Benchmark Community Bank

Revolutionizing Deposit Data Management

Benchmark Community Bank, with assets totaling $1.2 billion, has been a cornerstone in Southside Virginia and northern North Carolina since 1971. Committed to helping local citizens and businesses thrive, Benchmark operates on an FIS-Bankway core, delivering exceptional banking services and fostering community growth.

The Challenge

When Benchmark Community Bank brought in new CFO, Beth Beale, she had a clear first priority. Benchmark needed a solution to free up access to its data to improve its operational efficiency and decision-making processes. The challenge was clear: Benchmark needed to swiftly implement a solution that would address Benchmark’s data accessibility issues without disrupting daily operations. KlariVis, with its deep understanding of the banking sector, was the ideal candidate.

KlariVis’ reputation in the industry led Benchmark to initiate the partnership within Beth’s first week at the bank. The challenge was not only to integrate the KlariVis system but to do so seamlessly and efficiently. Drawing on the team’s extensive banking experience and insights from previous community bank integrations, KlariVis aimed to minimize disruption and ensure a smooth transition to the platform. The timeline was ambitious: the contract was signed in September, validation began by November, training occurred in January and full implementation was completed by the end of that same month.

Beth’s leadership and the expertise of the KlariVis team were put to the test. Could they achieve a swift and seamless integration, overcome the common hurdles of data management transitions and ultimately enhance Benchmark Community Bank’s operational efficiency? With KlariVis, they could.

Our Solution

The implementation was seamless for Benchmark and the bank didn’t have to wait until January to start reaping the benefits of the KlariVis platform, either. Beth noted, “even during the validation phase, I could access meaningful data that helped me and my team make informed decisions and guide the bank effectively.”

Since then, Benchmark has leveraged KlariVis in numerous ways, with deposits being the most impactful. Previously, the bank could track opened and closed accounts, but fluctuating balances at the account level on a daily basis, a critical indicator of account health, were not visible without significant manual effort. With KlariVis, Benchmark can now not only detect when deposits are at risk but also drill down to identify underlying issues, whether they be rate-related, product-related, or due to other factors. Armed with this information, Benchmark can make well-informed decisions that significantly enhance the bank’s performance.

Another way Benchmark leverages KlariVis is in reporting. Benchmark, like many banks, had relied on numerous custom reports to make external reporting schedules quicker and easier for certain leaders to review. When the bank started using KlariVis to check the data in those reports, it found that some of those custom reports were not following the proper logic due to coding changes. The bank was then able to quickly identify and eliminate 10 custom reports it no longer needed because KlariVis was now automatically providing that data.

KlariVis has also revolutionized board and committee reporting for Benchmark. Previously, the process was manual and extremely time-consuming due to the need to pull data from different systems. Now, with the click of a button, Benchmark can quickly and automatically retrieve information at the bank, market, branch, product and officer levels, ensuring the board stays updated with the most accurate information effortlessly.

Benchmark is even working on a core conversion where KlariVis will play an instrumental role in pulling and cleaning up data for the new core.

Overall, Benchmark has received great feedback from users across the bank. Users have noted that KlariVis has freed up their time so they can spend it on more meaningful work instead of spending their days digging for data. Users have also noted they now have easy access to information they never could have found on their own before.

Part of what has made the partnership such a success is KlariVis’s willingness to evolve and responsiveness to feedback. They have adjusted the platform to make it work even better for Benchmark’s specific wants and needs. Benchmark and KlariVis work hand-in-hand on development, proving that the “for bankers, by bankers” mantra is more than just talk – it’s the statement that guides every project.