Provident State Bank Invests in Technology to Enhance Customer Communication

Provident State Bank (PSB), Inc., a regional bank with nine locations on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, entered into an agreement with Comcast Business to enhance communication and collaboration with customers and employees.

Provident State Bank is an independently-owned community bank that has stated that Its mission is to “understand the core values of the communities it is servicing while delivering the best service of any bank in the Mid- and Lower- Maryland shore”. The bank is seeking to upgrade traditional systems with Comcast Business’s VoiceEdge system.

The product is a hosted voice and unified communications solution upgrading voice quality to enable clear communication. The investment is noteworthy in that even a bank with only nine locations recognizes the need to compete in terms of quality service for incoming calls.

Even regional banks are recognizing the investment needed through strong technology combined with their value proposition of being more trustworthy due to ties with the local community. Provident State Bank employees will have access to business applications on their phones to make sure they are available to customers. 

Provident State Bank also noted that they are training their employees on the new system, helping to provide the needed support to make the transition. “PSB sought to improve our ability to function as a borderless office allowing us to be more accessible to others,” said Jason Harvey, IT manager at Provident State Bank. “By working with Comcast Business, we’ve been able to create and train our employees on a next-generation phone system that has helped us reimagine the way we serve our customers.”

Investing in technology, even at a basic level as audio communication is key for a regional bank’s success. One of the complaints that bank customers have with larger institutions is that they are put on hold or transferred a number of times for simple questions on home mortgages or small business loans.

A bank like Provident State Bank that has only nine regional locations and is not looking to expand beyond the state of Maryland can hold on to market share by staying close to customers. Additionally, regional banks must offer the same service or better than the national brand name banks. 

“Comcast Business understands that for financial institutions, customer experience is no longer a competitive differentiator – it’s a business imperative,” said Juan Dominguez, Vice President, Comcast Business for Comcast’s Beltway Region. While Comcast is a national power house with large customers, Comcast Business is the nation’s largest cable provider to small and mid-size businesses and has a strong presence in the Enterprise market.