The Banker Next Door

The Treasury department has ended reporting requirements for American small businesses know as Beneficial Ownership Information or BOI. The Treasury issued a final rule in the federal registry. The final rule also deleted all previously collected BOI information. Congress passed The Corporate Transparency Act in 2021, which required FinCEN to create a database that would collect BOI information on small businesses in the U.S. In classic congressional style you have to pass the bill to know what is in it! After American small business owners discovered this new data collection and realized that it was unconstitutional, as the suit...

The off-balance sheet lease commitments and purchase commitments for Meta, Google, Microsoft, and six additional companies are almost $3 trillion dollars! These commitments far exceed their current CAPEX spending, which has already turned free cash flow negative. How are these commitments financed? Meta’s Hyperion data center is used as an example. Meta partners up with Blue Owl (yes that Private Credit darling) in a special venture, then Beignet Investor (holding company that owns Blue Owl Stake) raises the construction financing in the form of a bond sale. Meta, as the minority partner, is also the tenant of the data ce...

Bank News: HomeTrust Bancshares to purchase Blue Ridge Bank for $448.1M in stock. HBT Financial to acquire First State Bank for $204.6M. Citibank to acquire rewards platform Kard Financial to increase its consumer cards business. World Liberty Financial has received conditional approval from the OCC for a national trust bank charter. The bank will issue and manage its own stablecoins. Sezzle has decided to switch from pursuing an ILC bank charter to a national bank charter. OCC returns Zerohash’s charter application after finding significant regulatory concerns. Bunq is rejected for an OCC bank charter after the regulator stated op...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on August 16, 2026. There are currently seven major issues in the world of AI. 1) Price war – pressure from China’s AI models and chips, Anthropic busted changing plans and prices. 2) Models out of control causing havoc – OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta all had models breaking out. 3) Government oversight and potential regulation. 4) Data center push back. 5) Circular financing ring – increasing cost of chips – Nvidia and OpenAI. 6) IPOs – Anthropic and OpenAI. 7) Questionable accounting and employee departures.  

A shortage of accountants is beginning to cause disruption with bank and corporation financial reporting and internal controls. The accounting shortage is becoming more widespread after the number of practicing accountants has declined 17% from the profession’s employment peak in 2019. What can banks and corporations do to address this? Try outsourcing certain functions and focusing on AI and Automation. Don’t forget to maintain guardrails. This episode examined a blog post from PCBB titled “The Accountant Gap: Reshaping CFI’s Financial Reporting.” A link to the blog post is included below.

Link: The Accountant Gap: Reshaping CFIs' Financial...

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

The SBA has doubled the combined limit on 7(a) and 504 loans from $5 million to $10 million. This is the largest financing ceiling in the history of the agency. This is a tremendous opportunity particularly for companies in manufacturing, construction, logistics, distribution, and food production. In addition, time is running out for fee waivers the SBA enacted for 2026. The SBA is waiving upfront and annual fees on 504 manufacturing loans. The agency also waived upfront guarantee fee on 7(a) manufacturing loans up to $950,000. These waivers will end on September 30th unless the SBA extends them into 2027. This episode examined an article from...

This survey includes responses from bank CEOs and board directors. The focus of the survey is around bank board governance. The key findings in this year’s report include AI in the boardroom, strategic planning, board assessments, virtual attendance, policy review, and debanking scrutiny. Additional insights include artificial intelligence adoption in the boardroom remains low, 39% of boards conduct an annual assessment, many see room for improvement in the strategic planning process, 87% of boards allow directors to attend virtually, more than half of boards have adjusted policies, reporting, or oversight in several key areas since January 2025, and just 20% have examined wh...

Bank News: Alma Bank to acquire in-state peer American Community Bank. Federal Reserve approves Santander-Webster merger. Augustus (formerly Ivy) receives FDIC approval to launch bank. Huntingdon Bank sees increased deposit cost competition. WSFS sees persistent deposit competition. Central Bancompany sees stable deposit costs. Seacoast reports lower deposit costs. BCB Bancorp got “too deep” in unfamiliar businesses, which resulting in a $14.8 million second quarter loss. Coastal Financial stock drops more than 40% after loss related to BaaS partnership. Federal Reserve issues enforcement action against Iuka Bancshares. Northwest Bank reshuffles C-suite. Chime’s CFO steps down. This episode examined multiple articles from Bankin...

