Cash Crunch - Counting on Community Bankers

If anyone has ever faced the challenge of putting too much time on their vault for an extended holiday weekend or required assistance from another community bank, this story will resonate with your experiences.

Jonathon Guthrie, Vice President, The Peoples Bank, Willacoochee, explains that the bank recently underwent a transition in cash delivery couriers, and received a call from the Federal Reserve cautioning against ordering money to avoid any confusion between the two companies handling funds. In response, we instructed our head tellers to procure a sufficient amount of cash to cover us for a two-week period. As usual, we encountered unexpected obstacles, with factors like Hurricane Idalia passing through South Georgia, simultaneous demands from our 1st and 3rd customers, and a convergence of payroll checks before the Labor Day weekend. This combination of factors created a cash crunch.

“Thanks to our network of fellow bankers within the Community Bankers Association of Georgia, we were able to reach out for assistance, and two banks came to our rescue to help continue service for our customers. The Peoples Bank of Willacoochee extends their heartfelt gratitude to Kenneth Hughes of Bank of Alapaha and Stephen Lewis of First National Bank of Coffee County, two outstanding community bankers,” shared Jonathon.