Branch Talk
“The legacy [of build it and they will come] is an inefficient allocation of resources dedicated to supporting a less relevant delivery channel…” So went an informative branch research report put out by my old friend and excellent bank stock analyst, Matt Schultheis of Boenning & Scattergood. At lunch recently, he said that the battle […]
TMIB Lite: Community Bank Profitability
Podcast Show Notes: Our This Month In Banking (TMIB) podcast features discussion with colleagues and other industry thought leaders on interesting banking news that happened this month. TMIB will be available on the last Wednesday of every month here, and on Apple and Droid podcast apps for your listening enjoyment. Join us on your commute […]
Consumer Lending: Should Banks Do It?
We’re running out of assets. When I first read Standards Needed for Safe, Small Installment Loans from Banks, Credit Unions by the Pew Charitable Trusts that encouraged financial institutions to get back into small ticket consumer lending, I thought “what are they nuts!” Consumer loans for those banks that utilize my firm’s outsourced profitability […]
A Time of Reckoning for Your Bank’s Core Deposits?
Bye-bye municipal deposits. So worries New Jersey Banker’s Association CEO John McWeeney since state-owned bank advocate Phil Murphy was elected governor. The state’s municipal deposits approximate $20 billion, $13 billion of which are in community banks. A significant source of liquidity. I got news for you John. We might lose municipal deposits regardless. And we […]
Is Your Bank Positioned to Benefit from the Continued Rise in Market Interest Rates?
Times are looking pretty good for community financial institutions. While we can always find something to complain about, we are working within an environment where Washington is beginning to ease the regulatory burden, loan quality is sound and the new tax plan makes the outlook for earnings even brighter. When things are going well, it […]
Your Competitors Are Using Performance Measurement Data to Improve Their Performance. Are You?
We have just completed producing the Performance Measurement reports for our clients for the 4th quarter of 2016 and thought this would be a good time to take a look back and review the profit performance of selected banking products and bank branches. We will also take a look at how the profitability has changed […]
Do Banks Really Care About Their Financial Performance?
I’m sure that most of you would say that the answer to the above question is, “sure they do,” and often this starts and stops with “top of the house” financial statements. But perhaps the real question is, are banks willing to do anything about performance? Or, do banks really want to take the time […]
Bankers: Here’s What I Do
Content marketing gurus tell us not to put sales pitches in your content. But I would like readers to know what I do in case they want greater context to blog posts, or are generally curious people, as I am. So here goes… What The Kafafian Group does, by Jeff Marsico We help financial institutions […]
The Impact of Low Interest Rates on Net Interest Margin and Performance
The current and protracted low interest rate environment has played havoc on net interest margins and resulting bank performance and profitability. Banks have historically made money by borrowing short and lending long in a normal rate environment and with a normal sloping yield curve, and/or otherwise being compensated for taking on credit and/or interest rate […]
Business Checking: Not Profitable?
Does it make sense for business bankers to seek core deposits from their customers? This question was posed to me by a senior lender at a Northeast bank that had a declining loan to deposit ratio which was putting pressure on the bank’s net interest margin. This story is all too common in the current […]