Bankers often think of strategic planning in the fall, sometimes in conjunction with the annual budgeting process, but I want to encourage you to think about strategic planning now. If you want to conduct strategic planning successfully this fall, you really need to begin preparing now. [Continue]
Banks these days offer some payment transactions in real time, others in simulated real time, and still others in a day or two. But the pressure is on. In a culture where people “want it now,” faster payments is a resolute rallying cry for most financial services professionals. [Continue]
For a long time, it seemed as if the deck was stacked against community banks. But now, some of that imbalance has shifted in favor of community banks. In May 2018, President Trump signed into law the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. One of many bank-friendly aspects of the new law is a change in treatment of most reciprocal deposits. [Continue]
Making sure you have the best technology solutions in place for your community bank is tough enough. Making a change in order to save your bank money or to obtain better service should be an option open to every bank. For this reason, you want to make sure you never accept a vendor contract which imposes a large “deconversion fee” on your bank. [Continue]
What makes a strong Enterprise Risk Management program? How do you know you’re asking the right questions? You develop strong risk assessments. [Continue]
The 2018 World Series starts tomorrow. What do Major League Baseball and the banking industry have in common? Data analytics. Here’s what bankers can learn from America’s pastime. [Continue]
For many community banks, deposits are a big issue. Statistics show that deposits are coming into the banking system, but most customers are stashing their cash with the bigs. [Continue]
Reasonably Expected Market Area is a tool used in fair lending examinations, but you won’t find a standard definition in any federal law or regulation. [Continue]
The important thing to remember is that it is not the financial institution’s responsibility to convict someone, but rather to report activity that appears suspicious in nature. [Continue]
Mid-year seems like a good time to pause and consider four issues bankers need to get right if they hope to succeed through the remainder of this year and well into the future. [Continue]