my name is candace franks and i serve as bank commissioner of the arkansas state bank commission. i'm chairman of the conference of state bank supervisors. it is my pleasure to testify today on behalf of csbs. i would like to thank congress and this committee for your focus on community banks. in my 35 years as a state regulator i have seen firsthand the positive local impact of community banks. these banks are critical to providing access to credit and urban as well as rural areas and they are important to building and maintaining consumer confidence in our financial system. one out of every five u.s. counties has no physical banking offices except those operated by community banks. in my home state of arkansas a very rural says, there are 96 towns that have only one physical banking location. for these small rural towns the community banking system is the banking system. community banks excel at relationship lending making them a vital source of credit for small businesses. in fact community banks play an outsized role in lending to small businesses. holding 46% of loans to smal

my name is candace franks and i serve as bank commissioner of the arkansas state bank department. i'm chairman of the conference of state bank supervisors. it is my pleasure to testify today on behalf of csbs. i would like to thank congress and this committee for your focus on community banks. in my 35 years as a state regulator i have seen firsthand the positive local impact of community banks. these banks are critical to providing access to credit and urban as well as rural areas and they are important to building and maintaining consumer confidence in our financial system. one out of every five u.s. counties has no physical banking offices except those operated by community banks. in my home state of arkansas a very rural state, there are 96 towns that have only one physical banking location. for these small rural towns, the community banking system is the banking system. community banks excel at relationship lending making them a vital source of credit for small businesses. in fact, community banks play an outsized role in lending to small businesses. holding 46% of loans to s