Blog Entries

Two-tier trend seen in mortgage delinquency pattern

arovira — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:39:41 +0100

Looking beneath
surface finds reason for optimism

By Steve Cocheo,
executive editor & digital content mgr.

There's more than what meets the eye.

TransUnion unveiled research this week in [...]

SNL Report: Net branch openings minimal

arovira — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:21:14 +0100

Only five states see net increase in
offices

By Lindsey White and Tahir Ali, SNL Financial staff writers

The pace of bank branch openings slowed dramatically in the
first quarter, reflecting changing customer behavior and the [...]

First Person: Peace of the long-distance rider

arovira — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:37:06 +0100

Racing through America helps banker slow down

Jim Lewien rides Dublin in one of the annual “Happy Jack” races held in the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming.

By Steve Cocheo, executive editor & digital content manager

[...]

SNL Report: Private equity mostly ignores banking sector

arovira — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:27:07 +0100

Few PE investments
seen in last 12 months

By Andy Pierce and Maria Tor,
SNL Financial staff writers

Bank stocks have seen little new private equity activity
over the last 12 months.

SNL identified 23 major-exchange-tr [...]

WHO HOLDS THE GAVEL? AND OTHER MODERN BOARDROOM ISSUES

jgerrish — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

As crisis days fade, a fresh look at community bank governance

* * *

What should community banks' boards be doing now?

Now that the industry is recovering, I think it's time for the boards to focus more attention on matters other than asset quality and bank liquidity. Many of the boards need to begin an inward focus on issues of corporate governance and corporate risk. [...]

WHY LENDERS SHOULD CARE ABOUT CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

eoleary — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Controls and oversight keep the bank's eyes on the compass

* * *

There's been a lot of heat generated over whether the roles of board chairman and chief executive officer should be split. Frankly, I think it's probably a good idea--though there's hardly a consensus behind it either within or outside of the banking industry. And how banks make decisions about such issues in the corner of [...]

Idea Exchange: Muni loans a win-win for de novo bank

arovira — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:33:10 +0100

Wedbush
Bank finds niche between bond
houses and big lenders

Municipal
lending in lieu of bonds gives Wedbush Bank a fresh income source, and helps
local government [...]

WORKBOOK: Your choice�dental work or a meeting?

arovira — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:22:37 +0100

Book excerpt makes
meetings easier to make first
choice

Which would you rather do, go to a meeting? Or go to the
dentist?

If the dentist's chair looks pretty good compared to conferen [...]

FDIC rep says agency becoming nervous about false, malicious posts

arovira — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:56:28 +0100

By John Ginovsky

Just as banks use social media,
FDIC tweets and posts and friends as well, but lately an agency official voiced
concerns over new risks that such communications could pose to the deposit
insurance fund.

In particular, said [...]

ICONify Your website!

danfisher — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Tactile-based technology, or in other words the touch screen interface, has become the de facto standard for computing devices and we didn't even see it coming.

Apple, Microsoft, and Google are fighting for market share. The battle has just begun. Apple, for the longest time, owned the mobilit [...]

All things mobile

jginovsky — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Often when they are discussed, mobile banking and mobile payments exist independent of each other, as if they are developing in their own silos and are seemingly unrelated in all but the most indirect ways.

The glaring fact, however, is that mobile banking and mobile payments share the property of mobility, and mobility, as analysts have noted recently, is the future of everything.
[...]

Top Performers 2013: Part 2--The Mid-Size Banks

arovira — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:02:20 +0100

Banks,
Savings Institutions, and BHCs with assets between $1 billion and $10 billion

The second part of the 2 [...]

Book Review: Solid skills guide for new managers

arovira — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:46:50 +0100

Newbies—and
veterans—should attend this "boot
camp"



AMA Business Boot
Camp: Management and Leadership Fundamentals That Will See You Successfully
Through Your Career. AMACOM Books. Edited by Edward T. Reilly, 236 pp.

TRANSFORM YOUR BANK WITH SOCIAL MEDIA INSIGHTS

arovira — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Social is a 24/7 focus group—and you don't have to buy them lunch

*   *   *

By Steven J. Ramirez, CEO, Beyond the Arc

Social media has become a full-on business necessity for optimal customer communication needs. Although social media is revolutionizing the way businesses communicate wit [...]

KEEP PROPER RECORDS FOR POSTERITY, OR SUFFER POSTERIORLY

nderr — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Increasingly regulators seems to be biting banks for record retention errors

*   *   *

Just about every regulation has a record retention component.

Sometimes the regulation requires the retention of specific documents for a specific period of time, like adverse action notices under Regulation B (for 25 months) or HUD-1 Settlement Statements [...]

IF CHARACTER IS #1 "C," THEN WHAT IS #2?

eoleary — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The answer is also a community bank fundamental

*   *   *

Bankers are trained as an article of faith that Character is the top C of Credit. If we all agree that this is so, the next question is, which of the other four comes in second?

Not all Cs are alike

It may never have occurred to you that the Cs of Credit, that list of principles on [...]

SNL Regional Report: More M&A talk in South

arovira — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:24:56 +0100

So far, talk is cheap, and pricing cautious

By Nathan Stovall and Robert Clark, SNL staff writers

Banks are now willing to have strategic conversations and
consider M&A in the South.

The South is home to the [...]

It�s a war out there

jginovsky — Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Shields are down! Hull breach imminent! Take evasive action!

Such Star Trekian references should be taken at least semiseriously, in light of a number of studies, analyses, and vendor offerings released recently regarding business, and banking, preparedness-or lack thereof-to fraud, intrusion, and disruption.

Ju [...]

BAG OF CHIPS: How to issue EMV cards with enhanced security and efficiency

arovira — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:55:14 +0100

By Alan Fontanella, vice president of Product Marketing for Secure
Issuance HID Global

The company is a provider of access
control products and solutions and card printers/encoders.

The payments industry is quickly
moving toward worl [...]

Boardroom Aid: How to speak geek

arovira — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:58:39 +0100

30 common IT terms explained in plain
language

Technology changes so
rapidly and terminology grows broader and wider. Here's how to understand what the
heck the bank's tech people are saying.

By Michael A. Scott [...]