Focused On Being 'Bank of Choice'

At Bank of Ulysses, customers can expect to be met with a friendly smile and greeting by name. Johnson State Bank, the main bank, was originally chartered in 1913 and opened in 1914. To this day, there are directors with direct family ties to the first chartered members. The locally owned Ulysses branch opened in 1995 to fulfill community needs. Currently, Bank of Ulysses has six full-time employees and one student helper ready to provide quality customer service.

Senior Vice President and Branch Manager, Charlie Field, got his start in public accounting, then in private accounting, and has since accrued 25 years of banking experience.

When speaking on what he enjoys most about his position, he explained, “I love working with customers and helping them achieve their business and personal goals. With my background, I might be able to help steer a customer in a direction they might not have thought about or offer advice with a finance or other issue outside of my banking knowledge. You try to build trust where you can become one of a person’s trusted advisors. It’s also good working with a great group of employees and customers!”.

Field went into detail about Bank of Ulysses’s effort to excel in customer service.

“We are able to make decisions quickly and follow up with our customers in a timely matter. Being a small community bank, we are able to offer one-on-one help when customers need it for online banking issues or mobile deposits or banking products. We are willing to sit with them to help them through that process.”

Charlie has gone above and beyond by providing one-on-one services outside of business hours.

“I meet with customers on their schedules and time frames to help them,”he said.

Over the last 28 years, the Bank of Ulysses has upheld their friendly reputation and familiarity with customers.

“Ulysses is a great, small community where people care about each other. It seems like there is always a way to show support,” said Field.

For the Ulysses community, Bank of Ulysses has given back to the schools for many years, local organizations and fund raising projects. They also offer their parking lot for groups to hold fundraising car washes during the summer, with their location on Oklahoma Avenue, according to Field.

The branch also supports local youth by hiring high school students for part-time teller positions, teacher appreciation week, Chamber of Commerce, Senior Center, 4-H, memorials and many other events happening in the community. The Bank of Ulysses also looks at other ways to be involved in the community.

"Our Tiger Debit Card is also unique as when a person uses it, part of our income is set aside for our school district and starting in 2023, we are adjusting how we give this out by giving one or more scholarships to our high school seniors," explained Field.

On top of their welcoming environment, the financial institution has competitive rates, products, and pay.

“It is important for us to know and have banking products that make our customers’ lives easier,” Field said.

Field was asked, "why should a person bank with Bank of Ulysses".  Instead of giving his opinion, Field decided to ask some of his customers this question.

Responses he received were:

“I love working with a community bank where you can build a relationship and trust.”

"Process is easy, privacy is guarded and they are there when I need them.”

“I have banked with Bank of Ulysses for a number of years, the tellers and staff are friendly, accommodating, amiable and their online banking is customer friendly.”

“The bank gave me a chance when starting a business venture, has prompt customer service and has helped with numerous business growth opportunities.”

“I am able to text or call Mr. Field and discuss an issue or an idea after business hours.”

And, “I have recommended many others to the bank due to the relationship I have built with the Bank of Ulysses”.

Bank of Ulysses prioritizes every customer, their confidentiality, and privacy. As cyber security becomes more crucial, Field states the bank strives to keep customer’s information private.

“It is scary now days, as scammers are very sophisticated and can find out a lot of a person’s information from various sources," Field said. "Even company emails can come from scammers that appear to be legit. I would advise anyone that has a concern about identity theft or just their financial security, place a restriction on their credit report through the credit reporting agencies. This is one way to help stop a possible threat to your wellbeing."

Field concluded, “Come in and check us out, we are a strong community bank focused on being your bank of choice”.

Bank of Ulysses got its start in Johnson, Kans., and has a photo of the Johnson Branch hanging in their business here.

Bank of Ulysses is located at 220 East Oklahoma. To fulfill your financial inquiries, customers can come into the lobby from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, or stop in the drive up from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Saturdays,  the drive up is available from 9 to 11am.