Normally, my December article is about gifts for entrepreneurs.

This year instead focuses on gifts for your banker — bankers work so hard and are so misunderstood.

No, this isn't the start of a sarcastic diatribe against bankers.

I was reminded of our complex relationship with bankers this Thanksgiving dinner at a neighbor's home, whose son Matt is in a college stage production of It's A Wonderful Life — the old Jimmy Stewart movie that's on TV 24x7 every December. 

Over turkey dinner I asked myself:  Why would a Christmas movie be about the banking industry?

The reason is our collective bi-polar relationship with bankers.  Filmed in 1946, it's far enough away from the Great Depression to say something good about at least one banker, but not wildly complimentary about the industry.

Jimmy Stewart is the kind-hearted banker who never wanted to be a banker and whose bank doesn't make any money.  The bigger bank in town is run by a miserly old man in a wheelchair who delights in keeping the entire town living in slum housing.  Jimmy Stewart lends money so everyone can escape the slums to nice family homes. 

In 1946, that difference in lending philosophy was enough to dictate which banker was the hero and which the villain.  Now, fast forward to 2009.  Which banker would be the hero and which the villain?

How you answer that question today might depend on whether you're a borrower in default, a depositor, a shareholder wiped out, or a business that can't get a loan.

Based on the movie, and public outcries about bankers the past two years, we seem to agree a good banker must:

• not make too much money;
• have enough money to lend whenever we want loans;
• be willing to take a risk on us, but be prudent about lending to our crazy neighbors;
• counsel people so they get the lowest interest rate and best repayment plan;
• never foreclose on a loan.

Too bad Mother Theresa died.  You need to be saintly to be a good banker. 

Actually though, traditionally religions haven't been lenders biggest fans.  At least 3.6 billion people belong to religions that have major problems with charging interest.  That's more than half the people on the planet.  Christianity in the Middle Ages banned usury, and Islam doesn't allow charging interest at all.  And yet, despite this historic cultural and religious hostility, the image of the good banker represented by Jimmy Stewart thrives.  There must be something socially redeeming in the act of lending that keeps this hope alive.

Truth is that lending makes the business world go round.  We always hope that world will continue to spin.

So, this year give the best Christmas present a lender can have:

• stop being bi-polar about bankers;
• find the banker who fits your needs;
• borrow only what is prudent;
• repay on time;
• read the loan documents;
• don't blame your banker if it doesn't work out like you planned.

By the way, giving the gift of good borrowing practices will prove true the old saying that it's better to give than to receive.  It will make your business thrive.

Merry Christmas to my readers!

For further information regarding the issues described above, please contact James F. Verdonik.