Consider it just another day at the office of your friendly community bank.

Customers Bank, which provides a range of banking and lending services from its headquarters in Phoenixville, ranked as the fifth-largest provider of Paycheck Protection Program loans in the nation.

Yes, the nation.

The bank participated in more than 108,000 loans with an aggregate value more than $5.2 billion, placing it ahead of heavyweights like TD Bank, PNC Bank, Citizens Bank, M&T Bank, and others.

Customers Bank met the challenge of helping small businesses preserve employment by leveraging its technology platform to partner with leading fintechs and become one of the top PPP loan originators in the country. These partnerships were a force multiplier for PPP application intake and processing and enabled the bank to handle more than 136,325 applications.

“This is a bank that prides itself on ‘high tech/high touch,’” said Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Sam Sidhu. “There is no reason to choose an all-digital or all-human sales strategy; both are important approaches to customer relations.”

Digital marketing campaigns drove thousands of applicants to Customers Bank, and rapid digitization of back-office processes created speed and efficiency in processing their applications and booking their loans. But still, there were seasoned professional bankers who picked up the telephone and worked directly with clients.

Sidhu said the spin-up of new technologies for the PPP sprint was a good test of what’s ahead.

“Going forward in the new normal, the winners will be those financial institutions that have fully embraced and successfully implemented digital transformation strategies,” he said. “We are there.”

Customers Bank has already begun its outreach, contacting thousands of these borrowers in order to create a deep and permanent banking relationship.

“COVID-19 presented many challenges for communities, the economy, and families,” said Jennifer Frost, Executive Vice President and Deputy Chief Administration Officer at Customers Bank. “It also provided an opportunity for organizations to embrace agility and quicker adoption of digital tools and technologies that may have been further down the pipeline. At Customers Bank, we sped up our digital transformation timeline to help both our customers and team members succeed.”

Click here to learn more about Customers Bank.

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