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The increased use of digital banking tools spurred by the social distancing regulations and closing of branches during the coronavirus pandemic creates greater opportunity for hackers — and they are increasingly targeting online and mobile channels to carry out various forms of identity fraud. [Continue]
The Paycheck Protection Program established as part of the CARES Act provides that the Small Business Administration pay processing fees of up to 5 percent to lenders based on the volume of the PPP loans disbursed. Until recently, however, the SBA has remained silent on further guidance, leaving many questions regarding the reporting requirements, fee recognition and timing of receipt of the processing fee unanswered. [Continue]
Though Jeremy Skoglund is a North Dakotan, he’s always been a Cubs fan. As a baseball player growing up, he played in any position he was needed. “Shortstop, pitcher, catcher — wherever.” Skoglund, currently a trust officer at First Western Bank & Trust, Bismarck, N.D., has taken a similar approach to his career in banking. [Continue]
In response to travel bans, school closures and recommendations to limit group gatherings, many community banks are relying on digital tools, including document management systems, to ensure regular communications and to keep some semblance of normality. [Continue]
Kristina K. Williams became president and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines on January 20 of this year, and was soon thereafter reminded that life has a relentless ability to deliver the unexpected. In the earliest days of the pandemic, Williams took charge, organizing a crisis plan, sending roughly 90 percent of her workforce to home offices while keeping 5 percent at the bank’s disaster recovery site and another 5 percent at headquarters. [Continue]
Whether it’s a data breach that exposes private information about your customers to the public, an attack that locks up your servers, or even a full-fledged strike that wipes clean all of your data, bankers need to defend against a range of threats. As the number of devices on which customers expect instant access to their data proliferates, the number of opportunities for bad things to happen notches upward. [Continue]
Do you know how much it costs your bank to process a loan? If the answer is “no,” then how do you know if you are making (or losing) money on the loans you originate? Banks of all sizes experience pressure on profits. Certainly a variety of forces are contributing to any bank’s relevancy in its particular market. [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]
Kent Edson has always been a numbers person. Although he grew up on a farm, Edson didn’t want to be a farmer, so he never took any ag classes. In high school, he worked with the state as an engineer’s aid for an interstate highway system in Sioux Falls, so he thought he’d be an engineer. His high school bookkeeping teacher, however, told him he really should be a CPA. [Continue]
The recent trend of credit unions buying banks has become one of the hot topics in the industry. A credit union purchasing a bank is a relatively complex undertaking, and here’s what community banks need to know in order to make an informed decision. [Continue]