BankNews.com is the new website serving people in the community banking industry

BankNews.com is the new name of the community banking news website formerly known as BankBeat.biz. NFR Communications has been working for several months to transition the site, which is officially launching on Monday, July 7..NFR Communications is the company that publishes BankBeat, a monthly print magazine with a history that goes back to 1894. The community banking-focused magazine has been published under a variety of names, adopting BankBeat in 2018. That was also the year the magazine launched its companion website, BankBeat.biz. The URL BankNews.com was purchased by NFR Communications in 2019, and now the company is positioning it as its primary internet address. The company publishes news about the community banking industry on the site every business day. For the last several months, the company has been supporting both websites, but July 6 will be the last day of service for BankBeat.biz. Starting July 7, viewers will be automatically directed to BankNews.com if they enter BankBeat.biz. BankNews.com encourages readers to purchase a subscription. The site offers a three-month option and a one-year option which include a subscription to BankBeat, the print magazine. Anyone interested in community banking news is welcome to visit the site for the latest headlines. The site offers visitors five free articles per month; a subscription, offered at a fraction of the prices of many professional industry trade journals, provides unlimited access to all the site’s features including its extensive archives, which go back nearly two decades. Readers who have paid subscriptions to the old website or to BankBeat magazine can access all of the features on BankNews.com with their existing subscription. Contact NFR Communications Reader Services Manager Kristi Wagner at Kristi@nfrcom.com or 913-261-7000.The website is operated by Sam Wilmes, digital managing editor at NFR Communications. “We rely on an extensive network of personal contacts with our editorial team, in addition to the traditional digital sources, to develop our stories and article ideas,” commented Wilmes, who has covered community banking for nearly four years in his decade-long career as a journalist. “While we cover industry events, trends and data, we focus on the people who make community banking the vibrant industry that it is.”Longtime publisher Tom Bengtson encourages readers to explore the new site. “We have worked to streamline the site, enhance its visual appeal, and simplify navigation in an effort to offer the best possible user experience,” Bengtson said. “We are really trying to go beyond the obvious news of the day with our reporting, digging deeper, shining the spotlight on industry players who typically remain in the background. I don’t know of any other news organization that focuses on community banking the way we do.”The news platform attracts thousands of visitors per month, and that number is expected to grow under the BankNews.com format. Visitors looking to purchase any of NFR Communications’ popular bank directories are encouraged to visit the company’s corporate website: NFRcom.com.