Your Bank: Arcosanti, Bedrock City, or Taliesin West?
Vacations provide an opportunity to get away from the ordinary and, sometimes, to look at old things with renewed eyes. In recent days I have had the opportunity to visit…
Can You Uberize Your Bank?
In New York and other cities in which a heavy dependence exists on taxis and limos for intra-city travel, inconvenience, frustration, and even danger have been long accepted as part…
What Makes for Commercial Banking Success?
In the last few weeks I have heard very diverse tales from clients concerning the commercial banking environment. In one instance a banker suggested that the competitive environment in effect…
Improving Results with Business Performance Accelerator (BPA)
BPA brings the power of Big Data combined with FIC’s expertise to business banking.
Targeting Fundamentals
Banks all agree that they need to improve their productivity. In many cases operating expenses are rising due to diverse factors, including increased compliance costs, continual technology investments, and the…
Generating Sustainable Success: What Not To Do
It has become all too easy to write columns that list the challenges that banks face, including regulations, IT costs, shifting demographics, revitalized competitors, shadow banks, big branch companies offering…
The Crisis Next Time: Death by a Thousand Cuts
Last week’s Wall Street Journal featured an article titled, “Credit Unions Ramp Up the Risk.” The article discussed how Credit Unions “are loosening credit standards and piling into longer-term assets,…
Managing IT
Virtually all of my clients, no matter their size or sophistication, are struggling to deal with the same issue: How to manage technology? There are at least two aspects to…
Why Banks Succeed
In working with several banks recently I have been considering what day-to-day actions make for a successful bank. We all define success differently, but in my view it requires a…
Banker’s Choice: Small Business Versus Middle Market
Both Small Business and Middle Market customers can generate strong revenues for banks, albeit in different ways. However, in reality most banks operate with natural preferences that favor one segment…