Kyle DeBoer has ridden a motorcycle to all 48 lower states and six Canadian provinces. In 2024, he covered more than 1,000 miles in a single day for an Iron Butt ride. None of those trips had a fixed destination. His career hasn’t either, and community bankers across South Dakota are better for it.
DeBoer joined The Advantage Network earlier this year, but the relationships he’s building with South Dakota’s community banks are the product of a career built on one opportunity at a time, not a map he drew years ago.
Starting Somewhere Unexpected
DeBoer’s path into financial services started in college, when a friend told him about an opening selling credit cards over the phone at Norwest Financial. DeBoer was working toward a two-year degree at Southeast Tech in Sioux Falls at the time and would go on to complete a four-year degree at Colorado Tech University while building his career.
“[The friend] told me it was incredibly hard,” DeBoer said. “But it was a good company with good benefits, so he encouraged me to apply.”
It turned out to be one of the toughest jobs he’s had. Cold-calling people across the country to sell credit cards means hearing “no” far more often than “yes.” But it taught him lessons that have shaped every job since.
“That job teaches you perseverance and how to handle the word no, because you hear it a lot,” he said. “There are days you’ll have a lot of good sales, and days you won’t, and you have to learn how to work through that. It taught me a ton about the financial services industry, and about sales in general.”
Good leaders at the company, later Wells Fargo Financial, mentored him along the way. Rather than plotting his next move years in advance, DeBoer said yes when new opportunities came up, treating each new role as a chance to build skills he didn’t have yet. It’s a pattern that’s carried him from those early sales calls to where he sits today, supporting community banks across the state.
A Detour Through Car Sales
Before landing at The Advantage Network, DeBoer spent three years as general manager at a car dealership in Edgerton, Minnesota — his family’s business, now run by his cousin. He managed staff and sold cars and service contracts, work that sharpened the same skills he’d need later: reading people, building trust, and staying the course through a long sales process.
When a role opened up at The Advantage Network, people he already knew at First National Bank, which owns Advantage, encouraged him to consider it. A conversation with Chief Operations Officer Drew Woelfel, and it fell into place.
“I wasn’t really looking at the time, but it just kind of worked out,” DeBoer said.
Relationships First
Now several months into his role, DeBoer is still learning the systems and products, but he already understands what sets community bank vendor relationships apart. Where car sales and credit card sales many times closed in a day, financial institution contracts for EFT services can take months or years to come together.
“I understand this isn’t going to be a tomorrow deal,” he said.
What doesn’t change is the importance of relationships, something DeBoer heard firsthand on his very first conference trip with the team, when longtime customers approached to say how much they valued the partnership.
“They told us, ‘We love you guys because you answer the phone and you know us,’” DeBoer said. “For some of these smaller institutions, when they call the bigger providers, they’re not a priority. Our goal is: call us, we’ll figure it out, we’ll fix it, and we’ll get back to you.”
DeBoer points to one bank’s experience as proof of what the right partnership can do.
“Before moving to The Advantage Network, the institution was actually losing money on its EFT services. After the switch, those losses turned into a profit, and the EFT program became a meaningful source of non-interest income,” explained DeBoer.
“It’s a great example of how the right partner can turn an expense into a meaningful source of non-interest income,” DeBoer said.
That responsiveness shows up in the day-to-day work supporting South Dakota’s community banks. When a bank calls in with a wave of fraudulent debit card activity, the team can move fast to shut it down. And as more institutions shift to contactless payments, DeBoer’s colleagues, a team with more than 150 years of experience altogether, help guide banks of every size and comfort level with technology through the transition.
“It’s a big thing, and it’s still a process for a lot of these institutions,” DeBoer said. “But the team makes it work every single day.”
Off the Clock
Outside of work, DeBoer calls himself a “garage guy,” happiest tinkering with bikes and vehicles, trying new restaurants around Sioux Falls, and spending time with family and friends.
He’s also spent years volunteering with local FFA students, helping them practice interview skills through mock interviews, resumes, formal dress, and the whole process. It’s a program he started while at the dealership in Edgerton and will continue at First National Bank, which gives full-time teammates paid time off specifically for volunteering.
“A lot of kids just aren’t taught interview skills, and not everybody goes to college where they’d learn it,” DeBoer said. “I think it’s exceptionally important that they get that experience in high school.”
No Fixed Destination
Asked what he wants South Dakota community bankers to know about him and The Advantage Network, DeBoer doesn’t talk about products.
“We’re not about selling a product or adding another vendor to your list,” he said. “We want a true partnership, one that works both ways. If they’re not getting what they need from us, then we aren’t satisfied. That’s what we really want people to know: we’re going to be a service and a partnership, and when there’s an issue, we’re going to answer the phone and get to the bottom of it.”
No fixed destination, no set plan. Just steady miles and the relationships built along the way.
