Verimore Bank, formerly First Missouri Bank, recently underwent a complete core conversion that focused on enhanced digital offerings and in August rebranded to better reflect its ability to deliver advanced technology services.

The $377 million Missouri-based community bank is now able to provide tech-focused mobile and business banking “a little more seamlessly,” Chief Executive Kristie Stuewe told Bank Automation News.

Around 50% of the bank’s consumer banking customers are active mobile users, Ken Honeck, chief deposit officer at Verimore, told BAN, noting, “We’d like to increase that.” Offerings include mobile banking, mobile deposit, Apply Pay and Google Pay.

Similarly, the bank offers businesses remote deposit, online cash management, payroll direct deposit and positive pay, according to a release.

Bank management sought the name change as a way to ensure customers were recognizing its digital transformation efforts, Stuewe said.

“What may have been missing — or what we could have improved on [in the past] — was making sure that our customers were aware that they didn’t have to choose between that responsible community bank model and the technology that exists,” she said.

For example, the bank acknowledged that clients want to speak to live employees on the phone, “but they also want to be able to bank at midnight on a Saturday,” Stuewe said. “The core conversion allowed us to make sure that we had those basic conveniences that our customers are looking for.”

Internal communication upgrades

Verimore also pursued improvements to its internal communications processes amid increasing remote work and as collaboration between its five branches remained vital. The bank recently implemented 8X8 communications technology, which integrates voice, video, contact centers and enterprise-level API solutions into a cloud-based platform.

“I can be reached anytime, anywhere,” Honeck said. “It’s the first app that I’ve had that actually does direct calls from my desk phone to my cellphone, so that has helped us a lot.”

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