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...]
At my age, Artificial Intelligence is starting to come in handy.
It was somehow fitting days after the Advent calendar’s Feast of the Epiphany, that I had something of an epiphany myself about information, community bank marketing and the power of information. Recently I received an email from American Express saying “It looks like you’ll be traveling out of the country soon and here are the things you should do.” My first response was, … [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...]
An abundance of caution: Cryptocurrency and Community Banks
For those of us of a certain age, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and others seem like a shadowy mystery figure in a 1940’s film noir classic. So it was for me, until cryptocurrency came home. A quick story: A few years back, my son invested $100 in a cryptocurrency exchange, Mt. Gox, at the time, the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange and wallet provider. His investment … [Read more...]
Market your Mayberry
At BankMarketingCenter.com, we’re always on the lookout for how other segments of the economy – beyond the financial sector – market their products. Grab a plate and let’s talk about one of the hot trends in the restaurant business known as farm- to- table. Put simply, farm-to-table – or farm-to-fork, is the idea that local restaurateurs fill their menus with items grown … [Read more...]