Four companies are currently racing to develop tokenized deposit networks. The companies include The Clearing House Payments Co., The Cari Network, The Hazel Network, and The DTX Consortium. The Clearing House and Cari Network are being developed by the big banks. The Hazel Network is trying to create more of a niche by allowing customer deposits to convert into digital tokens and then issue, transfer, and redeem them as stablecoins. The DTX Consortium is being developed with a focus on community banks. Banks stand to benefit in different ways from each of these networks. Banks should not worry that...

The SLOOS is a quarter survey of senior bank loan officers that the Federal Reserve puts out quarterly. It measures bank credit underwriting standards and loan demand. The 2nd quarter showed an increase in demand for commercial C&I loans with spreads tightening for large and middle-market firms. For commercial real estate, underwriter standards eased and loan demand remained stable. For residential real estate, underwriting standards were mixed and loan demand decreased. The same for HELOC’s and auto loans. Loan underwriting standards tightened for credit cards and loan demand remained unchanged. This episode reviewed the Federal Reserve Senior Lo...

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

How did America get its banks? How was the American financial system created? How has it evolved over the last 250 years to become the largest economy in the world? This episode seeks to answer these questions by exploring the economic history of the U.S. This episode primarily focuses on Alexander Hamilton and President Andrew Jackson. These two historical figures had immense influence over the American economy and financial system in the early years of the country. The battle between Federalists and Anti-Federalists; between people that wanted a Central Bank versus those that wanted a decentralized banking system was...

Three years in, how is FedNow doing? The FedNow instant payment service realized an 80% increase in volume growth quarter over quarter. Active senders have increased 85% over the last year. FedNow has 1800+ financial institutions participating and membership represents all 50 states. Approximately 50% of members exclusively use the FedNow service. Over 50% of all U.S. checking accounts are reachable. FedNow continues to combat fraud by offering various tools which include FraudClassifier and ScamClassifier. It takes approximately five days for a Bank to sign up and onboard to FedNow. This episode examined an article from Banking Dive titled “FedNow advances over hurdles” and an i...

NACHA released 2nd quarter 2026 number for their ACH Network. Highlights for the 2nd quarter include an almost 30% gain in Same Day ACH, nearly 10% increase in B2B payments, total volume on the ACH Network was 9.3 billion payments with a value of $25.9 trillion, Same Day ACH handled 435.7 million payments up 29.5%. Additionally, volume across major transaction types increased year over year. Healthcare increased 2.3% to 141M, Internet increased 7.6% to 3B, Direct Deposit increased 3.6% to 2.3B, and P2P increased 21% to 136.6M. This episode examined NACHA’s website and ACH Network infographic. A link to the website is included below.

Link: La...

Bank News: BitMEX crypto exchange to close after 11 years. Twin City Bank is rebranded into Increase Bank after receiving regulatory approval on name and business plan changes. PNC targets wealthy clients with new lending option. Rent fintech Flex applies for an ILC banking charter. Banc of California has a large loss of $251MM for the second quarter. The Federal Reserve bans two bankers from future work in the industry. FinCEN chief heads for new role at Citibank. Visa is cutting their workforce by 7%. Chime is cutting their workforce by 10%. This episode examined multiple articles from Banking Dive and CNBC.<...

The Private Credit Market has emerged over the last year as a big potential risk to the U.S. banking system. What are the main risks from this newer segment of the lending market? This episode examines four main risks. 1) Banks could experience direct losses from loans secured by private credit funds, i.e. NDFI lending. 2) Banks could lose their largest loan segment. Lending to NDFIs has become big banks #1 lending category over the last few years. 3) Banks will no longer be able to pass bad deals onto the Private Credit Market, SRTs anyone! 4) A contagion of delinquency leads...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on August 2, 2026. BlackRock and Blackstone both removed private credit executives in July. BlackRock removes Phil Tseng, CEO of their private credit business development company (BDC). He was removed over company performance and an ongoing federal valuation probe. Jonathan Bock resigned from his position as Co-CEO of Blackstone’s BCRED and BXSL private credit funds. Bock also stepped down as Co-CEO of Blackstone’s Secured Lending Fund, which is Blackstone’s publicly traded BDC. Bock resigned over the performance of the private credit funds. Furthermore, Blackstone is partnering with Vangua...

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

Banking regulators have been approving a lot of bank charters recently and multiple types of charters at that. De Novo charter, Trust Charter, National Bank Charter, and ILC Charter, to name a few. While the OCC is approving charters that does not mean their standards for attaining approval have diminished. There has been a surge of Crypto, fintech, and digital asset companies applying for various types of bank charters and Federal Reserve Master Accounts. However, time might be running out. President Trump’s second term ends in January 2029 and midterm elections are coming up in November. If Republicans lose co...

