Community West Bank
Services we provide:
- Discovery
- Strategy
- UX/UI design
- Website development
- Xperience by Kentico implementation
About Community West Bank
CWB is a large community bank in southern California with over 20+ locations and a track record of financial strength, security and stability gained over its 44 years in business. CWB has set itself apart from other banks by its people, dedication to client advocacy, exemplary "relationship banking," strong community support and a mission to exceed expectations. With a passion for providing customized solutions, the merger drove the decision to revamp their digital services to better serve their customers.
The Process
In an era where digital presence is critical to financial institutions and mergers are frequent, the successful merger of Community West Bank (CWB) and Central Valley Bank (CVB) depended on a robust and well-executed digital strategy, critical to providing a seamless user experience for customers and employees. SilverTech, leveraging its expertise in Xperience by Kentico website development, customized a digital solution that unified the brands of these two banks into one cohesive user-friendly digital experience in just 4 months from start to launch.
The Challenges
The merger of CWB and CVB presented unique challenges, particularly in integrating two distinct digital landscapes into a single cohesive website. The biggest challenges included:
- Differing Content Strategies: CWB's site was optimized for SEO with a rich content library, while CVB's site focused more on detailed product pages. Balancing these different content approaches was crucial.
- Short Timeline: The project needed to be completed with a demanding timeline, delivering a high-quality, functional website, from planning to launch in less than four months.
- Outdated Technology: The old CWB site suffered from poor mobile optimization, slow speeds, outdated information, and a lack of interactive features. This hindered customer engagement and usability.
Goals for New Site
SilverTech identified four main goals for CWB's new website with the main goal of unifying the brands. The merger of the two banks presented a unique opportunity to take advantage of the best from both brands.
Solution and Implementation
Based on the insight gained, SilverTech devised a comprehensive strategy roadmap to address the challenges and deliver a seamless digital experience for the bank merger. It was SilverTech's recommendation that Kentico's newest hybrid CMS platform Xperience by Kentico would be the best solution for the new website. Xperience with robust features and functionality allowed SilverTech to create an exceptional digital user experience efficiently for CWB.
The Key components of the solution include:
- Unified Content Strategy: SilverTech developed a content migration plan that combined the SEO-rich content from CWB with the detailed product information from CVB. This approach ensured that the new site would benefit from both banks' strengths while avoiding duplication and inconsistencies.
- Modern Design and Functionality: The new website was built with Xperience by Kentico, featuring a modern, responsive design to enhance user experience across all devices. Key features included:
- Enhanced Interactivity: Interactive elements and engaging content to improve customer interaction and retention
- Improved CTAs: Clear, strategically placed CTAs to guide users through the site effectively
- Technical Upgrades: Faster loading speeds, improved reliability, and mobile optimization to ensure a smooth user experience
- New Functionalities: Inclusion of essential tools like product comparison tools, branch locator and more
- Accelerated Development Timeline: Despite the tight timeline, SilverTech employed agile development practices to ensure timely delivery without compromising quality. The team worked in sprints to continuously test and refine the site, leading up to a successful launch within the four-month timeframe.
HIGHLIGHTS
Why Progress Sitefinity is a Great Choice for Authenticated Portals
3/6/25
In the crowded landscape of Digital Experience Platforms (DXP), many businesses assume that being in the Leader quadrant of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant is the ultimate measure of success and other quadrants don’t matter. However, for organizations looking for an agile, cost-effective, and easy-to-use solution, we find Progress Sitefinity's placement as a Niche Player impressive.
Unlike Leader quadrant solutions, which often come with higher total cost of ownership, long implementation cycles, and steep learning curves, Gartner’s 2025 Magic Quadrant report for the DXP market indicates that Sitefinity is a powerful, scalable, and intuitive platform without unnecessary complexity. This makes it an ideal fit for mid-market and enterprise businesses that need an authenticated customer or partner portal—without the delays and costs that often come with higher-tier DXP platforms.
Sitefinity’s Position in the Magic Quadrant Matters
Gartner’s 2025 Magic Quadrant for DXPs evaluated 17 vendors, each with strengths and weaknesses. While many of the "Leaders" in the report focus on massive enterprise-scale solutions with extensive customization options, they also come with higher licensing fees, more costly development resources, and ongoing maintenance that can eat into ROI for years.
By contrast, one of the reasons we’ve chosen to partner with Sitefinity is that it offers a flexible and efficient alternative that delivers real value to businesses faster. Here’s how:
• Lower Cost of Ownership – Compared to high-end DXPs, Sitefinity offers robust features without excessive licensing fees, making it a cost-effective choice for organizations that want to maximize ROI quickly.
• Faster Time to Value – The platform is known for rapid implementation and ease of use, allowing businesses to get up and running faster. We’ve accelerated the time to market and time to value even further by developing industry-specific, preconfigured modules and widgets that can trim months off development cycles.
• Simplified User Experience – easy to use and gets better and better with each release.
• Scalable and Flexible – Whether it’s a customer portal, partner portal, or a full digital ecosystem, Sitefinity integrates seamlessly with CRM, ERP, and payment systems, making it adaptable to business needs. That’s why our strategists and developers especially love it for custom portal solutions.
SilverTech: A Proven Sitefinity Partner for Portal Development
As Sitefinity’s Digital Agency Partner of the Year for two consecutive years, SilverTech has helped businesses build and customize authenticated portals that improve customer engagement and streamline operations. Unlike other agencies that leverage Sitefinity solely as a CMS, SilverTech’s advanced engineering teams have extended Sitefinity’s capabilities across many companies’ entire ecosystems. Successfully integrating Sitefinity with CRM, MA, ERP, Commerce, and other business functions, we have created secure, integrated, and high-performing digital experiences.
Here are a few Sitefinity capabilities that make it an excellent choice for portal development:
- Personalization – Deliver tailored content based on user roles and behavior.
- Integrations & API Connectivity – Easily connect with CRMs, ERPs, and third-party systems.
- Secure Self-Service – Enable secure logins, account management, and transactions. The Sitefinity product line is SOC2 and SAMM certified and offers HIPAA and GDPR compliance.
Portal Site of the Year: Palmer Gas & Oil
A great example of Sitefinity’s value in action is SilverTech’s work with Palmer Gas & Oil. Palmer needed a modern, user-friendly customer portal to replace an outdated system that was frustrating for users. SilverTech developed a custom Sitefinity-based portal that:
- Improved Self-Service Options – Customers can easily manage their accounts, pay bills, and request service without needing customer support.
- Integrated Seamlessly – The portal connects with BlueCow CRM and QualPay for automated transactions and streamlined business operations.
- Increased Efficiency – By reducing friction in the customer experience, Palmer Gas & Oil saw improved customer satisfaction and fewer manual processes for staff.
Final Thoughts
Sitefinity’s placement as a Niche Player validates that the platform can and will deliver for businesses that want a powerful digital experience without unnecessary costs and complexity. As Partner of the Year, SilverTech knows how to turn Sitefinity’s capabilities into true business value for our customers.
If your organization is looking for a smarter, more cost-effective way to improve digital experiences or build customized customer/employee portals, let us know and we’d be happy to help.
