The real difference between stablecoins and tokenized deposits
Release Date: 09/25/2025
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...
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From tractors to drones, how farming tech affects ag lending
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
With equipment repair costs up 40% over the past few years, how farmers deploy expensive agricultural machinery is of top concern for ag bankers. With equipment increasingly complex and often software driven, many equipment manufacturers have limited the ability of operators to repair their equipment without voiding warranties — leading to delays and lost harvests as farmers wait for service amid a shortage. While this trend has led to a “right to repair” movement in many states, the issue of equipment costs and lost revenue during breakdowns remains a factor in lending decisions, says...
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Bigger data boosts financial inclusion at Synchrony
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
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AI and the future of BSA risk management
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
Banks have been using natural language processing and machine learning applications for years in managing their anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act obligations. But how does the growing adoption of generative AI tools affect how BSA and fraud professionals protect their banks? On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by — former FDIC official Lisa Arquette shares a regulator’s-eye view of generative AI in the BSA world and how regulators have been approaching the technology for their own work. Joined by ABA SVP Heather Trew, Arquette also discusses: ...
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The real difference between stablecoins and tokenized deposits
ABA Banking Journal Podcast
In the wake of the summer’s Genius Act, many banks and nonbanks have announced new stablecoin initiatives. Another digital asset — tokenized deposits — may meet needs similar to stablecoins, but the two asset types have significantly different features based on their underlying designs. On this episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, ABA experts Brooke Ybarra and Yikai Wang discuss: The key differences between stablecoins and tokenized deposits. Risks that widespread payment stablecoin adoption poses to community bank lending. Use cases for payment stablecoins (and areas where hype...
info_outlineIn the wake of the summer’s Genius Act, many banks and nonbanks have announced new stablecoin initiatives. Another digital asset — tokenized deposits — may meet needs similar to stablecoins, but the two asset types have significantly different features based on their underlying designs. On this episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, ABA experts Brooke Ybarra and Yikai Wang discuss:
- The key differences between stablecoins and tokenized deposits.
- Risks that widespread payment stablecoin adoption poses to community bank lending.
- Use cases for payment stablecoins (and areas where hype might exceed value).
- How U.S. banks are approaching stablecoin and tokenized deposit pilots.