FAQ
Bank Innovation
JUNE 29, 2012
This is where frequently asked questions and answers would go. 1. How do I submit a post?
Bank Innovation
JUNE 29, 2012
This is where frequently asked questions and answers would go. 1. How do I submit a post?
Jeff For Banks
OCTOBER 28, 2012
'Banking is becoming increasingly and irreversibly data driven. The amount of information we collect on customers exceed most industries, with the possible exception of the medical industry. Much like medical, the information we collect is highly personal. Since outsiders (i.e. thieves) want our money, this data is constantly under hacker siege. But, in my experience, bankers don''t often effectively use the data they have for good.
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Money and Payments
NOVEMBER 27, 2012
'The last month, the ECB published a report on virtual currency schemes. I have been reading this with great interest as it signals the involvement of the central banks in a new area: virtual currrencies. The relevance of this report must therefore not be misunderstood. We should remember that in 1994, the EMI-report on pre-paid cards signalled the start of the regulation of prepaid-cards and electronic money products.
Bank Innovation
AUGUST 9, 2012
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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Jeff For Banks
NOVEMBER 3, 2012
'I had a very interesting conversation with a bank client today. He called me to discuss, among other things, his bank''s expansion strategy. During the discussion, I mentioned that I had recently driven by one of his branches and that it was the biggest in town. What he said about it inspired this post. Being the biggest branch in town, in terms of square footage, is not something cheered among industry pundits these days.
Community Banking Brief brings together the best content for Community Banking professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Jeff For Banks
FEBRUARY 19, 2012
'My firm constantly evaluates industry trends and happenings to formulate what we term our Industry Overview. Although a constant process involving hypothesis, research, and re-evaluation, we center our thinking annually to ensure we properly debate, debunk, and determine where our industry is moving. As part of the process, our staff does a lot of research.
Jeff For Banks
MARCH 10, 2012
'I recently taught Bank Profitability to a Washington Bankers'' school. As part of the curriculum, we discussed the cost structure of financial institutions and how it impacts decision making. True to the subject, we discussed using product profitability data to make decisions. For example, if a product is unprofitable, should we make changes to it or cut our losses?
Jeff For Banks
FEBRUARY 11, 2012
'I hope the title of this post compelled you to read its contents. If so, I suppose you are expecting me to offer my opinion on the most recent thought leadership on word-of-mouth and direct mail marketing. But I will not. Instead, I will offer you my opinion on a book whose author is not 100% known, but thought to be a Syrian from Antioch named Luke.
Jeff For Banks
SEPTEMBER 15, 2012
'According to an ABA survey (see table), I doubt it. I am speaking at the upcoming ABA Marketing Conference next week. Well, maybe not as much speaking as appearing. Mary Beth Sullivan and I are appearing as guests of Susquehanna Bank''s Susan Bergen, in an Oprah like talk show format. I suggested Saturday Night Live''s Point-Counterpoint format, but it was rejected.
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Jeff For Banks
NOVEMBER 24, 2012
'Reality shows are generally not my thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m often subjected to the genre because I submit to family preferences. How else would I know that Emmitt Smith is quite the twinkle toes. But, while channel surfing, I discovered Shark Tank. On Shark Tank (see the clip below), entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of angel investors, known as sharks, to win funding for their enterprise.
Jeff For Banks
MAY 2, 2012
'About 10 years ago my firm analyzed the hundreds of branches in our profitability database to determine exactly what is "critical mass". We sorted by pre-tax profit contribution as a percent of branch deposits, and further sorted by "direct" profits and "fully-absorbed" profits. The results were not surprising to me. In order to be profitable on a direct cost basis, a branch needed to be $9.5 million in deposits, on average.
Jeff For Banks
JANUARY 21, 2012
'Financial institutions are currently struggling to identify the next generation leaders. Should we fall back on our old playbook, selecting highly "experienced bankers" that have been around and are likely to be the mantle bearers for the good old days, or should we think differently? The manner at which we choose leaders is not very effective, in my opinion.
Jeff For Banks
JANUARY 3, 2012
'When performing ratio analysis to determine a company''s profitability we should remember that a ratio has at least two data points: a numerator and a denominator. It doesn''t matter if it is banking, retailing, or widget making. In banking, the standard profitability ratio has long been return on equity (ROE). That is. until the financial crisis of 2007-08.
