Correspondent Blog

Last week, we discussed how and why commercial lenders use a bank loan proposal letter (aka commitment letters) to their advantage (HERE).  We argued that a proper strategy and a well-crafted loan proposal letter could help lenders close loans quicker, eliminate more competitors, secure better pricing, and obtain the desired credit structure. In this article,…

Money 20/20 (M2020) is the only conference in the industry where it is both possible and expected to pull off two breakfasts, two lunches, three cocktail parties, and two dinners PER DAY. It’s a whirlwind of education, deal-making, eating, and hugging. In this article, we detail our thoughts and the trends we saw last week…

Halloween is approaching, so we might as well talk about death. Checks are dying and about to die quicker, given the rise of instant payments. In the next two years, many banks will have strategic plans to phase checks out, given their cost and reduction in frequency. Checks are getting to the point where they…

Good commercial lenders use commitment letters and proposal letters to their advantage.  A proposal letter (or letter of intent) expresses interest from the lender before credit approval is obtained.  A commitment letter evidences the lender’s commitment to lend.  It is only furnished after preliminary credit approval and typically contains the following language: lender commits to…

If you want to know if your bank has an alignment problem, ask ten co-workers, ”What is your bank’s brand value proposition? If 80% or more say close to the same thing – that is fantastic, and you are likely in the top 1% of bank performance. If 60% of your co-workers say the same…

Grid-based pricing is typically used to set the applicable margin of a loan based on specific performance measures, such as credit rating or cash flow coverage.  However, grid-based pricing can also be used to increase deposit balances.  The average borrower does not calculate their cost of borrowing and return on deposits on the economic value…

Many parents have dealt with the issue of how to divide Halloween candy among siblings. It takes work. If all houses gave out the same candy, it wouldn’t be a problem. But houses give out different sweets. Further, trick-or-treaters have different preferences. Whatever the case, candy, and preferences are not all the same. As a…

In two articles in the past few weeks (here and here), we discussed how the “higher-for-longer” interest rate environment will affect the community bank sector – continued increase in the cost of funds (COF), steady yields on loans, and a decrease in net interest margin (NIM) will put severe pressure on ROE for new loan…

If you want to grab a material amount of new deposit balance, offer a 5.05% money market rate, post it all over Instagram, and sit back and watch the money roll in. This approach has many problems, the first of which is a negative return on your investment (ROI). You will also end up cannibalizing…

In an article last week (Here), we discussed how the higher-for-longer interest rate environment will affect the community bank sector. Stable short-term rates for the next year or longer will increase cost of funds (COF), hold yields on loans steady, decrease net interest margin (NIM), and pressure return on equity (ROE) for new credit assets. …

Ask most banks how they construct their lending portfolio, and they say that “it is what the market gives them.” That is not a great answer. That level of passivity will likely cause us to lose 75+ banks during the next downturn. Loan portfolio asset allocation should be active. Credit risks are increasing, and a…

On September 20, 2023, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left its benchmark rate unchanged, but it would be a mistake to conclude that the committee did not send a strong message about the projected path of future interest rates.  The FOMC revised its view on future projected interest rates – rates will be “higher…