By Laura DeLaCruz, Vice President, Business Development Officer & Chief Client Services Officer

In a bank merger, the weeks and months following conversion weekend are critical moments in the timeline. After the systems have been integrated and accounts converted, the focus needs to shift to maximizing the value of these new relationships. With the right strategies, acquiring banks can use this transition period to enhance loyalty, deepen relationships and increase profitability.

By Cathy Planchart, Senior Project Manager

By Melissa Chefec, Business Development Manager

There are many reasons banks acquire other banks: to gain market share and grow deposits; to establish and deepen relationships with new customers; to expand their footprint to create new business development opportunities; to build scale to enhance product and service offerings.

By Melissa Chefec, Business Development Manager

For some people it has never happened. For others, it’s happened once, twice or even more. = And for others, it’s happening right now. What is “it”? Your bank getting bought out by another financial institution, of course!

By John Raffa, Intern

By Melissa Chefec, Business Development Manager

Once upon a time there was a new marketing & communications company named MKP. It opened its doors in 1995 and got its first significant merger communications project a couple of weeks in. It was an unexpected yet wonderful stroke of good fortune. The project was for a big bank that took a chance in hiring a young company. MKP did a “bang-up” job and even went on to win a vendor-of-the-year award from the client. The project was the first project on the now-famous “merger project list.”

By Laura DeLaCruz, Director of Project Management and Business Development

In a bank merger, customer impacts are not fully understood at the beginning of a communications project, and business decisions are made (and changed) multiple times throughout the process. So how does one get to a finished product when all the information is not clearly defined?

In planning customer communications for a bank merger, you’ll need to focus on the strategies that ensure a smooth transition of your newly acquired clients to their new accounts and services. The same holds true when it’s a systems conversion impacting your own customers.

Once customers have migrated to their new accounts and their first statements have arrived, that’s when additional communications may matter most in the long-term.

In celebration of our 25th year in business, here are some thoughts and recollections from Hillary Kelbick, our President and CEO.

Why did you decide to start MKP?