First, a confession: This is not an original headline, but the title of a book written in 1963 by one of the most famous ad men of all time – David Ogilvy. My advertising career began at J. Walter Thompson, at that time the largest agency in the world. In those days, I loved the Ogilvy book, considered to be the Bible for the advertising profession. As a newly-minted … [Read more...]
Anyone interested in a de novo bank?
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...]