain a high level of profitability while offering competitive banking products. Our strategy includes pricing our money market accounts and loans competitively to support economic growth. However, balancing profitability with competitive pricing is challenging. To address this, we leverage our large concentration of core deposits, such as demand deposit accounts, which significantly reduce our cost of funds. This strategy enhances our sustainability by growing our core deposit base, which is crucial for maintaining a healthy net interest margin.
What is your outlook and what are your top priorities for Vantage Bank for the next two to three years?
Our outlook is focused on spurring growth and positioning ourselves to be ready for when the market becomes active again, especially as interest rates start to cool down. We anticipate that deal activity will increase, prompting business leaders to pursue growth opportunities for their businesses. Our priority is to engage with these leaders ahead of time, understanding their growth strategies, how their business models are changing, and planning effectively to support them in 2024 and beyond. We aim to be well-positioned to serve them by meeting early and preparing during these slower times. There will be a lot of wood to chop later, so we’re spending this time sharpening our axe.
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