David Krause, chair of the Minnesota Bankers Association, lays out lessons for the COVID-19 pandemic from previous crises, the impact of the Paycheck Protection Program on small businesses and whether the work-from-home shift remains post-pandemic. [Continue]
Engage People is a fintech startup providing rewards programs that link together customers, small businesses and banks. Len Covello, chief technology officer of the global technology provider, explains how reaching people with technology changes during and after the events currently shaking the world. [Continue]
Brian Love, head of depository search and community bank advisory with The Travillian Group, lays out how the pandemic is affecting HR and staffing, how community banks’ handling of the PPP rollout helped them and what banking jobs are most in demand now. “It’s easy to speak negatively right now, but it really is an … Read more
With so many businesses struggling with diminished or no revenue during forced closures, community-minded banks have stepped up to answer the calls for help and disburse emergency funding. Lenders everywhere have been under enormous pressure to meet the overwhelming demand – and meet it quickly. But even amidst such challenging circumstances, banks’ burden to “get it right” still exists. [Continue]
Dwight Larsen, president/CEO of United Bankers’ Bank in Bloomington, Minn., shares his thoughts on how the pandemic has changed the flow of the workday, the impact on energy and tourism and what’s ahead for CRE. [Continue]
By March 31, three out of four Americans worked from home. Bank lobbies were locked, phone lines redirected, video chats had replaced corridor confabs. All for the greater good, the public health professionals had said, and hadn’t most of us quickly assented? [Continue]
Daniel Marcotte, veteran ombudsman for the FDIC’s Chicago region, and Brent Klanderud, recently appointed ombudsman for the FDIC’s Kansas City region, spent several days this spring visiting with industry professionals to explain how they advocate for bankers who might be dissatisfied with their examiner processes or the end result. [Continue]
With consumer spending amounting to 70 percent of domestic economic activity, lagging confidence ripples to negative effect. Perhaps this explains why, on March 26, as millions filed for unemployment, and as a handful of Senators debated how much relief jobless Americans needed (or deserved), Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell did the unexpected. He went mainstream. [Continue]
The staff at Cross Financial has migrated to working remotely and the change is providing a significant learning opportunity. While I have enjoyed working from my home office with the sounds of our neighborhood and spring breezes streaming through my open window, I have discovered why so many years ago, businesses used paperweights. [Continue]
Days after the Colorado State Banking Board became the first regulator to prevent a credit union from buying a bank, First American Bank in Fort Dodge, Iowa, filed an application with the Iowa Division of Banking to cease operations and sell its assets/liabilities to GreenState Credit Union. [Continue]