A couple of years back in this blog, we noted with more than a dash of skepticism that the FDIC was trying to make it easier for new banks to test the financial waters. After all, the actions by then - FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg to jump start the creation of new institutions – slashing the period of microscopic regulatory scrutiny for new bank ventures from eight months to … [Read more...]
Not everyone is smiling about the new players in banking.
As we usher in 2018, one of the hot topics that continues to spark water cooler chatter and boardroom banter is the expanding push of non-traditional players like Square, Amazon and Wal-Mart in the financial services industry. The important question is how should traditional community banks respond? First, let’s draw an analogy between this issue and the recently … [Read more...]