April 24, 2022

William “Bing” Grady William (Bing) Grady passed away at the age of 89 on Feb. 9, 2022, from complications of COVID-19. Bing was born in Cambridge, MA to Mary V. Grady (Buckley) and William G. Grady on Nov. 22, 1932. He was preceded in death by his first wife of 60 years, Carmoline Grady, his […]

In its seventh annual survey, CSI asked banking executives from across the nation about their top strategies and priorities for 2022. The results were used to inform the 2022 Banking Priorities Executive Report, which details the challenges and opportunities in today’s financial landscape.

GSBC, Leeds School of Business Partner to Offer Executive Leadership Certificate in 2022 The Graduate School of Banking at Colorado (GSBC) has announced its new Certificate in Executive Leadership, developed in partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business. GSBC alumni may earn this certification by attending GSBC’s Community Bankers Summit, scheduled

The Federal Reserve reports that “on Jan. 1, 2020, most large and mid-sized U.S. banks adopted Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL).” As a result, about 80% of all U.S. bank loans are now under the new accounting standard. Community banks have the option of adopting CECL now, but few are interested in climbing aboard before their deadline on Jan. 1, 2023. Still, most are following AICPA recommendations and are taking the time to run parallel CECL systems to make sure they’re ready.

One topic we continue to hear about is the prevalence of questionable wires coming into customers’ accounts at the bank. Whether it’s part of the classic “Nigerian Prince” scam – where a fraudulent wire temporarily hits the customer’s account in exchange for a smaller payout from the customer’s own funds – or a con artist is wooing an unsuspecting elder from afar, these suspicious transactions seem to be showing up more and more. A common question we receive is, “How can I stop these kinds of shady wires or put a freeze on them before they cause the customer (and by extension the bank) a whole lot of pain?” While the answer to that question is not straightforward, a solution may be simpler than one realizes.

FICO has been what many consider to be the number one stand-alone credit decisioning model since having been first introduced in 1989 by Fair, Isaac Corp. Can we build on that foundation to create a more future-forward way of predicting lending outcomes? 

A common occurrence in the American news cycle is when a politician touts the overwhelming strength of the economy, citing a low unemployment rate or some other statistic, only to be countered by polling that finds a vast majority of citizens feel uncertainty or outright hopelessness about their own economic situations. Some of that is due to intentional misrepresentation on the part of politicians. Still, there is a genuine disconnect in powerful factions of society about how uncertain the economy has become for most Americans.

Providing children with a strong base of financial knowledge is critical to helping them unlock their financial future and prosper as adults – and bankers are uniquely positioned to play a role in that process.

2022 Legislature Concludes: Money Cures All Ills   I am sad to report that NMBA President Lonnie Talbert has resigned his position, relocated to Jacksonville, Florida, and joined First Federal Bank as its Division President – Specialty Banking. The NMBA will miss Lonnie tremendously. Most recently, Lonnie received the Albuquerque Development, Inc. Chairman’s Distinguished Service

It is always a pleasure to correspond with my colleagues in the NMBA; however, I wish circumstances were different. I know we will all miss Lonnie Talbert, our previous NMBA President, who recently relocated to the beautiful state of Florida. He is a personal friend, and I am looking forward to our continued engagement across the country through the American Bankers Association, where we serve on a committee together.