Banking

Ask any banker to name the thorns in their side, and chances are they’ll come up with a few usual suspects, like regulatory compliance and its increasing costs. Since the Great Recession, Other Real Estate Owned (OREO) has earned a spot among those familiar thorns.

Picture it: you are at the next technology conference boasting about how you just spent your entire IT budget to buy the best security equipment on the market. You have earned the admiration of your peers. And then comes a call from the IT department. An employee has compromised your system by clicking on a malicious link in a phishing email, thinking it was a legitimate message from the helpdesk.

American Banker recently released their list of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking. In connection with the release of that annual ranking, they posed the question, “Does gender matter in banking?”

On January 1, 2015, community banks will begin the transition to new Basel III rules. These new capital requirements coming from the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency promise to complicate the way that U.S. banks calculate deferred tax assets (DTAs) and deferred tax liabilities (DTLs).

I have fond memories of working as a bank teller in a small town during my college years, serving customers and hearing their stories. I’ll never forget my first Friday. It seemed like I’d cashed a thousand checks and it’s a miracle I balanced my drawer. But nothing was more satisfying than handing a smiling worker the cash they’d earned over a long, hard week.

Recently, I had the privilege of discussing The Big Deal About Big Data at the 2014 Louisiana Bankers Association Technology Conference. While the topic of Big Data historically has been discussed primarily in the halls of the marketing department, more and more, it is becoming a strategic focus across the organization. The reasons for that are many, but as always, the numbers tell the most convincing story.

Recently, I had a great reminder of the art and importance of communication. I am an avid (okay, borderline obsessed) golfer. I am constantly trying to figure out ways to better my game, with an ultimate goal of lowering my handicap to a three.

Once considered a service exclusive to large banks, wealth management has become a growing source of non-interest income for community banks.

Last weekend, my wife, teenage daughters, and I took part in Toyota TeenDrive 365. Toyota offers this interactive defensive driving education program with a stated goal of creating the next generation of safe drivers. 

Hundreds of members of the banking industry descended upon our nation’s capital this week for the AICPA National Conference on Banks & Savings Institutions.

The Federal Reserve is set to end its downward pressure on interest rates by the end of 2014, coinciding with the end-of-draw period for many HELOC borrowers. It poses what many in the housing and financial industries are labeling a crisis level risk. 

It seems every time you turn around, there is a new regulation creating unique opportunities, challenges and risks for banks. The new Basel III capital rules are no different, and for S corporations the capital conservation buffer could have a significant impact on future tax distributions.

Jeff Bezos launched Amazon.com on July 16, 1995 with a vision of a virtual bookstore powered by (relatively uncharted) e-commerce technology. He built a strategy, took a chance, and within a few short months, Amazon had sold books in 45 different countries. Sales hit $20,000 a week – astounding for a start-up in any industry.