OCC gave correspondent banker a good start

Northwestern Financial Review, Nov 15-Nov 30, 2004 by Bengtson, Tom

As an examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Kelly Schuler saw how a variety of banks responded to crisis. Working from her Des Moines, Iowa, base, the regulatory agency sent her to Texas where she examined banks struggling with the oil bust. They sent her to California where she saw banks struggling with changes in the real estate market. And she examined banks in the Midwest, where she saw bankers suffer under the weight of the agricultural crisis.

"It was a trial by fire," Schuler commented, as she reflected on her introduction to banking, an industry she only briefly studied at the University of Northern Iowa where she got her degree. After 10 years at the OCC, however, Schuler said she was a prime candidate to join Norwest Bank in Des Moines - a move she made in 1993. She worked in commercial loan review, and then specialized in commercial loan workout. Five years ago, she moved into correspondent banking where she and two colleagues currently serve banks in Iowa and Missouri.

Schuler said that her work in loan review and workout, coupled with her OCC experience, make her a good fit for correspondent banking. "I have seen a lot of different banks," she said. "I have seen the country banks and the big banks."

As an examiner, she said she recalls being involved with some bank closings. She said those were tough situations and that she could really feel for the bankers and locals who had to live with the closing long after the regulators left. Schuler had to work with customers wrestling with bankruptcy during her stint in loan workout. "I learned to have a tough skin," she said.

Although a sales role is new for Schuler, she said she is enjoying it in the correspondent department. "I'm not a real high profile seller," she said. "I like customer service. I have had some success working with existing customers, and building relationships. That's what we are all about here, building relationships. We want to be more than just a place to conduct transactions."

Schuler said she always has enjoyed seeing how various banks operate. Her best customers, she notes, "empower their employees. It is something you can see in the employees."

Schuler has seen a few mergers in her time. The biggest one took place in 1998 when Norwest merged with Wells Fargo & Company and took the California bank's name. Two years later, Schuler was asked to participate in the due diligence the bank conducted as it considered the acquisition of National Bank of Commerce of Lincoln, Neb. "It looked like a great fit at the time, and it has turned out that way," Schuler said. "We have melded together really well." The correspondent departments at the two banks were combined.

Schuler said she appreciates the variety of experience she has accumulated during her career, which will be useful, she said, wherever her career takes her. She said her start in the industry with a regulatory agency gave her a real advantage, and she would encourage young people contemplating a career in banking to consider that route. "It helps to see a lot of different banks and management styles," she said.

By Tom Bengtson