While many small banks have the same FDIC protection as bigger banks, community banks like Institution for Savings provide several critical advantages over megabanks. Because these banks often are viewed as “too big to fail,” they can give depositors a false sense of security. With big banks, you don’t know how your money is being managed. A lack of oversight was a major contributor to the crisis of 2008. Yet managing risk is something community banks like Institution for Savings do every day, focusing more on the deployment of funds to fulfill local needs. Concentrating investment locally not only keeps banks like IFS stable and healthy, but also keeps the communities they serve thriving.
Choosing a local bank like IFS that is ethical, responsible, and accountable is a good step toward ensuring your money is safe. Not only does IFS reinvest in the community through home and business loans, it also champions a wide swath of philanthropic endeavors. The Institution for Savings Charitable Foundation funds grants to support local non-profit organizations, while its #GivingForGood program allows employees to ‘pay it forward’ in their communities. The Bank also provides educational support like offering robust school financial wellness programming and awarding six annual $20,000 scholarships to area high school graduates. All in all, IFS has donated and pledged nearly $1 million in the first half of 2023.
Knowing who holds your money and what they’re doing with it is good for your conscience and your peace of mind, a crucial differentiator between banks like IFS and their big-name counterparts. But the warm fuzzies are just part of the IFS advantage. Because of its community-based roots and philosophy, customers benefit from local and faster decision making, better intimate knowledge of local communities where projects are proposed, more robust connections and insights into local market conditions that larger banks may not have, and overall stronger relationship-based banking.
“The idea that big banks are safer than small community banks is a common misconception,” Lyle Daly wrote for the Ascent. If you’re concerned about the safety of your money after the events of this year, rest assured that Institution for Savings remains healthy and robust. In fact, if you’re ready to have more control of your money, enjoy better rates, lower fees, and superlative customer service, and experience the pride of knowing your deposits are benefitting your community, perhaps it’s time to consider leaving that big-name bank behind.
Learn more about how Institution for Savings serves your community at institutionforsavings.com.
Watch how IFS helped nurture Nutre's business.
Types of Loans
Description
Commercial Real Estate Loan
For purchasing and refinancing existing commercial real estate including residential multi-family and mixed-use property, office buildings, flex space and retail complexes; construction and development of industrial and residential property. Long-term fixed and adjustable rate options are available.
For equipment and vehicle purchases, leasehold improvements and business-expansion financing. Repayment terms are typically tied to the depreciable life of the assets being financed.
Commercial Term Loans
Commercial Real Estate Loan
For equipment and vehicle purchases, leasehold improvements and business-expansion financing. Repayment terms are typically tied to the depreciable life of the assets being financed.
Commercial Term Loans
Explore the different types of commercial loans to satisfy your business needs
Available to provide cash flow for short-term working capital needs at a variable interest rate.
Lines of Credit
For equipment and vehicle purchases, leasehold improvements and business-expansion financing. Repayment terms are typically tied to the depreciable life of the assets being financed.
Lines of Credit
Partnering with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), we provide credit enhancements for small businesses through a variety of programs, including the 7(a) guarantee program and SBA Express Loans. Also available are direct SBA loans through the 504 lending program; these loans are made in conjunction with conventional bank financing to acquire real estate and certain business equipment.
SBA (Small Business Administration) Loans
Partnering with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), we provide credit enhancements for small businesses through a variety of programs, including the 7(a) guarantee program and SBA Express Loans. Also available are direct SBA loans through the 504 lending program; these loans are made in conjunction with conventional bank financing to acquire real estate and certain business equipment.
SBA (Small Business Administration) Loans
Contact an IFS Lender
Local and regional banks have long been part of the fabric of American life as depicted in the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Even with the last decade of consolidation prompted by the financial crisis of 2008, there remain more than 4,700 community banks in the United States, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
“Community Banks are generally well capitalized and more conservative,” Morgan Simon wrote in Forbes, citing a study by the St. Louis Fed that showed community banks are systemically better equipped to handle both good and bad times. The study examined the health of community banks during the last financial crisis and concluded the nation’s community banks “not only survived the financial crisis—they thrived.”
In Massachusetts, Institution for Savings is a mutual community bank that’s been investing in Newburyport and the greater North Shore for over 200 years. IFS offers customers competitive rates (like the new Gold Online Savings Account), aggressively priced home and commercial loans and because they are locally managed and provide stellar service and quick turnaround. All deposits are fully insured, first by the FDIC and additionally by the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF). This is an extra layer of insurance that large banks do not offer.
