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]
Growers Edge Financial, Johnston, Iowa, is carving a path as an innovator in melding financial technology into the ag sector. Joe Young, its co-founder and president, offers insight about how these two worlds come together. [Continue]
President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war with China is taking its own toll on the ag industry. But it has come at a time of unprecedented weather events, and the phenomena are a one-two punch. [Continue]
Technology should provide advantages to every user — bank employees, advisors and clients. Technology is flexible, which enables the incorporation of traditional options like paper quarterly reports. It can enhance the relationship with an advisor but is unlikely to completely replace it, and that’s where Sawtooth comes in. [Continue]
LenderClose, a fintech startup based in Des Moines, Iowa, is developing new ways for banks to close deals, particularly in the mortgage market. BankBeat talked to its CEO Omar Jordan about the young company’s take on crossing the finish line. [Continue]
During its first quarter earnings call, executives from Farmer Mac told investors that the financing environment in 2019 has been stable and has exceeded expectations despite trouble in many parts of the ag sector. [Continue]
Invest Sou Sou is a company leveraging tech to create and maintain “lending circles.” This is something of a new twist on an old concept of community-based lending. BankBeat spoke with the company’s co-founder and CEO, Fonta Gilliam, about her career and what lending circles can accomplish. [Continue]
In May, the House Financial Services Committee approved the COUNTER Act to modernize and reform the Bank Secrecy Act. The bipartisan bill (H.R. 2514) sets out to curb money laundering and illicit financial activities. It awaits a vote on the House floor. [Continue]
At the end of 2018, Green Bay, Wis.-based Associated Bank announced it would acquire 32 Wisconsin branches of Huntington National Bank, Columbus, Ohio. That group of offices holds $850 million in deposits and $134 million in loans, lending considerable oomph to Associated’s Wisconsin footprint. [Continue]
Jo Ann Barefoot has been doing a lot of globetrotting lately. Since being named the first female Deputy Comptroller of the Currency in 1978, Barefoot launched a career in the private sector and describes herself as a “serial entrepreneur.” She is currently CEO of Barefoot Innovation Group, something of a think tank for financial technology, regulatory reform and the future of banking. [Continue]