Opinion

What Section 1071 means for banks

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rule implementing Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act has made waves in the banking industry since its announcement in late March.  [Continue]

A case for raising the deposit insurance cap

In an April roundtable hosted by The Brookings Institution, Prasad Krishnamurthy, professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, said the Federal Reserve should consider extending its deposit insurance cap far beyond what it is now. [Continue]

Maybe we don’t need to change deposit insurance

The systemically-important or too-big-to-fail advantage increases the relative cost of funding for community banks. Government can only resolve this unlevel playing field by protecting all deposits at all banks. But that doesn’t mean it should do so.  [Continue]

AI: The next tech disrupter

If you thought the pandemic was a major accelerator on the road to digital transformation, it will soon look like a blip compared to artificial intelligence.  [Continue]

Oversized deposit spreads aren’t compensating for undersized volumes

Executives who focus single-mindedly on cost of funds have missed the exit ramp, and it does not bode well for their organizations. With some art and some science, banks can de-commoditize deposits by segmenting deposit offers in more robust and differentiated ways than those deployed decades ago. Improved sales processes — and training for frontline staff that has not been imperative since 2009 —  can differentiate a bank and bring in profitable funding, though higher-priced, without the detrimental impact of repricing the entire book with across-the-board rate increases. [Continue]

ICBA’s latest ThinkTECH cohort has a lot to offer

I’ve been following the trajectory of the Independent Community Bankers of America’s ThinkTECH program since its inception in 2018. It struck me as an excellent idea then, and year-over-year it has continued to shine a light on fintech startups providing services to community banks. [Continue]

Learning to balance AI usage with human instinct

Reading about big banks chomping at the bit to deploy AI in every space to save a few bucks is an opportunity for community banks to double down on their most resilient attribute: Actually caring about the well-being of their customers and communities. [Continue]