“We are one of the oldest and most stable mutual banks in the country, and our commitment to our depositors has never wavered,” Michael J. Jones, president and chief executive officer of Institution for Savings, wrote in his monthly newsletter to customers. “Our prudent loan underwriting and responsible business model are considerably different than those of the institutions in the news,” meaning IFS avoids any high level of exposure or risk.
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Concerned about Your Money? Choosing a Community Bank Has More Advantages than You Might Think.
Institution for savings
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Several recent large bank failures, coupled with the current economic volatility, may have consumers and business owners contemplating the safety and value of their money. The banks who achieve success through the uncertainty will be the ones that can persevere and remain attuned to the changing needs of their customers. And that may favor community and regional banks in the end.
Concerned about Your Money? Choosing a Community Bank Has More Advantages than You Might Think.
Before they founded Nutre, the trio of Perrinas – Angelo, Lucio, and Valentino ― owned and operated their family restaurant in Peabody. A love of food had always been at the center of their family. But when their father’s type 2 diabetes worsened, the brothers knew they had to do something. They began meal prepping for their dad, using only healthy ingredients, controlled portions and cooking methods that promoted a healthier lifestyle. The intervention worked. Their father lost weight and felt better, while his A1C fell to a manageable level.
“After seeing the profound effect clean, portion-control eating had on our father, we knew we had to help as many people as we could,” says Nutre co-founder Valentino Perrina.
Angelo Perrina agrees. “No one was making fresh, high-quality, great tasting food for meal delivery that was healthy. Our mission is to change that.”
In addition to helping their father become healthier, there was another benefit, the Perrinas soon learned. By providing healthy meals delivered straight to their doors, Nutre is giving families more time to spend together while providing the peace of mind that what they’re eating is not only healthy but freshly prepared in a kitchen nearby.
CONTACT US
Member FDIC | Member DIF | Equal Housing Lender
CONTACT US
Member FDIC | Member DIF | Equal Housing Lender
Institution for savings
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“We are one of the oldest and most stable mutual banks in the country, and our commitment to our depositors has never wavered.”
Michael J. Jones
President and Chief Executive Officer
“It is the people that make the bank, not the bank that makes the people,”
Michael J. Jones
President and Chief Executive Officer
Local and regional banks have long been part of the fabric of American life as depicted in the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Even with the last decade of consolidation prompted by the financial crisis of 2008, there remain more than 4,700 community banks in the United States, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
“Community Banks are generally well capitalized and more conservative,” Morgan Simon wrote in Forbes, citing a study by the St. Louis Fed that showed community banks are systemically better equipped to handle both good and bad times. The study examined the health of community banks during the last financial crisis and concluded the nation’s community banks “not only survived the financial crisis—they thrived.”
In Massachusetts, Institution for Savings is a mutual community bank that’s been investing in Newburyport and the greater North Shore for over 200 years. IFS offers customers competitive rates (like the new Gold Online Savings Account), aggressively priced home and commercial loans and because they are locally managed and provide stellar service and quick turnaround. All deposits are fully insured, first by the FDIC and additionally by the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF). This is an extra layer of insurance that large banks do not offer.
“We are one of the oldest and most stable mutual banks in the country, and our commitment to our depositors has never wavered,” Michael J. Jones, president and chief executive officer of Institution for Savings, wrote in his monthly newsletter to customers. “Our prudent loan underwriting and responsible business model are considerably different than those of the institutions in the news,” meaning IFS avoids any high level of exposure or risk.
While many small banks have the same FDIC protection as bigger banks, community banks like Institution for Savings provide several critical advantages over megabanks. Because these banks often are viewed as “too big to fail,” they can give depositors a false sense of security. With big banks, you don’t know how your money is being managed. A lack of oversight was a major contributor to the crisis of 2008. Yet managing risk is something community banks like Institution for Savings do every day, focusing more on the deployment of funds to fulfill local needs. Concentrating investment locally not only keeps banks like IFS stable and healthy, but also keeps the communities they serve thriving.
Choosing a local bank like IFS that is ethical, responsible, and accountable is a good step toward ensuring your money is safe. Not only does IFS reinvest in the community through home and business loans, it also champions a wide swath of philanthropic endeavors. The Institution for Savings Charitable Foundation funds grants to support local non-profit organizations, while its #GivingForGood program allows employees to ‘pay it forward’ in their communities. The Bank also provides educational support like offering robust school financial wellness programming and awarding six annual $20,000 scholarships to area high school graduates. All in all, IFS has donated and pledged nearly $1 million in the first half of 2023.