COVID-19 has every bank thinking about how to modify its reserves. Some of the largest institutions have taken double-digit hits on that basis. Community banks, understandably, are uncertain about what exactly they should be...

Community banks can no longer estimate their loan loss reserves the way they did before the coronavirus upended the global economy. But there’s a solution, as this article explains.

A hundred years ago, community banks relied almost entirely on relationship banking. Lenders knew the borrower personally, which provided a unique customer experience, allowing each bank to carve out its own local niche. Not only...