Daphne Stallings
Vice President – Branch Manager III
Simmons Bank
Rockford, IL
Auburn High School
Community Health Education
In short, what do you do?
I am responsible for developing, implementing, and administrating operational policies and procedures for the St. Louis market. In addition, I am responsible for managing the everyday operations of several branches, including coordinating training for staff, advising colleagues, performing research, handling security and providing solutions to our customer’s needs.
You oversee operations for several branch locations at Simmons Bank. Can you tell us a bit about your management philosophy?
My management style can be described as a pacesetter. My goal is to perform every task to a high standard of excellence, in hopes that it will motivate my peers to do the same. I pride myself in providing clear and concise directions so that I can be hands-off, while always being open to provide guidance and help when needed.
What are some of the biggest changes in the financial services market that you’ve seen since starting in this sector?
The biggest changes have been led by the use of technology. Tasks that were once handled with paper and human interactions are being completed entirely on digital interfaces. Customers can now make deposits, transfer money, and pay bills all from their smart phones. Banks continue to find new systems to support the way many customers now prefer to do business.
St. Louis has a particularly high population of “unbanked” African Americans. Tell us a bit about this issue and some of the progress that’s being made.
The St. Louis region has one of the largest populations of people of any major city in the United States, who are not using mainstream banking services. This population is also known as “unbanked” or “under banked”. The unbanked lack the knowledge of available financial resources and sometimes do not have access to them. Without these resources, people turn to high cost alternatives to take care of their financial needs. This leads to them slipping further into debt with high interest rate loans and reoccurring fees that are difficult to escape. In addition, many incur unnecessary monthly fees and fines because they are not aware or conditioned to follow best practices. Some of those best practices can be as simple as setting up direct deposit, attaching their savings accounts for overdraft protection, using their bank’s network of ATMs or taking advantage of online banking resources. I try to take it upon myself to continuously provide free financial expertise and consultation to these individuals as well as business owners, friends and family. I walk them through the process of exploring financing options to lower interest rates and build their credit which will save them thousands of dollars long term.
Tell us about some of your involvement and volunteerism around helping the “unbanked” community.
Surprisingly, there is no consistent volunteer programming for the unbanked on a large scale, so I have taken it upon myself to continuously provide financial expertise and consultation to individuals, associates, and business owners that I encounter every day.
I’ve also assisted the 100 Black Men of St. Louis with several fundraising events to raise money for scholarships and youth initiatives.
What are your Top 3 favorite St. Louis landmarks or places to visit?
The Hill, Central West End, Grant’s Farm
