Let Me Tell You a Story

Let me tell you a story. It’s not my story, but it is one I seem to be hearing a lot these days: The world of financial services is changing. It is changing fast. Everything is shifting overnight. Even while you sleep, someone is getting a leg up on you. As a banker, you are … Read more

The COVID Cost Shift

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted banking. Changing consumer behavior has created new habits that will last a lifetime. Remaining relevant in an evolving competitive landscape reshaped by the pandemic is the challenge. Financial institutions that successfully realign network delivery to traverse this challenge will emerge with the ability to capture present and future opportunities. Productivity … Read more

Pandemic Prescience: A New Look at a 2007 Report that Pondered the Economic Impact of Another Event Like the 1918 Influenza

EDITOR’S NOTE: In 2007, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published a paper by economist Thomas A. Garrett, then an assistant vice president at the St. Louis Fed (now an associate professor in economics at the University of Mississippi), entitled Economic Effects of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Implications for a Modern-Day Pandemic. Have those implications … Read more

Community Banking: Survival Above All Else

Take a stroll back in time with me. It was a simpler time. It was an easier time. It was February. In the February 24, 2020, edition of Bankers Digest, I declared that the era of “banking as a service” had arrived. As proof, I pointed to the partnerships between Goldman Sachs and Apple to … Read more

What was Different in the Second Round of PPP in Texas? Part Two of a Study of the Role of Community Banks in Texas

MARK GRIFFITHS, Principal, MG2 Investments LLCMIKE MAULDIN, Director of the Excellence In Banking Program, Texas Tech UniversityDREW WINTERS, Pickering Chair in Finance, Texas Tech University EDITOR’S NOTE: This research paper—part two of a comprehensive look at the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)—was provided by the Excellence in Banking Program at Texas Tech University and offers documentation … Read more

The State of Play with CRA

If COVID-19 and an economic recession are not enough for you to deal with, here’s another regulatory issue that continues to loom over all banks—the Community Reinvestment Act. CRA Exams. First, CRA examinations and release of exam results continue. Lists of banks up for their exam are posted. These should be “virtual” exams in keeping … Read more

Five Ways Your Financial Institution Can Use Digital Tools to Connect With Customers During COVID-19

In response to the continuing challenges related to COVID-19, many financial institutions are relying on digital tools, including document management systems, to keep some semblance of normality. Document management systems are among the digital solutions that help your institution streamline operations and external communication. As financial institutions navigate this unprecedented situation while providing essential services … Read more

Did the Paycheck Protection Program Funds Get to Small Businesses? A Study of the Role of Community Banks in Texas

MARK GRIFFITHS, Principal, MG2 Investments LLCMIKE MAULDIN, Director of the Excellence In Banking Program, Texas Tech UniversityDREW WINTERS, Pickering Chair in Finance, Texas Tech University EDITOR’S NOTE: This research paper was provided by the Excellence in Banking Program at Texas Tech University and provides documentation and valuable insights into the remarkable efforts of community banks … Read more

Navigating the New Bankers Digest

For more than 78 years, Bankers Digest has delivered on a simple promise of providing a people-focused publication to help you keep up with your peers, friends and competitors in the Texas banking industry. While we have been hard at work on this new iteration of the publication the past few months, this promise and … Read more

Staying Socially Connected in a Socially Distanced World

Let’s be honest, COVID-19 is not going away. But social distancing is being replaced with reasonable reopening. As I write this, the news feeds report that 21 reopened states have increasing rates of infection. That means that businesses need to be smart about how they bring customers back in, but it is not likely that … Read more