Cornerstone Bank was chartered as Watonga State Bank in 1928 by L.J. Barrett and has been managed by the Barrett family throughout its history.  Through the depression, wars, recessions, economic booms and busts, the bank has endeavored to be a stabilizing force in the community and to help others achieve financial independence.  “To Humbly Serve” is one of the bank’s Guiding Principals and sums up the bank’s philosophy.

Service to others in the financial services industry is not always an easy task as is demonstrated by the current “sub-prime” mortgage meltdown and its impact on the global economy.  Easy credit is not a good thing and many times, declining a loan request is indeed serving the best interest of the customer although it is rarely perceived that way.  To survive over time, through vastly different economies, there has to be a long-term outlook which focuses on reasonable risks with reasonable returns, an application of the lessons of history to today’s challenges, and strategies to assure long-term viability.

This is not the first time that unsound mortgage lending practices have caused a problem.  The last event impacting this community resulted in Cornerstone Bank’s purchase of the local savings and loan office as it went into receivership.  Today’s problem, although different in structure, is similar in nature and has greed at its root.  A few of the largest banks and mortgage companies employed practices that resulted in credit with unreasonable structures (variable rate mortgages, 100% and greater loan to values, bogus and/or unverified income information) being granted to those who had little chance of repaying the loan.  As many of these loans were bundled into securities (Collateralized Debt Obligations) and sold, those who engaged in these practices had little reason to care about the customer or the potential losses.  In contrast to this philosophy, community banks desire to serve our customers with credit structures that work, make sense, and have reasonable probabilities of long-term financial benefit for both the bank and the customer.  In other words, we want the people we know and care about, our friends and neighbors, to succeed.

In 1928, the bank motto was “Safe and Dependable” (a phrase that also served Jack Barrett well when applied to his P-51 during WWII).  We have always considered it our duty to provide services that protect your money, your confidential information, and your identity.  We were the first bank in the country to offer Identity Watch^tm credit monitoring services to our customers and one of only a few banks in the country that offer a debit card that features your photo on it (an excellent fraud deterrent). Additionally, we have just rolled out a debit card fraud monitoring system called R.A.D.A.R. used by 20 of the world’s top 25 financial institutions in order to better protect our customers from fraudulent transaction.  We continually look for products that help protect you and provide “Safe and Dependable” financial services.

Throughout the years, Cornerstone has continually looked for innovative products, services and technologies that make life easier for our customers.  The adoption of our internet banking and online bill pay services has been overwhelming and support the notion that rural America is as “connected” as anyone.