Looking ahead with accuracy depends on getting a clear picture of the past. As 2019 closes, it is worth recalling some of the year’s developments in order to see where things may be going, from the economy and pot banking to technology and political leadership. [Continue]
The 5,256 commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the FDIC made $57.4 billion in aggregate net income in third quarter 2019, down $4.5 billion or 7.3 percent from a year ago. [Continue]
Bremer Financial Corporation, the holding company for St. Paul, Minn.-based Bremer Bank, announced November 19 it had filed a lawsuit in Ramsey County District Court to “protect its employees, shareholders and customers, and other local stakeholders from the Otto Bremer Trust’s hostile takeover attempt,” according to a statement. [Continue]
The sputtering economy has everyone “searching for yield,” commented Creighton University Economist Ernest Goss, who addressed bankers in Des Moines, Iowa on Nov. 14. Goss and other speakers at the half-day seminar hosted by the Eide Bailly accounting firm, shared concerns about the economy and banking sector conditions, but generally offered upbeat industry assessments. [Continue]
It’s no secret that at banks across the country — big and small — most of the people sitting in the CEO’s seat or on the board have traditionally been men. Yet, some community banks have quietly redrawn that blueprint by offering workplace initiatives, such as family friendliness, flexibility and mentoring opportunities, which foster female leadership. [Continue]
There are banks engaged in newsworthy initiatives all across this country. Maine’s Bangor Savings Bank caught my eye recently, not only because it provides tuition reimbursement, but because it has partnered with Husson University to allow its employees to earn undergraduate credit for work done at the bank. [Continue]
Kathleen Kraninger, the Trump-selected director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is emerging as a very intriguing public official. Criticized early on as inexperienced, Kraninger has turned out to be refreshingly selfless. Confirmed by the Senate last December on a straight-line party vote, Kraninger is attempting to take partisan politics out of the CFPB leadership job. [Continue]
Peg Scott doesn’t play the blame game but neither does she settle. It was an inclination toward positive action which sparked Scott to pursue a college degree as a non-traditional student after being passed over for a promotion, spurred her to assemble a group of investors to buy the bank where she worked, and inspired her to be a leader with the Iowa Bankers Association. [Continue]
ClickSwitch is a Minneapolis-based fintech with a simple goal: Make it easier for people to switch banks. The company started with a focus on moving automatic payments between banks but soon learned the key was to move direct deposit information. [Continue]
Demographic trends are reshaping the U.S. labor force, leading economists and policymakers to rethink the key macroeconomic parameters that drive decision making, and reassess their views about the economy’s longer-run growth potential. Like melting glaciers, changes in global demographics are difficult to see in the near term, but over time they will reshape the landscape. [Continue]