Correspondent Blog
Banker to Banker
Silicon Valley Bank Failure – Lessons in Interest Rate Risk Management
The abrupt collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is a stunning example of bank leadership not understanding interest rate risk, running into trouble with an inverted yield curve, and ignoring the impact of a severe monetary correction on long-duration assets. There will be much more discussion and information written on this bank’s collapse, as well…
ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo – The Risks and Ethics for a Bank Enterprise Application
Last week, we convened a group of 30 bankers to train on ChatGPT and ideate around new banking products related to the enterprise version. While we covered the 15 ways we use ChatGPT HERE to enable banking productivity, this class focused on productizing the application for banking needs. Since our last article, several companies, most…
How Banks Use Debt Yield Ratio For Underwriting
In an article last week (HERE), we discussed why real estate loans underwritten at common debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) and loan-to-value (LTV) levels may quickly become substandard credits if capitalization (cap) rates normalize, as expected because interest rates are rising. Credits will deteriorate much faster if an economic downturn stresses net operating income (NOI)….
3 Rules to Getting Your Deposit Promotion Right
In our industry, many banks need to put more thought into the science and strategy of deposit promotions. This is, unfortunately, occurring as the number of deposit promotions is approaching a near-term high, and banks are throwing away money like an untargeted ad campaign. Not leveraging media, not having a current deposit pricing strategy, not…
The Problem With DSCR and LTV in Lending
Many community banks today are willing to underwrite real estate secured loans on just two metrics: debt-service-coverage ratio (DSCR) and loan-to-appraised value (LTV). Banks typically approve credits above 1.20x DSCR and below 75% LTV – with many loan-specific factors that may skew these acceptable levels. For competitive reasons, we see banks dipping to 1.10X DSCR,…
The Secrets of Expert Deposit Pricing Management
You can always tell a good banker by the way they handle their deposits. With loans, it’s hard to discern expert-level skills unless you know the market and the credit. Deposits, however, are pure. When we analyze a bank, it is typically the first thing we look for, as deposit pricing and structure are the…
How To Do Better Against National Bank Lending Competition
Community bankers need to understand their competitive landscape. Who the competition is, what the lending competition is offering, their delivery channels, and service levels can help community banks differentiate their services and enhance their competitive advantage. Understanding the competitive banking landscape helps community banks set proper pricing, respond to rival marketing, and compete more effectively. …
Quantifying Your Market When Raising Deposits
Last week we highlighted the lessons that machine learning taught us about the Unified Deposit Formula (HERE). Embodied in the Unified Deposit Formula is a marketing and amplification equation. In this article, we expand on the lessons we learned from artificial intelligence regarding raising deposits and explore how we can better use the Formula, and…
How a Loan Hedge Leverages The Yield Curve – Part II
In a previous article, we discussed the three generic shapes of the yield curve: normal, inverted, and flat. We also pointed out that the current inverted yield curve is unusual and is expected to last for the near term. The average community bank’s cost of funding is highly correlated to Fed Funds and SOFR (for…
The First Step For Raising Deposits
If you are looking for insight into how artificial intelligence can help in banking, we give you the Unified Deposit Formula that can be used for raising deposits. Before using machine learning, we, like most bankers, thought about deposit pricing along a single dimension – price and sensitivity. However, it turns out that price and…
Understanding The Current Yield Curve Shape
After last week’s FOMC rate increase of 25 basis points, the yield curve is more inverted than at any time in the previous 30 years. The current yield curve presents various challenges for community bankers for revenue generation and risk management. In this article, we will outline the significance of the yield curve shape and…
Deposit Pricing Basics Part 1: The Concepts
The art and science of optimized deposit gathering is a declining skill set among bankers. Banking schools don’t teach it, conferences don’t showcase it, and internal bank educators no longer train in the discipline. It is ironic as no other banking endeavor can build long-term franchise value like deposit gathering. Further, deposit gathering and its…