There are 7 different types of check fraud. They include new account fraud, check kiting, dormant account fraud, counter check fraud, withdrawal fraud, deposit ticket fraud, and split deposit fraud. Which type is the most common? Which is the most invisible? Which is the most evolving? Which is the most targeted? What can banks do to combat check fraud? Banks have many tools at their disposal including Positive Pay, SARs, customer education, Federal Reserve tools, and employee training. This episode examined a blog post from PCBB titled “Seven Types of Check Fraud – and How to Combat Them.” A link to the bl...

Bank News: First Financial buys Finward Bancorp in $208MM deal. Northrim BanCorp acquires PBCO Financial Corp in $167.3MM deal. Gesa Credit Union acquires Willamette Valley Bank. Mechanics & Farmers Bank will merge with Optus Bank. Upstart receives conditional bank charter from the OCC. Wise’s trust bank charter is rejected by the OCC over deficiencies. Former Bank of the Valley CFO, Aaron Luneke, sentenced to 36-month prison term for $4.3M loan scheme. Former TD Bank assistant store manager, Wilfredo Aquino, sentenced to prison for money laundering and fraud involvement. GOP lawmakers press the Fed to increase bank M&A approval ti...

For the 2nd quarter of 2026, Community Banks saw some slight Net Interest Margin (NIM) compression, loan growth increased especially around C&I lending, underwriting tightened for C&I loans while CRE loans remained steady, and the deposit base remained sticky, but funding costs remain higher. There is a question now around the Federal Reserve and whether they will increase interest rates in the second half of 2026. This episode reviewed a blog post from PCBB titled “H2 2026 Outlook: Mixed Signals for Community Bank Earnings.” A link to the blog post has been included below.

Link: H2 2026 Outlook: Mixed Sign...

What are the top regulatory ‘hot buttons’ for the banking industry? ICBA does a great job in covering the top regulatory concerns for the U.S. banking industry on a quarterly basis. Big issues currently include Digital Assets Regulatory Framework – the Clarity Act and the Genius Act, Farm Bill, Executive Order on Immigration Status, AI Executive Order, Deposit Insurance, 1033 Rule, Section 1071 Legislation, and Fed Master Account Access and OCC Trust Charter. Banks have additional concerns around fraud and credit unions buying banks. There have been some wins around legislation with the 21st Century Road to Housing Act and the Main S...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on July 25, 2026. What do surging bond yields mean for consumers? This past week the escalation of the military conflict with Iran sent treasury yields soaring, especially the 10-year and 30-year treasuries. The 10-year treasury has a direct impact on residential mortgage rates, auto loan rates, credit card rates, and student loan rates. As the 10-year yield increases, so do borrowing costs. Why is the 30-year treasury so important? The 30-year treasury is a gauge of sensitivity. It gives us an indication of how confident investors are that a...

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

Market expectations now favor increasing interest rates and thus expectations around deposit cost pressures have changed. Many banks were hoping for continuing rate decreases to continue relieving funding cost pressures. With the market now expecting the Federal Reserve to increase the Federal Funds rate in the second half of 2026, this means that funding costs will stay flat for the moment and then rise with both rate increases and competitive pressures. If rates increase that means loan rates will increase and thus banks should be able to maintain net interest margin (NIM), however if loan demand decreases due to increased...

The Texas Stock Exchange TXSE “tex-ee” is gearing up to start trading. With big IPOs getting ready to come to market the TXSE might be opening at just the right time. Texas has been laying the groundwork for making a run at a successful exchange with more Fortune 500 companies headquartered than any other state and the establishment of their own business court. The players are already coming. Goldman Sachs has 4,500 employees in Dallas. JPMorgan has more employees in Texas than New York. NYSE rebranded its electronic exchange in Chicago into NYSE Texas and moved to Texas. Nasdaq rebranded its BX e...

Bank News: Stripe and Advent have teamed up and put in an offer to purchase PayPal. First Bancorp of NC is purchasing First Carolina Bancshares Corp of SC for $166MM. First Hawaiian is purchasing Tri Counties Bank of CA for $2B. New de novo bank named Sagehaven Bancorp to form in Pittsburgh. Regulators issue guidance to banks on unauthorized workers. Jamie Dimon: Lake chose to retire. CFPB is working with union on future staff-cut plan. Bank of America chatbot Erica continues to grow. Custodia continues to plead their case for Fed master account. Citizens Bank to close 100 in-store branches...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on July 18, 2026. This video looks at a series of articles that examine the current state of the AI market. The White House announces AI clearinghouse. The White House created Gold Eagle, an initiative to enable AI innovation by creating a clearinghouse for cybersecurity vulnerability coordination. At the same time, Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis calls for the U.S. to spearhead an AI standards body. Chamath Palihapitiya says that companies’ earnings are going to be impacted by ‘tokenmaxxing’. Apple is suing OpenAI after accusing executives of stealing trade secret...

