Building banker skills with cross-generational learning
Release Date: 03/01/2023
Maximizing business, client value from SBA loan programs
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
What’s new with Small Business Administration lending this year, and how can bankers maximize the value of the SBA loan guaranty programs? On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by — Erik Daniels of U.S. Bank, the nation’s fourth-largest SBA originator by number of loans, talks about how U.S. Bank builds SBA into its overall business banking strategy. Daniels highlights the role of SBA lending in making efficient use of capital, mitigating risk, providing more tailored solutions to businesses and driving Community Reinvestment Act impact. He...
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Is it time to kill the paper check?
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
Checks have become so marginal that the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Payment Choice relegates them to a category of “other,” which, along with prepaid cards and money orders accounted for less than 9 percent of all payments in 2022. But checks aren’t entirely dead, with 11.2 billion still written in the U.S. in 2021. Meanwhile, their use by criminals as a vector of fraud has shot up. Which raises the question: The paper check won’t die. Is it time to kill it? This episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by — sets out to answer that question, with the...
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How a Georgia community bank engaged employees at 3X the national rate
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
According to , just 30 percent of American workers are engaged in their work. The rest are described as disengaged, with 17 percent actively disengaged, “which means they are literally trying to sabotage the organization,” notes Neil Stevens, president and CEO of Oconee State Bank in Oconee, Georgia. “Gallup also says that if you have a 70 percent or higher engagement score, you’re 23 percent more profitable than those with lower engagement scores. So engaged teams truly, in my mind, lead to healthier cultures, better customer retention.” On the latest episode of the...
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Tackling big goals for Financial Literacy Month
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
For Financial Literacy Month in April, the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by — features a conversation on how banks are engaging their communities with financial education. The ABA Foundation’s Kelsey Havemann discusses a brand-new K-2 curriculum launching soon, and Lindsay Torrico talks about the Foundation’s to help five million people get on the path to financial prosperity. from the ABA Foundation.
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The CEO view from Main Street
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
What’s the CEO-eye view on the U.S. economy, business conditions and the regulatory environment for banks? This week’s episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by — features a conversation with ABA’s Peter Cook and four bank CEOs from across the country. In the conversation, they discuss local economic conditions in their markets, how the “regulatory tsunami” is affecting banks of all sizes, the commercial real estate outlook, what they’re most excited for in the future of banking and more.
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The Points Guy on why credit card rewards matter
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
“These rewards are more than just Amex, Chase, Citi,” says Brian Kelly, founder of the popular travel site . “Well over half of Americans have some form of rewards, often through their community banks — and to a lot of people, cash back rewards.” This bonus episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by — features a conversation with Kelly and ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols from ABA’s Washington Summit. In this episode, Kelly discusses his personal story of getting involved with reward travel, his opposition to efforts to cap interchange or...
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Understanding the emerging bank M&A policy landscape
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
The banking agencies and the Justice Department are shifting how they assess and review bank mergers and acquisitions. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by — ABA SVP Hu Benton discusses what bankers need to know about potential deals and offers amid the wave of policy changes. Among other topics, Benton explores: The Justice Department’s of bank merger guidelines The FDIC’s on mergers. How mergers among national banks and federal thrifts. How bank mergers fit into the Biden administration and executive...
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An NFL-player-turned-banker helping today's student athletes
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
Forget Tom Brady: Most professional athletes don’t play well into their 40s. “You play football for three to four years,” says Brandon Ghee. “And then the next thing you know you’re 25, 26. You’re looking to pursue a career and you go from making $750,000 a year to $50,000. These guys and girls have a problem with the transition [in]how they’re spending during their careers.” Athletes make a lot of big financial decisions at fairly young ages. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by — Ghee, a community banker and former NFL...
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‘Building the organization around exceptional talent’
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
First Horizon Bank, a regional bank based in Memphis, Tennessee, offers some eye-catching numbers on the bank’s gender balance: Women make up 62 percent of its executive team, 54 percent of its top 1,200 corporate managers and 33 percent of its board of directors. To mark International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by — features three top executives from First Horizon discussing how the bank built an inclusive culture. For Beth Ardoin, chief communications officer, it’s less about focusing on...
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The commercial real estate state of play
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by — ABA’s Dan Brown and Sharon Whitaker discuss community bank exposures to commercial real estate and how community banks are managing shifts in the CRE sector. They also dispel imprecise narratives about the state of CRE. “There is a lot of ,” says Brown. There are going to be some challenges for sure. But at the same time, too, though, there’s going to be a lot of resilience. A lot of these loans are very conservatively underwritten. I think a lot of banks would be in a very good position no...
info_outlineAs a bank leader, Alicia Wade notes that we’re at a unique moment that won’t recur for many years: having four generations, from Baby Boomers to Gen Z, working alongside each other. “Being able to have four generations in the workplace and understand what each of them values and what we can learn from each other” allows not just for top-down mentorship but for cross-generational learning and inspiration, she notes. “I have mentors in each age demographic.”
On the latest episode of the podcast — sponsored by Intrafi Network — Wade talks about the community bank workforce and career opportunities and traces her own “accidental” her career path from teller to becoming president and COO of $560 million Valliance Bank in Oklahoma City. Wade talks about the broad range of careers in banking. She also discusses what she’s most excited about in the community bank customer service experience.
Finally, as a member of the Oklahoma Bankers Association’s Government Relations Council, Wade discusses several issues on the radar in the Sooner State, including ESG issues and cannabis banking. On March 7, Oklahomans will vote on legalizing recreational marijuana, and the state already has one of of the loosest frameworks for medicinal marijuana regulation, making the state the “wild wild West of marijuana,” Wade says, highlighting the importance of getting legislation like the SAFE Banking Act passed.