The Banker Next Door

The SBA has doubled the combined limit on 7(a) and 504 loans from $5 million to $10 million. This is the largest financing ceiling in the history of the agency. This is a tremendous opportunity particularly for companies in manufacturing, construction, logistics, distribution, and food production. In addition, time is running out for fee waivers the SBA enacted for 2026. The SBA is waiving upfront and annual fees on 504 manufacturi...

This survey includes responses from bank CEOs and board directors. The focus of the survey is around bank board governance. The key findings in this year’s report include AI in the boardroom, strategic planning, board assessments, virtual attendance, policy review, and debanking scrutiny. Additional insights include artificial intelligence adoption in the boardroom remains low, 39% of boards conduct an annual assessment, many...

Bank News: Alma Bank to acquire in-state peer American Community Bank. Federal Reserve approves Santander-Webster merger. Augustus (formerly Ivy) receives FDIC approval to launch bank. Huntingdon Bank sees increased deposit cost competition. WSFS sees persistent deposit competition. Central Bancompany sees stable deposit costs. Seacoast reports lower deposit costs. BCB Bancorp got “too deep” in unfamiliar businesses, wh...

Four companies are currently racing to develop tokenized deposit networks. The companies include The Clearing House Payments Co., The Cari Network, The Hazel Network, and The DTX Consortium. The Clearing House and Cari Network are being developed by the big banks. The Hazel Network is trying to create more of a niche by allowing customer deposits to convert into digital tokens and then issue, transfer, and redeem them as stablecoin...

The SLOOS is a quarter survey of senior bank loan officers that the Federal Reserve puts out quarterly. It measures bank credit underwriting standards and loan demand. The 2nd quarter showed an increase in demand for commercial C&I loans with spreads tightening for large and middle-market firms. For commercial real estate, underwriter standards eased and loan demand remained stable. For residential real estate, underwriting sta...

How did America get its banks? How was the American financial system created? How has it evolved over the last 250 years to become the largest economy in the world? This episode seeks to answer these questions by exploring the economic history of the U.S. This episode primarily focuses on Alexander Hamilton and President Andrew Jackson. These two historical figures had immense influence over the American economy and financial syste...

Three years in, how is FedNow doing? The FedNow instant payment service realized an 80% increase in volume growth quarter over quarter. Active senders have increased 85% over the last year. FedNow has 1800+ financial institutions participating and membership represents all 50 states. Approximately 50% of members exclusively use the FedNow service. Over 50% of all U.S. checking accounts are reachable. FedNow continues to combat frau...

NACHA released 2nd quarter 2026 number for their ACH Network. Highlights for the 2nd quarter include an almost 30% gain in Same Day ACH, nearly 10% increase in B2B payments, total volume on the ACH Network was 9.3 billion payments with a value of $25.9 trillion, Same Day ACH handled 435.7 million payments up 29.5%. Additionally, volume across major transaction types increased year over year. Healthcare increased 2.3% to 141M, Inter...

Bank News: BitMEX crypto exchange to close after 11 years. Twin City Bank is rebranded into Increase Bank after receiving regulatory approval on name and business plan changes. PNC targets wealthy clients with new lending option. Rent fintech Flex applies for an ILC banking charter. Banc of California has a large loss of $251MM for the second quarter. The Federal Reserve bans two bankers from future work in the industry. FinCEN chi...

The Private Credit Market has emerged over the last year as a big potential risk to the U.S. banking system. What are the main risks from this newer segment of the lending market? This episode examines four main risks. 1) Banks could experience direct losses from loans secured by private credit funds, i.e. NDFI lending. 2) Banks could lose their largest loan segment. Lending to NDFIs has become big banks #1 lending category over th...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on August 2, 2026. BlackRock and Blackstone both removed private credit executives in July. BlackRock removes Phil Tseng, CEO of their private credit business development company (BDC). He was removed over company performance and an ongoing federal valuation probe. Jonathan Bock resigned from his position as Co-CEO of Blackstone’s BCRED and BXSL private credit funds. Bo...

Banking regulators have been approving a lot of bank charters recently and multiple types of charters at that. De Novo charter, Trust Charter, National Bank Charter, and ILC Charter, to name a few. While the OCC is approving charters that does not mean their standards for attaining approval have diminished. There has been a surge of Crypto, fintech, and digital asset companies applying for various types of bank charters and Federal...

There are 7 different types of check fraud. They include new account fraud, check kiting, dormant account fraud, counter check fraud, withdrawal fraud, deposit ticket fraud, and split deposit fraud. Which type is the most common? Which is the most invisible? Which is the most evolving? Which is the most targeted? What can banks do to combat check fraud? Banks have many tools at their disposal including Positive Pay, SARs, customer ...

Bank News: First Financial buys Finward Bancorp in $208MM deal. Northrim BanCorp acquires PBCO Financial Corp in $167.3MM deal. Gesa Credit Union acquires Willamette Valley Bank. Mechanics & Farmers Bank will merge with Optus Bank. Upstart receives conditional bank charter from the OCC. Wise’s trust bank charter is rejected by the OCC over deficiencies. Former Bank of the Valley CFO, Aaron Luneke, sentenced to 36-month pr...

For the 2nd quarter of 2026, Community Banks saw some slight Net Interest Margin (NIM) compression, loan growth increased especially around C&I lending, underwriting tightened for C&I loans while CRE loans remained steady, and the deposit base remained sticky, but funding costs remain higher. There is a question now around the Federal Reserve and whether they will increase interest rates in the second half of 2026. This epi...

What are the top regulatory ‘hot buttons’ for the banking industry? ICBA does a great job in covering the top regulatory concerns for the U.S. banking industry on a quarterly basis. Big issues currently include Digital Assets Regulatory Framework – the Clarity Act and the Genius Act, Farm Bill, Executive Order on Immigration Status, AI Executive Order, Deposit Insurance, 1033 Rule, Section 1071 Legislation, and Fe...