CEO and former bank executive, Larry Williams, chats with attorney and compliance expert, David Reed, about a recent prediction made by the Mortgage Bankers Association concerning commercial real estate lending volume and risk. Tumbling occupancy, rising interest rates, and concentrations in CRE loans may spell trouble for many community banks. Learn about the risks your bank may be facing in these areas, as well as how recent events are influencing CRE values and loan volume across the country. After the podcast, be sure to check out David’s webinar, New Policy Statement on CRE Accommodatio ..read more

CEO and former banker, Larry Williams, chats with compliance expert, Deborah Crawford, about the new beneficial ownership rules and what that means to business owners and your institution. Find out when new business account holders and existing business owners need to comply with the new rules, the reason for the changes, and who has access to your information. Plus get 10% off the webinar, Countdown to New Beneficial Ownership Rules: Effective January 1, 2024.   After the podcast, be sure to check out Deb’s webinar, Countdown to New Beneficial Ownership Rules: Effective January 1, 2024 ..read more

During this episode, Larry chats with Dale Sheller with the Baker Group about why the Federal Reserve recently decided to not increase interest rates, the implications of the tightening cycle on margins, preparations of financial institutions for the end of the tightening cycle, the reasons for an inverted yield curve, regulators' responses to unrealized investment portfolio losses, and the benefits and structure of the bank term funding program in mitigating risk.   After the podcast, be sure to check out Dale’s complimentary webinar, Interest Rate Risk Management Today. Register for thi ..read more

How is your team’s teamwork? What are you doing to increase/improve their efficiency, professionalism, communication, and accuracy?   During this episode, we visit with Molly Stull of Brode Consulting Services about some of the critical aspects that branch managers and head tellers need to keep be mindful of as leaders within their banks. After the podcast, be sure to check out Molly’s webinar titled, Branch Managers & Head Tellers: Managing the Critical Aspects: https://financialedinc.com/branch-managers-head-tellers-managing-the-critical-aspects.   Podcast listeners can use the ..read more

In this week’s episode Marcia Malzahn does a Q&A on strategic planning. She will answer why your institution needs to have a strategic plan in place and why it needs to be incorporated into enterprise risk management and so much more.   After the podcast, be sure to check out Maria’s webinar Strategic Planning for Community Banks. Register and learn more here: https://fin-ed.info/3H0iV9e. Podcast listeners can also use coupon code STRATEGIC10 for 10% off this timely webinar. This coupon is valid through December 2023.   Here is a quick breakdown of what is covered during the podc ..read more

The new CECL accounting standard fundamentally changed the way that community banks estimate loan losses and resulted in material equity adjustments for many. What are regulators focusing on? Is there one “preferred” methodology? What impacts has CECL had on financial statements?   Join us for a Q&A with Stephen Schiltz of CLA as he answers these questions and more about the newly implemented Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL) methodology. After the podcast, be sure to check out Steve’s webinars about CECL:   CECL: What Auditors & Regulators Will Expect: https://fin-ed.inf ..read more

[1:10] Is there ETA on debits for Real Time Payments or Fednow? [2:13] Some financial institutions charge for Same Day ACH, but do they charge their account holders for RTP payments and for the coming FedNow payments or is it a free service? [5:00] What potential for fraud do you need to be aware of? [9:16] If an ACH is received through a service provider, do financial institutions need to contact Fed if interested in FedNow? [10:15] Can funds be accessed with both direct connection and via service provider? [10:47] What type of payment processing system is peer-to-peer (P2P) payments consider ..read more

[0:53] How does Google Analytics metric work? [3:20] Facebook and LinkedIn don’t work with Google Analytics. What site information can be incorporated? [6:05] Does Google rank video the same as written content? [8:10] Should you only link to your own website, or should you link to other people’s websites? [11:30] Should financial institutions have web pages on multiple platforms? [14:34] Best ways to use Google Data Studio. [17:10] Is it necessary to get information from Facebook and LinkedIn to use in Google Data Studio? [19:50] Photos or Videos? What gains more engagement on social media? [2 ..read more

[01:04] Differences between commercial and consumer lending. [02:51] What is a consumer and consumer credit under Regulation B? [03:42] Common mistakes made by consumer lenders. [05:46] What does it take to be a good consumer lender? [06:45] Role of a consumer lender. [07:58] Consumer lending process. [08:41] The “TION” method of making a loan. In this week’s episode Jeffery Johnson covers the basics of consumer lending from his webinar, Consumer Underwriting 101: From Application to Approval. Register and learn more here: https://fin-ed.info/3mOmGUH. Podcast listeners can also use coupon cod ..read more

[1:20] The three medallion stamp security features. [4:38] Does the transfer agent need to validate the signature on the medallion stamp? [6:15] What is a transfer agent and what do they do? [7:51] How to handle a situation where a customer wants you to use a medallion stamp that is not a security transaction. [9:40] Other products that DO require a medallion stamp. [11:32] What if the stock being transferred is valued higher than your medallion bond? In this week’s episode Elizabeth Fast covers medallion signature equipment components, the risk of not safeguarding it, transactions that are n ..read more