2021 CSBS Community Bank Case Study Competition Journal

2021 COMMUNITY BANK CASE STUDY COMPETITION

Figure 2: % Change in Average Total Assets

The 2020 Mardi Gras celebrations placed New Orleans and Liberty at one of the early hotspots of the COVID-19 crisis. Although bank employees were considered essential and many area banks worked over-

-4.50% -2.50% -0.50% 1.50% 3.50% 5.50% 7.50% 9.50% 11.50% 13.50%

2016 4.98% 0.96% 3.65%

2017 2.30% 1.24% 3.31%

2018 3.38%

2019

2020

Minority Banks Liberty Bank Majority Banks

4.19% 14.33%

-3.63% 0.68% 14.31%

3.09%

4.17% 10.31%

time, on premise and in close quarters, Liberty shifted to a 100 percent online work environment to protect its employees and the bank’s customers. After Liberty lost all of their bank facilities to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the bank learned how to execute all the basic bank functions remotely for months. Learning from Liberty’s response to Katrina, the bank could perform every function remotely; taking deposits and dispensing cash through ATMs, underwriting loans online, loan review, and even the collection process could be done with no contact. Lessons learned from Katrina proved to be a silver lining. PPP Execution, New Customers, SBA Loans not Approved PPP Participation: Liberty enthusiastically participated in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) with approximately $63.3 million of these loans in 2020-21, which went predominantly to black-owned businesses. The decision to participate was easy because the program serves their mission. The first round of PPP was challenging because large banks had PPP applications waiting and the technology to allow them to input thousands

bought pieces of loans made by other banks, increasing their interest income. Liberty expects to surpass $1 billion in assets within the next two years. Part Two: Serving the Community in a Pandemic Katrina’s Silver-lining: Liberty Knew How to Protect its Lifeblood COVID-19 has exacerbated racial inequalities, inevitably placing stress on families’ upward mobility and impeding economic growth. Minority Americans are disproportionately represented among essential workers that often struggle financially and lack health care coverage. Essential workers are inherently at higher risk of being exposed to COVID-19 due to the nature of their work. These essential workers are Liberty’s lifeblood—both their bank employees and their bank customers. These workers ensured the continuity of critical functions while keeping us all safe by ensuring food is available, nursing the sick, and keeping the money moving. Liberty wanted to reciprocate the sentiment.

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