Designing and launching a special-purpose credit program
Release Date: 04/20/2023
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
As independently owned and operated small businesses, fast-food restaurant franchisees have unique business needs. They have mobile and often part-time workforces, complex inventory management and the constant challenge of managing both a small business and being the face of a major brand. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by — Wendell Bontrager talks about how Sonata Bank is working with this unique market segment. For example, “we can come in at fractional costs to provide them things like telehealth, mobile phone insurance, pet insurance,...
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Government-guaranteed lending requires special expertise and back-office functionality that grows increasingly expensive for smaller banks. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by — Chris Hurn and Jeremy Gilpin of Community Bankshares, a bank holding company in La Grange, Georgia, discuss how they are tackling that challenge. “To start one of these departments is very expensive for a lot of rural banks and credit unions,” says Gilpin, “It’s very prohibitive to enter the market space if you are a rural bank or even in an urban market where...
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Quantum computing is an of processing information, and it has the power to solve extremely difficult computational problems much more quickly than binary computers. As the technology continues to advance, the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by — explores how payments and banking might be affected by the technology. Among other topics, the episode addresses: Applications for quantum computing in liquidity management and other complex payment and settlement chains. The risks quantum computing poses to current encryption technology and the...
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The payment by the Federal Reserve of interest on bank reserves may sound like an abstruse matter of economic theory, but these payments are critical to bank operations and the Fed’s conduct of monetary policy. In the latest episode — sponsored by — ABA’s Jeff Huther discusses why proposals to end or reduce interest on reserves are misguided. Among other things, Huther discusses: Why ending payments could have a destabilizing effect on the financial sector. Why, under today’s accounting practices, the federal government would see no near-term bottom-line boost from...
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ABA’s Washington Summit just wrapped up, and this episode — sponsored by — features a main stage conversation with Travis Hill, acting chairman of the FDIC. In this episode, Hill discusses: Revisions to the . Transparency in by regulators. The future of bank capital policy after the Basel III “endgame.” Ethics and operational improvements at the FDIC.
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April is Financial Literacy Month, a time when bankers think creatively about how to engage young people on topics of financial wellness. Citi’s and Roads to Success’s Bashan Fernandez for a discussion of Citi’s approach to making financial knowledge fun and engaging. In this episode — sponsored by — they discuss several innovative approaches, including: Citi’s for New York City middle schoolers, to be held on Teach Children to Save Day on April 22 at Citi Field in partnership with the New York Mets and several youth-serving nonprofits. Citi’s...
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In the wake of this week’s directing the Treasury to eliminate the use of paper checks for federal government disbursements (and payments to the U.S. government), ABA’s Steve Kenneally joins the podcast for a conversation on what’s next for the payments system. In this episode — sponsored by — Kenneally discusses: The role of Treasury checks in check fraud schemes. The order’s aggressive timeline, with an implementation date of Sept. 30, 2025. The significant challenges faced by different federal agencies in phasing out paper payments. The potential scope of...
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Legislators and regulators are strongly focused on policy related to payment stablecoins, most recently with the in the Senate Banking Committee. On this episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by — ABA’s Brooke Ybarra and Kirsten Sutton discuss the current policy and technology landscape on stablecoins. Among other topics, they talk about: How stablecoins work and why people are interested in this kind of digital asset. Use cases for payment stablecoins, such as cross-border payments. Challenges that stablecoins may pose for today’s anti-money...
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The big story of check fraud is not only its vast cost to the country and to individual victims, but simply the remarkable rate at which it is increasing. On this episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by — we bring you a conversation from the ABA Fraudcast with ABA’s Paul Benda and Caitlin Piasecki of the United States Postal Inspection Service the enormous scale and challenge of addressing mail theft, a common venue for criminals to access paper checks. Piasecki describes how the internet serves as a perfect sharing and recruiting platform for criminals...
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A century ago, in March 1925, Charles G. Dawes was sworn in as vice president of the United States. Being elected vice president of the United States — as Dawes was, alongside Calvin Coolidge, in a landslide — is usually a career pinnacle for an American politician, but Dawes’ vice presidency turned out to be more of a footnote in his eventful life. In the second part of this two-part podcast series — presented by — Dawes biographer Annette Dunlap explores Dawes’ service as head of logistics for the American Expeditionary Force in World War I (an organizational feat never...
info_outlineFor many small business owners, the first step on the credit ladder is the hardest, and they may miss opportunities to build business credit and grow their business while relying on personal credit instead. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by R&T Deposit Solutions — Amegy Bank EVP Jevaughn Sterling talks about Zions Bancorporation’s Small Business Diversity Banking Program, organized as an “special-purpose credit program” under Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Sterling discusses:
- What defines an SPCP and how it is designed to improve access to capital by helping small business owners build business credit instead of relying on personal credit.
- How Zions designed the Diversity Banking Program to be tailored to the needs of disadvantaged small business borrowers.
- How loan terms may look similar and different for Diversity Banking Program participants.
- The nuts and bolts of designing, getting regulatory approval for, launching and marketing the Diversity Banking Program.
- Results seen, lessons learned and tips for other banks considering a special-purpose credit program.
- His own career journey as a commercial lender.