The challenge: balancing digital convenience with personal banking
As larger financial institutions optimize for scale and efficiency, the customer experience often becomes impersonal and transactional. Farmers State Bank (FSB) recognized that its customers, both existing and prospective, value something different: a personal connection with their banker, convenient access to services without friction, and confidence that their needs are understood and handled with care. The challenge was to embrace digital innovation without compromising the personal touch that has defined FSB since 1907.
Through discovery sessions with FSB executives, branch leaders, and compliance officers, several operational opportunities emerged. Customers frequently contacted branches for routine needs such as branch hours and directions, travel alerts, lost or stolen card guidance, fraud concerns, and appointment scheduling. Help was hard to reach after hours, leading to missed opportunities and delayed engagement. Staff were routinely pulled from relationship-building to juggle phone calls, emails, and walk-in inquiries across multiple branches, especially during peak hours. Responses varied across staff and channels, and customers often did not know which banker to contact, which led to delays and misrouting. And the website functioned mainly as a static information repository rather than an interactive, action-oriented channel.
The vision: secure, always-on digital service
FSB set out to deliver a new kind of banking experience, one that preserved its personal, community-focused service while embracing modern, intelligent technology. Leadership wanted customers to receive immediate answers, seamless appointment scheduling, and consistent guidance across every channel, while reducing the operational strain on frontline staff who were frequently pulled away from relationship-building to address repetitive inquiries. Every interaction had to be fully auditable and compliant with regulatory standards.
That vision led to Penny, an agentic AI conversational assistant designed and deployed by Incede.ai on IBM watsonx Orchestrate. Penny serves as a digital front door to the bank, capable of both answering questions and taking meaningful action on behalf of the customer.
Ryan Clevidence, CEO, sums up the goal: “Penny is about more than technology. It's about strengthening our connection with customers by ensuring every interaction is responsive, consistent, and truly personal.”
Why IBM watsonx Orchestrate: a foundation built on trust
After evaluating multiple technologies, FSB selected IBM watsonx Orchestrate for its alignment with the bank's security, operational, and customer-service goals. A primary driver was its ability to support true agentic workflow automation: unlike simple chatbots, watsonx Orchestrate can perform multi-step tasks, orchestrate complex workflows with deterministic outcomes, and securely hand off actions to integrated banking systems.
Equally important was its enterprise-grade security and compliance posture: controls aligned with financial-industry standards, fine-grained access permissions, and clean integration with FSB's existing identity and auditing systems, so every automated action maintains full regulatory and policy compliance. Its API-native, integration-friendly architecture allowed rapid, secure connectivity to FSB's scheduling tools and operational systems, enabling Penny to operate as a unified, intelligent agent across the bank's ecosystem.
Ryan Clevidence, CEO, framed it as a long-term choice: “Selecting the right platform for agentic AI isn't just a technology decision. It's a long-term strategic commitment to how your organization will operate, serve customers, and scale. IBM watsonx Orchestrate provides us with a platform that balances innovation with control, enabling us to move forward confidently while protecting the trust our customers place in us.”
Why Incede.ai: delivering the customer experience
FSB's leadership emphasized that selecting the right technology also meant selecting the right partner. They chose Incede.ai for its deep expertise in agentic-AI design and deployment, particularly for solutions that must be secure, auditable, highly accurate, and aligned with strict regulatory frameworks. As an IBM Business Partner specializing in AI modernization, Incede.ai brought an intimate understanding of watsonx Orchestrate and how to unlock meaningful value within FSB's existing systems.
The partnership was strengthened by a highly collaborative design process. FSB thought leaders and Incede.ai consultants worked side by side in interactive workshops to document real customer workflows, identify operational bottlenecks, and create high-confidence user journeys that minimized risk while maximizing impact. Penny was engineered with secure access patterns, enforced logging, clear audit trails, and message-level compliance controls, all features essential for safe deployment in a regulated environment. FSB ultimately described Incede.ai as having operated like an extension of its own team, underscoring the strength of the collaboration.
What Penny does: connecting customers to the right banker, faster
Penny is not an off-the-shelf chatbot. It is a purpose-built, FSB-specific solution tailored to the bank's products, services, and workflows, including integration with banker scheduling, branch locations, SMS messaging, and customer engagement processes. Five core capabilities anchor the experience:
Smart branch and banker connection. Penny helps customers locate the most convenient branch, whether the nearest location or one along their route, and guides them to the branch and banker best suited to their needs. Outcome: customers are quickly connected to the person who can best serve them.
Seamless appointment scheduling. Customers can schedule time with their banker for notary services, a new or existing loan, credit card options, opening or managing accounts, or general financial guidance, without friction or delay. Outcome: reduced friction and increased engagement with FSB staff.
On-demand callback requests. Customers can request a callback at a time that works for them; Penny captures the request, preferred timing, and area of interest so the right banker follows up with the appropriate context. Outcome: every customer has a clear path to human support.
Real-time SMS engagement. Integrated with FSB's SMS messaging solution, Penny enables immediate answers and real-time, two-way communication with bank staff in a familiar channel. Outcome: faster resolution and continuous engagement beyond the website.
Intelligent knowledge retrieval. When a question falls outside her immediate knowledge, Penny dynamically retrieves relevant information from FSB's website and curated internal documents, providing clear answers with helpful links for deeper exploration. Outcome: customers receive reliable, up-to-date information without needing to search.
Business impact: a long-term relationship investment
Penny is not designed to replace the banker, but to bring customers closer to them. By simplifying how customers find the right branch, connect with the right banker, and access services when they need them, Penny enhances the human connection rather than diminishing it. It acts as a bridge that removes friction and ensures every customer has a clear, convenient path to meaningful engagement with FSB staff. A key differentiator: Penny improves the customer experience while also supporting the employees who deliver it.
“Too often, new technology adds complexity for employees, but Penny has been different,” said Scott Falagan, Chief Retail Banking Officer. “Penny has been well-received by our staff because it was designed with their experience in mind from the beginning. It simplifies their work, supports consistent service, and ultimately helps them do what they do best: serve our customers.”
The most meaningful quantitative benefits, such as increased customer lifetime value, retention, and operational efficiency, will be realized over time. Even in the short term, the value is already evident: customers are experiencing easier access to services, faster and more consistent responses, and a more personalized banking experience. This early adoption and positive sentiment signal strong momentum, reinforcing that Penny is delivering real value today while positioning FSB for sustained long-term impact.
Ryan Clevidence, CEO, described the approach this way: “We set out to take a thoughtful, phased approach with Penny. It is imperative to deliver value today while also establishing a secure and scalable foundation for future enhancements.”
About Farmers State Bank
Farmers State Bank is a trusted community bank committed to delivering personalized service, financial stability, and modern banking convenience to the customers and communities it serves. With a long-standing tradition of integrity and relationship-focused banking dating to 1907, FSB blends hometown values with forward-looking innovation to meet the evolving needs of individuals, families, and businesses. Through strategic investments in digital transformation, including agentic-AI solutions like Penny, FSB continues to expand access, enhance service quality, and provide secure, reliable banking experiences across every channel.