As Marquette Bank marks its 80th anniversary, Senior Vice President of Operations and Chief Information Officer Mike Banky reflects on a forty-two-year career, the culture that kept him here, and why service—not slogans—built the bank’s reputation.
Come for the Job, Stay for the Career
Mike didn’t set out to work in banking. Fresh out of college with an accounting degree, he walked into Marquette Bank because it was close to home. He filled out an application, met with HR, and left with a job. Forty-two years later, that “job” has not only become a career, it's become a community.
“I came here for a job and I got a career. And an extended family.”
He started as an accounting trainee, moved into data processing, supervised the department, and kept saying yes to new challenges until he reached senior management. As inspiring as Mike's story is, you may be surprised to hear that his longevity and career path isn't unusual at Marquette, further underscoring the bank's commitment to its employees.
A Culture You Can Feel
We asked Mike why employees stick around for so long and his answer is simple: family. At Marquette Bank, loyalty and kindness bleed through everything we do — they aren't just inspirational words. Opportunity is earned and offered to people who want personal and professional growth and show initiative to achieve them.
One thing Mike noted is that many companies promote work-life balance. "But at Marquette," he says, "it's not just 'work-life balance.' It's life-work balance. Life comes first and the bank truly embraces that."
Growth isn't Just by the Numbers
Marquette’s size and reach have expanded dramatically over Mike’s tenure, which now boasts 21 locations, 350 employees, and $2B+ in assets. But he credits a lot of that progress to a simple talent strategy: grow your own leaders. Internal mobility is the key to success. He highlights:
● A first-VP and Director of IT who started as a teller.
● A help desk team lead who moved from the branch to technology after showing interest and grit.
● A former part-time security officer who jumped into tech because he was curious and was given a chance.
This continuity matters. Veteran employees know the culture, customers, and how the place works, which means faster decisions, better service, and fewer missteps.
Tech That Brings People Together
When Mike started, tech was limited. Today, systems are smarter, faster, and safer. But the goal hasn’t changed: use technology to improve service and efficiency, not to put distance between people and their bank. And the payoff is capacity. Meaning more branches, more customers served, and more time freed up for what matters: listening and helping.
A Culture of Caring: Showing Up Even When it's Tough
The best examples of Marquette's culture of caring is showing up when it matters the most:
● During the 2008 crisis, while many institutions pulled back from donations and volunteerism, Marquette ramped up.
● During COVID, the bank organized mobile food pantries, supplied school materials, and volunteered at the Greater Chicago
Food Depository and Ronald McDonald House.
● Ongoing partnerships with organizations like Port Ministries and Toy Box Connection reflect a simple view: communities thrive when people invest, not just write checks.
For Mike, a devout Catholic, “Service isn’t a work thing. It’s a life thing.”
Service that Goes Beyond Customers
One story says a lot about how people at Marquette Bank operate. When the bank’s head of fraud learned a woman (not a Marquette customer) with dementia was being defrauded, he didn’t shrug. He tracked down her husband, coordinated with their bank, and stopped the losses. There was no PR plan, no press release. In fact, no one would've known about it if the husband hadn't sent a handwritten thank-you note that a colleague happened to notice.
That’s not “above and beyond.” For Mike, it’s the job.
Teaching Skills That Change Lives
Mike is blunt about the gaps most of us had in school: nobody taught basic personal finance. Marquette’s answer is financial literacy programs: practical, plain-English tools that help people budget, build credit, and plan. Education isn’t charity; it’s long-term empowerment.
“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for life. The education piece is everything.”
Leadership Sets the Tone
Founder John McCarthy built Marquette on neighborhood investment. His son, Chairman Paul McCarthy, has scaled that commitment and shows up, literally, at volunteer events and at the Education Foundation Golf Outing, which sells out in weeks.
Paul’s approach—humble, grateful, relentlessly people-first—has a ripple effect. When leadership treats service as a habit, the organization does too. He has a positive attitude and understands that when our neighborhoods succeed, we succeed.
Looking to the Future and Remaining People-First
Eighty years is a huge milestone. It’s also a reminder that communities change, technology evolves, and customer expectations keep rising. According to Mike, Marquette’s path forward is straightforward:
● Keep growing talent from within.
● Use technology to remove friction, not relationships.
● Invest where we live.
● Teach skills that compound over a lifetime.
Do those things consistently and the next 80 years take care of themselves.
“Thank you for letting me be part of this family. To our customers, thank you for your loyalty and trust. To our employees and leadership, thank you for living our values every day.”