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Jeff For Banks
JUNE 17, 2012
'You recently read an excellent book on strategy. Your financial institution faces challenges. economy is crawling at road-kill pace, customers struggling to remain current on loans, regulators breathing hot and heavy down your neck. You need to assemble the team, assess your situation, chart your course. So you schedule a strategic planning retreat.
Jeff For Banks
DECEMBER 21, 2012
'The Gospel of Matthew reads (Chapter 2): "When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ''Where is the newborn king of the Jews?'' We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." King Herod dispatched them to Bethlehem. Matthew''s Gospel goes on to say: "And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
Jeff For Banks
AUGUST 29, 2012
'Retained earnings. I make a living helping financial institutions be as profitable as feasible. Why? To perpetuate their business model. This is how I feed my family. But profits have been under pressure since 2008. First, FIs experienced pressure in their investment portfolios, purchasing Fannie Mae preferred''s and other FIs trust preferred securities.
Jeff For Banks
DECEMBER 2, 2012
'Bloggers pepper me with insights on how to be a more successful blogger. One such insight is to create a compelling title. In this regard, this blog''s title is an outright fail. Try to say it three times fast! I recently sat in front of a client board committee reviewing the bank''s strategic alternatives (see a prior post on performing such analysis here ).
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Jeff For Banks
JULY 20, 2012
'The regulatory definition of "well capitalized" has not changed post financial crisis. Tier 1 leverage ratio: 5% Tier 1 risk-based ratio: 6% Total risk-based ratio: 10% So where is all of this belly aching about capital requirements coming from? It has come from three places, in my opinion. 1. IMCRs When the financial crisis struck, and FIs began to falter, regulators were issuing regulatory orders (supervisory agreements, written agreements, cease & desist orders, and memorandum of underst
Jeff For Banks
JUNE 26, 2012
'I am attending the Financial Managers'' Society ( FMS ) Forum in Las Vegas this week. The Forum is chock full of education opportunities for banking finance professionals. One session caught my attention. The tandem speakers taught the audience about going "long", or at least longer, in their investment portfolio and minimizing risk. One of the underlying assumptions in advising to "go long" was that core deposits were as stable today as they were four years ago.
Jeff For Banks
MAY 21, 2012
'I am sitting at Gate 124 in Orlando waiting for my ride home from a long journey. Prior to Orlando, it was Dallas. In Dallas, I taught bank profitability and strategic planning at the ABA School of Bank Marketing Management. The school is a two year program designed to transform up-and-coming marketing professionals into well rounded bank leaders. I have written a post on these pages regarding training programs (see Are your employees ESWS qualified?
Jeff For Banks
APRIL 15, 2012
'On a recent plane ride I sat next to the Commander of the NCO Academy at Fort Jackson, South Carolina (see picture from one of last year''s classes). He is a reservist, and had interesting perspectives on how the military operates versus private industry. In his "real life", he is a sales manager for a pharmaceutical company. One form of training I fondly recall from my Navy days was Navy Leadership Development school, or NAVLEAD.
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Jeff For Banks
MARCH 4, 2012
'I frequently hear lamentations about the gap between the performance expectations of community financial institution (FI) personnel and performance results. A frequent challenge is that performance expectations are not documented in the form of job descriptions. Instead, expectations are often trapped between the ears of the supervisor or senior management.
Jeff For Banks
JANUARY 28, 2012
'Community financial institutions are grappling with the recent and pending mortgage rules. We fear the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) and government''s tendency to fire a bazooka at an ant, causing tremendous collateral damage. New rules aside, we were not that significant in the mortgage market anyway. Aggressive mortgage brokers hawking products and programs from money center and category killer banks, and government or quasi government agencies such as Fannie and Freddie, were kil
Jeff For Banks
JANUARY 7, 2012
'My family recently shopped around our homeowners and auto insurance to ensure we were getting a fair shake. We used to use an insurance agent for life, auto, and homeowners. I place value in having an agent because they have access to a number of insurance companies (if an independent agent) and should have our best interests in mind. The owner of the agency is a director at a bank, which is a bonus.
Jeff For Banks
DECEMBER 13, 2012
'Welcome to my first installment of jfb Toons, a cynical look at how financial institutions operate. In this version, I migrate from the strategy development retreat to how that strategy is translated to day to day execution. I am occasionally confronted with facilitating plans for clients, only to come back one year later to find little has changed.
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