Mike Jones got to know a man named Richard “Dick” McCord while he was working for Dick’s father-in-law on a farm many years ago.

When Mike later had a job at Radio Shack, Dick recruited Mike to join the staff of Easy Answer, a fully shared electronically switched banking network that could approve and route transactions in real time to banks and customer accounts.

Easy Answer was a joint venture between the old INB and original Marine Bank, and Mike stayed on even as it was sold to another company.

“Then when Dick McCord helped to found the new INB in 1999, I came to visit him, and we laughed about the bank only having one ATM. I told him if he ever needed anyone to run his ‘growing’ ATM fleet to let me know,” Mike recalls.

‘Fleet’ Grows; INB Gets ATM Expert

Mike, INB’s ATM Analyst, was hired in 2002.

“I was drawn in by the dynamic vision that even the old INB had under the management of McCord and many others,” he says. “The new INB grew fast, and we soon had more than 30 ATMs.”

The year Mike joined INB, the bank realized tremendous growth, building two new branches (one on South Sixth St. and the other on North Dirksen Parkway) and purchasing the Chatham branch and the Pleasant Plains branch.

“The branches had been tasked with taking care of the ATM at their branch and in their geographic area, which they hated. Since it was my background running ATMs, I took over the department. Today, we have more than 22 ATMs, mostly at our branches,” Mike says.

Since joining INB 17 years ago, Mike has found a culture of “family and comradery.” He feels that INB stands out among its competitors in important ways.

Responsiveness Key

“I think INB is unique in banking in the Springfield area. I’ve heard many customers comment how easy we make it for them to bank with us and how responsive we are to change and what the customer wants,” he says. “I’ve even had customers of other banks tell me they use our ATMs because they can be assured that our ATMs are up and open when their own bank’s ATMs are often down.”

Mike believes that the country’s recession helped make INB and its staff more resilient and resourceful.

“I feel assured that we have seen the worst that banks have suffered and been stronger for it. I look forward to another 20 years and I feel confident that INB can and will grow to become a regional player in finance and banking,” he says. 

“The founders of INB in 1999 were visionaries who saw an unfulfilled market for a unique kind of bank, and we are that bank today.”