�TWEENER� POWER: TRUST, IN MAN AND BANK

scocheo — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Midsized community bank finds niche in trust service--as did its CEO

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By Steve Cocheo, executive editor & digital content manager

Bill Grant and his bank, First United, have something in common: A strong interest in Trust. It’s a distinction that sets both apart from many peers. Being able to maintain a robust and profitable trust operation is one of the “tweener” advantages that [...]

COLLECTIBLE INK: A BANKER AND HIS BOOKS

scocheo — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Book collector Bill Grant specializes in modern signed first editions

A sampling of a few of the over 150 signed first editions that Maryland banker Bill Grant has collected. He’s built the collection personally, having them signed face-to-face, or through persevering research. (Photo by David Hathcox.)

BLACK FRIDAY, CYBERMONDAY, AND NATIONAL GIFT CARD EVE

scocheo — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0100

You’re in good company at the gift card mall

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By Steve Cocheo, executive editor

Ever visit the gift card rack at your local pharmacy, or even a local bank with a marketing bent, and found the store or brand of choice all gone? If you practice brinksmanship on your gift giving, you’ve got a lot of company.

We were recently discussing trends in closed-loop prepaid transaction ca [...]

DON�T JUST ASSUME YOU KNOW WHAT GEN Y WANTS

scocheo — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0100

Ohio banker’s group sometimes contradicts the stereotypes

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Executive Editor Steve Cocheo came upon this story in the course of running a roundtable discussion about community bank human resources issues. The roundtable will appear in the January 2012 magazine edition.

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Paul Siebenmorgen’s Farmers and Merchants State Bank started a Gen Y advisory group a while back [...]

DODD, FRANK, AND STRESSED FISH

scocheo — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0100

… Or, if you prefer, Maryland maple syrup, buckwheat pancakes, and regulatory burdens

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By Steve Cocheo, executive editor

It’s the start of my second day visiting community banker Bill Grant and his staff in Oakland, Md., and we’re sitting in an eatery that would be trendy in New York or Washington, but in Oakland is just part of life: Englander’s. (You’ll be reading more abou [...]

SALES ADVICE FROM CONVENTION CIRCUIT

bstreeter — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:00:00 +0100

Customers are starving for guidance. Try thinking like a dentist • • • It’s experience they’re looking for
“Sales culture” equals “customer experience” to Daniela O’Leary-Gill, and the banker urges fellow bankers to dramatically shift their mindset about what that experience is.

Speaking at this fall’s Retail Delivery Conference, O’Leary-Gill, SVP, small business and personal banking for [...]

GOOGLE TAKES TO YOUTUBE TO HYPE WALLET

scocheo — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 01:00:00 +0100

Who knew George Costanza could be leading edge?

• • •

By Steve Cocheo, executive editor

Have you read ABA Banking Journal’s September cover story, “Mobile money at stake?”, about the Google Wallet and other digital wallet projects that are underway? Our Table of Contents asks “Are the days of the leather wallet stuffed with plastic going, going, gone?” The [...]

EAR TO THE GROUND FINDS A MIXED STORY AMONG COMMUNITY BANKERS

scocheo — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:00:00 +0100

Pockets here and there happier than the "norm"

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By Steve Cocheo, executive editor

Sometimes the best ideas stand right in front of you.

[...]

�Loose Change� from ABA�s National Conference for Community Bankers

bstreeter — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

ABA’s annual National Conference for Community Bankers, held in
February 2011 in San Diego, was chock full of useful sessions and
hallway seminars for bankers. We’ll be presenting reports from the
meeting elsewhere on the website and in the magazine. But, in the
spirit of Reporter’s Notes, some items deserved highlighting that might
otherwise be missed.

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By Bill Streeter, editor-in-chief< [...]

MARKING 100 YEARS OF CHECKS GETTING TO THE RIGHT PLACE

scocheo — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

System launched in 1911 by ABA and Accuity honored by Smithsonian affiliate

• • •

By Steve Cocheo, executive editor, scocheo@sbpub.com

Years ago when I was a cub at ABA Banking Journal, I read a batch of letters a bank had received from children about the banking system. It was part of an essay contest.

One stood out, for me, all these years: “How banks make all tho [...]

COUNTRY BANKING WISDOM, SPUN BY A CPA TURNED FINANCIER

scocheo — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100

McCall Wilson knows the community banking way

• • •

By Steve Cocheo, executive editor

McCall Wilson, left, president of The Bank of Fayette County, Tenn., inspects a bottle of hot sauce handed him by Wally Witmer. Witmer isn’t really runni [...]

HARD WORK AND PERSEVERANCE: SITTING FOR A SPELL WITH JOE MOSS

scocheo — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100
From rural Tennesee, a story about work ethic

• • •

By Steve Cocheo, executive editor

Taking a moment at ease at home, Joe Moss tells the story of how his business began with a call from him father to come back home from Memphis and jo [...]

�WHY I DIDN�T FIRE THE LENDER WHO MESSED UP� AND OTHER STORIES: A CHAT WITH �BANKER X�

scocheo — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100
The unbankerly thoughts of "Mr. X"

• • •

By Steve Cocheo, executive editor, scocheo@sbpub.com After you read this blog, read "Talking Credit" blogger Ed O'Leary's take on his view and on lessons younger lender particularly can learn from this banker's views

A senior officer had screwed up.

He knew it. The CEO knew it.

And th [...]

A BOOK THAT BRINGS BETTER EXAMS? AND IT�S FREE?

scocheo — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100
Community banker finds a key to banker-examiner communication

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By Steve Cocheo, executive editor, scocheo@sbpub.com

Many bankers these days feel they and their federal examiners aren’t on the same page. The solution may be easier to find than you’d think.

The other day a community banker and I were talking about industry conditions, and he said he&rsquo [...]

TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT MYSTERY SHOPPING

scocheo — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:00:00 +0100
There's new opportunity in an old reliable

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By Steve Cocheo, executive editor, scocheo@sbpub.com

“People aren’t connecting the dots,” says Chad Watkins, manager of the
market intelligence group at Informa Research Services. Many bank
customer service representatives don’t pick up on the clues that will
help them put customers into the best combinations of pr [...]

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