Today, just about everyone pays at least one bill online and may deposit checks via their phone, but when Citizens State Bank first introduced online banking in the late ’90s, it was an uphill battle to teach customers to trust viewing their account activity online.

Frances Pack, e-Banking supervisor for Citizens State Bank, has been a part of that education for customers since 1999. The bank started out by mentioning online banking through word of mouth, then including information in bank statements and finally through social media. As a small town, Somerville was a little slow to grow online banking, but it has recently taken off — with the e-Banking department growing from just Pack to now a team of two within the last five years.

“It’s a whole new world,” Pack said. “In 1999, we were asking people to go online to look at their activity and after all this time, resistance still exists!”

She says the biggest challenge was having their customers trust in their security.

“I think we have gained the trust of our customers and they know we will do everything in our power to protect their information,” Pack said. “Technology has really changed the mindset of our customers.”

Getting into banking

Pack had worked a few different jobs prior to banking, but knew they weren’t long-term. She worked at Blue Bell for less than a year before realizing manual labor was not for her. She also worked at the job where she met her husband, Robert, but couples weren’t allowed to work the same shift, meaning she was working the night shift, while her fiancé worked the day shift so they didn’t see each other much. Her job just before banking was at a tax preparation company, where she worked five years. The hours were long, especially during tax season, and there was no upward mobility for someone without a college degree; plus, she and her husband were looking to start a family.

An idea came about one day when her husband asked her to ride along to deliver beverages to Lake Somerville for the pre-registration of a fishing tournament. When her husband arrived at the registration booth, Robert saw some of his friends who worked at CSB and he asked if the bank was hiring because Fran was looking for a career change. He was told to have her come by the bank and fill out an application. Robert’s father, Ray Pack, had worked at CSB for numerous years as a loan officer and was on the board of directors.

There were two open positions at the time: teller and new accounts. Pack was terrified of having a drawer full of money, so after asking about the position in new accounts, she applied there, since she loves talking to people. She eventually worked as a teller and got over her fear of having a drawer full of money.

The new accounts position led her to working at Citizens State Bank in 1995, where she’s been ever since, doing everything from new accounts to bookkeeping. Before her 25 years at CSB, she had been working at places that were challenging to her working environment, but found the bank to be like a family.

"At a community bank, you are surrounded by people who want you to succeed,” Pack said. “This is just an awesome place to be — I love it!"

Pack is the vice president of Texas Users Group, which is an organization of banks in the Texas region that get together annually and discuss ways to help improve their banking processor software and function.

Financial literacy

Citizens State Bank began its financial literacy education program about seven years ago. President Ervin B. Flencher Jr. had heard some startling statistics about Texas students not having the financial literacy they needed and realized it was an opportunity to ensure the bank was doing its part. When Pack heard about his plans to start a program, she jumped on it.

“We were very involved in the community, but thought maybe they’re not hearing what we’re saying,” Pack said.

So, she started attending the Financial Literacy Summit and taking notes about how others had started programs in their communities. It wasn’t easy for her to get into the schools, but after about two years, she constructed her plan and got a meeting with the principal of Somerville Elementary School. Pack said she uses the Money Smart program because of their organized, online lesson plans. The bank also invested in EVERFI, an online financial literacy program for students and teachers.

Recently, the bank started teaching 4-H programs and Girl Scout troops financial literacy. This year, the bank received a 4-H grant from the Texas Bankers Foundation for teaching financial literacy to Somerville 4-H and they plan on teaching the same lesson this month in Brenham.

One of their employees had a budgeting lesson, which teaches students about wants versus needs, setting a budget and to plan for life’s surprises by giving students M&Ms and having them “pay” for necessities, like rent and a car payment as well as their wants, such as pets and going to the movies, with their M&Ms.

When the students think the game is almost over, they are asked to pick a “Murphy’s Law” card that could be anything from a broken-down car that needs fixing to extra birthday money. The lesson helps students understand how planning helps budget and that choices in a car and the amount spent on a house can affect other choices down the road.

In April, Pack got the opportunity to speak to the Senate on behalf of SB 686, a bill supporting financial literacy in schools, as a representative of the Jump$tart Coalition. With just an afternoon’s notice, her bank supported her visit to the Capitol, realizing the importance of financial literacy in Texas. Pack represents the bank as a member of FDIC’s Money Smart Alliance and Texas Jump$tart Coalition.

Personal note

Pack started her CSB career in 1994 and a year later, she had her daughter, Rachel, now 24 years old, who was involved in band. This led Pack to volunteer in the PTO as a board member as well as a board member of the Band Boosters for several years.

Her daughter, Sarah, is 16 years old, loves horses and barrel racing. Pack helps set up barrels when she can for the races that take place weekly. Outside of work, Pack loves listening to music, reading, spending time with family and is a Sunday school teacher at her church.