Bank News: SoFi gets into small business lending. CFPB gives employees warning on geographic reassignment. Valley Bank executive thinks AI is changing the conversation around build versus buy. Circle gets OCC full trust bank charter. Fed informs Iowa’s TS Banking Group that they need to increase capital levels for two subsidiary banks. Fed enforcement actions have been declining over the last decade according to Brookings. Easthampton, MA based Hometown Financial Group is purchasing Bedford, NH based Primary Bank for $160MM. Fiserv president exits again. U.S. bank is targeting Gen Z with a payments first strategy. PNC releases ne...

Kentland Federal Savings Loan Association (KFS) located in Kentland, Indiana and Small Business Bank (SBB) located in Lenexa, Kansas are the 3rd and 4th bank failures of 2026. KFS was closed on Friday, July 10th by the OCC after its capital position became critically undercapitalized. KFS had $3.73 million in assets at the time of its closing. Nearby (but unrelated) Kentland Bank was appointed receiver by the FDIC. SBB was closed on Friday, July 17th by Kansas state regulators after the bank was deemed to be significantly undercapitalized. SBB had $73 million in assets at the time of its closing. The Farmers...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on July 18, 2026. While the overall economy remains decent, there is a segment of the American consumer that is starting to show signs of stress. This video covers a series of articles that delve into consumers trends. Consumers are turning to buy now, pay later for essential expenses, they are cutting back on purchases at grocery stores due to the increasing costs, an increasing number of U.S. families are taking on debt and dipping into savings to meet food needs, credit card delinquencies are at the highest rate...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on July 18, 2026.

Here is my summer reading list for 2026:

1) Suicidal Empathy by Gad Saad (2026)

2) Reshore: How Tariffs will bring our jobs home plus revive the American dream by Spencer Morrison (2025)

3) The Repo Market: Shorts, Shortages, and Squeezes by Scott E.D. Skyrm (2023)

4) Crisis and Leviathan: Critical episodes in the growth of American government by Robert Higgs (1987)

5) The Banker Who Made America: Thomas Willing and the rise of the American Financial Aristocracy by Richard Vague (2026)

6...

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

This is the best of BND: Interviews. A discussion with Allan Burkley about the failure of Heartland Tri-State Bank in Kansas and the fraud that was committed by their CEO Shan Hanes. This story is fascinating from many angles including internal controls, separation of power, checks and balances, who should serve on the board, the effect of a dominant CEO, internal fraud at banks, and how a bank’s failure can affect all stakeholders. This episode examined an article from Bank Director titled “Victim or Perpetrator?” A link to the article is included below.

Link: https://www.bankdi...

This is the best of BND: Interviews. A discussion with Mac Thompson, who is the Founder & President of White Clay. We discuss how White Clay’s software helps banks and credit unions maximize profitability within a product or business unit. How you can fully utilize existing data to build stronger relationships with your customers. How White Clay can help with balance sheet management and thus strategic planning. We also discussed Mac’s background and why he decided to start White Clay. A link to White Clay’s website is included below.

Link: https://www.whiteclay.com/

This is the best of BND: Interviews.  A discussion with Greg Smith, Curriculum Director for the Stonier Graduate School of Banking. Stonier is a banking school, which is run through the American Bankers Association (ABA) and has a partnership with the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Stonier has been around for 91 years and was originally founded by Dr. Harold Stonier in 1935. Listed below is a link to the Stonier website with information about the program.

Link: https://www.aba.com/training-events/schools/stonier-graduate-school-of-banking/about-stonier

This is the best of BND: Interviews.  Continuing the discussion with Bob Newman from Chatham Financial. Chatham is a global advisory and technology firm focused exclusively on financial risk management. Chatham has expertise in the debt and derivatives markets. The conversation here is based around an example of a “vanilla” derivative transaction, that can help a bank turn mismatches in assets and liabilities on their balance sheet into matches.

Link: https://www.chathamfinancial.com/

This is the best of BND: Interviews. A discussion with Bob Newman from Chatham Financial. Chatham is a global advisory and technology firm focused on financial risk management. Chatham has expertise in the debt and derivatives markets. The conversation focuses on derivatives and how banks can effectively use them to hedge the risk on their balance sheet.

Link: https://www.chathamfinancial.com/