While technology will let many banks cut staff and reduce the size of branches, factors such as geography, customer demographics and strategic direction will ultimately shape the look and feel of future offices.
It’s good to be a business lender with a long contact list. Loan growth is weak and the talent pool has been shrinking, so banks big and small are paying top dollar to get an edge.
The differences in business model between commercial banks and universal banks should not be ignored as Congress works to recalibrate the regulatory regime.
Freeing a number of big banks from enhanced oversight, including capital requirements, could motivate CEOs to pursue deals. Still, other impediments could prevent a flood of large mergers.
Sterling Bancorp in New York is determined to turn Astoria Financial's largely residential operation into a commercial powerhouse. While investors are skeptical, CEO Jack Kopnisky has proven in the past that such an ambitious plan is doable.
Outsiders gained access to customer information at Southern National Bancorp of Virginia using a malicious email. Other financial institutions, meanwhile, are implementing policies in hopes of avoiding the same fate.
Fintechs should learn to value risk management — and the necessary bureaucracy that comes with it, bankers said this week in defending themselves again criticism that they are a pain in the neck to work with.
