AI, third-party risk and the future of partner banking
Release Date: 09/11/2025
How the SCAM Act would encourage platforms to go after scammers
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
Major tech platforms make billions of dollars from scammers who advertise on their sites, , and there’s not much incentive for them to change their practices — yet. Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) , which would take steps to tackle these scams. ABA strongly supports the SCAM Act, and on this crossover episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast and ABA Fraudcast, Paul Benda discusses: How the SCAM Act would introduce new know-your-customer and takedown requirements for tech platforms. Why there aren’t sufficient existing incentives for platforms to deal with the...
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A new kind of ‘community bank’ for small businesses
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
From one location in Wilmington, North Carolina, Live Oak Bank is the and a leading partner in for community banks. With an uncertain economic and business environment, two top executives from Live Oak Bank joined the ABA Banking Journal Podcast to discuss: How Live Oak delivers personalized banking services to a nationwide footprint. Where small business owners are looking to grow and build in the coming months. The need for liquidity in small business acquisitions and succession planning. The role of technology, including AI, in helping to improve the ability of banks to serve small...
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A Lone Star banking perspective
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
If Texas were an independent country, its economy would rank as the world’s eighth-largest. “France is the seventh largest economy in the world and I don’t think it’ll take as much time at all to catch them,” laughs Texas Bankers Association Chairman Ron Butler. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Butler — who is also vice chairman and chief administrative officer of $14 billion-asset, Abilene-based First Financial Bank — talks about: What makes the Lone Star State a compelling economic story and an attractive market for investment (and out-of-state bank...
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The incredible shrinking penny (circulation)
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
The in 2025 caused operational challenges for banks when the regional Federal Reserve banks said they would stop accepting pennies for deposit at coin terminals -- accelerating the circulation shortage that's posing challenges for retailers. Today, the Fed , resuming deposits effective Jan. 14. On the latest episode of the podcast, ABA payments expert Steve Kenneally walks through the Fed's decision, the operational challenges the penny phaseout poses to retailers and banks, ABA's regulatory and legislative advocacy for improvements to the handling of coinage reform and for banks, frontline...
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Cybersecurity in a mobile-first banking landscape
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
The Philippines is a fast-growing economy, but it lags its peers in the unbanked rate, with more than four in 10 Filipinos unbanked, according to McKinsey. Many Filipinos use nonbank-provided ewallets, but bank penetration is on the rise since 2020, when the central bank approved a new license type for digital banking, helping the Philippines’ traditional banks meet the mobile-first needs of Filipinos. In this episode, Russell Hernandez of UnionDigital Bank provides a unique look into the Philippine banking sector. He also discusses how his mobile-first digital bank tackles account takeover...
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The 2026 outlook for bank M&A
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
The bank consolidation logjam broke in 2025, with several banks, including large regionals, amid an for approvals. While that may reflect both pent-up deal flow and a rush to get transactions done in a favorable environment, on the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Paul Davis notes that the rush is forcing everyone in the market to pay attention and be ready. Davis discusses how these factors, as well as the underlying forces driving consolidation, the capital markets environment and credit conditions will shape the mergers and acquisitions outlook throughout 2026.
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The outlook for tech-forward community banking
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
Jon Sisk and Matt Lujano’s banks couldn’t be more different at first appearance — Sisk is a top executive at a community bank in Santa Cruz, California, near the beating heart of America’s tech ecosystem, and Lujano leads a bank primarily based in a rural area of western Iowa where farming is dominant. But they share a positive outlook on the role of tech in community banking. As chair and vice chair, respectively, of ABA’s Community Bankers Council, they reflected on what it means to be a tech-forward community bank in a podcast following the committee’s recent D.C. meeting. Among...
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The Erie Canal at 200
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
The Erie Canal — one of the biggest milestones of American history — of its completion this week. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, acclaimed economic historian and Banking Journal columnist John Steele Gordon and editor-in-chief Evan Sparks discuss the canal’s development and construction, the involvement of the Savings Bank of New York in financing it, how it transformed New York and the Midwest, and how the canal created future demand for mass transport of goods by other means, helping fuel the republic’s development as a commercial powerhouse.
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Intelligent Origination: Reinventing Lending with AI
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
Blend’s Intelligent Origination — an AI-powered orchestration layer embedded in Blend’s platform that reduces the cost of loan origination, improves speed and accuracy, and redefines how lenders and borrowers experience the lending process.
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Why branches are top priority for PNC
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
PNC Bank is the nation’s eighth-largest bank by assets and the sixth-largest by deposits, but it ranks fourth in the number of physical branches. In a time when many banks are streamlining their in-person service locations, why has PNC doubled down on branches? On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, PNC executive Jeff Martinez explores: The role of branches in marketing and account acquisition, particularly business accounts. PNC’s strategy of combining organic growth and M&A (). Professional opportunities created for bank employees through the in-person delivery...
info_outlineThe rapid evolution of the financial services marketplace means the market for banking as a service is also evolving rapidly. From artificial intelligence to other new technologies to regulatory expectations, how is the partner bank sector shifting? On the season premiere of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Pathward Bank CEO Brett Pharr talks about the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based partner bank’s strategy. Among other things, Pharr discusses:
- The evolution of the business model beyond interchange to include embedded finance, faster payments and other opportunities.
- The criticality of third-party risk management in partner banking.
- How Pathward is using AI to accelerate compliance review of its partners’ marketing materials — and how some AI uses might be limiting young bankers’ learning and development.
- The role of partner banks in advancing financial sector participation by the unbanked.
- How Pathward builds its workplace culture with its “talent anywhere” remote work structure.