We hope you are enjoying this series of blog posts covering excerpts from our recent chat with Richard Campbell, Chairman of Astra Bank.

We asked Richard to share with us some early memories of working with the bank. In response, he took a trip down memory lane to recount an interesting story. Back in the 70’s, his father-in-law was still with the bank and Richard was new on the scene, observing and absorbing the very strong and deep-rooted culture of customer service. A customer of the bank who was a farmer was really struggling with his farming operation and not making much money at all. He had been a long-standing customer but was starting to experience diminished net worth. Richard’s father-in-law advised him to consider getting a full-time job and move away from farming. The customer said he had thought about it but was honest about his genuine love and passion for farming which he felt would never allow him to stay away from it completely for too long. He was nervous that watching other farmers get busy in the spring time with new planting, he would kick up whatever else he was doing and get back on the farm. Seeing his determination to keep at it, his resolve to rise above the challenges of the times and his focus and perseverance to make things happen, Astra Bank went along and took a chance on this customer.

Things turned out well for the customer and he hit some good prices for his farming produce. The farming operation was back to being profitable. The customer still banks with Astra and is very happy even after all these years. That is the most important thing for us—we value relationships and aim to build customers for life. If that requires us to sometimes take a chance on a customer and win their trust, we are happy to go that extra mile. We know from our experience over the years that it pays to do so. It keeps our customers happy and they bring more eager customers into our branches!

Do you have an interesting story to share about your experience with Astra Bank? Has one of our team members gone above and beyond to understand your needs and help serve them? We would be very happy to hear from you and will be sure to pass on your compliments to our staff.