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

Growth Strategies for Any Economic Environment

In times of uncertainty, organizations have a tendency to put the brakes on, losing sight of long-term strategic initiatives and established growth goals. However, history has taught us that the decisions your bank makes today will have lasting implications tomorrow. Business as usual will return and our strategic initiatives and growth goals will still be … Read more

Pandemic Banking: A Prologue to the Future

“What’s past is prologue.” —William Shakespeare, The Tempest I cannot see the future. Honestly, I am struggling to keep up with the present—but I am taking notes. These notes will serve as the prologue for a future in which there will be plenty of questions about what banks did or did not do to put … Read more