Correspondent Blog

If your bank struggles to create a clear value proposition and brand differentiation, then we have a case study for you. In December 2021, a Brazilian bank, Nubank, went public in the U.S. and became the most valuable bank in Latin America. Their secret – fanatical customer service. This article looks at how this bank…

Last week’s FOMC Meeting resulted in an increase in short-term interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) and projected seven rate hikes in 2022 and another four hikes in 2023.  The FOMC projects the Fed Funds rate to reach 1.875% by the end of the year and 2.75% next year (see DOT plot below).  However,…

If banking had an Olympics, creating loan value would be an event. The recent Fed meeting, with its hawkish tone, makes the sport of loan value creation even more important. While many lenders are good at gathering new business, they may lack the experience to create optimal mutual value. To make it into the podium,…

Community banks have solid competitive advantages when competing against insurance companies (primarily life insurance companies or “Lifecos”) and commercial real estate securitization conduit lenders (CMBS) for commercial borrowers. Unfortunately, some bankers are not positioning their services correctly to explain why borrowers should do business with their community bank. Some bankers even use fatalistic arguments that…

The OODA Loop is a decision-making framework that we have found increasingly helpful to solve a variety of problems and give leaders a methodology for making decisions quickly. The concept was developed by Air Force Colonel John Boyd, one of the great strategists of modern times. The framework emphasizes speed and agility while looking for…

Community banks face intense competition for profitable borrowers and relationships.  With short-term interest rates rising and long-term rates still at historically low levels, all bankers should understand how swap spreads may provide a competitive lending advantage.  In this current market, swap spreads are negative, and banks that can utilize swap spreads in pricing loans gain…

Last week, JP Morgan opened banking’s first presence in the metaverse within the blockchain-based virtual world of Decentraland (go HERE for a primer). The “Onyx Lounge,” named after the Bank’s blockchain product, comes complete with a roaming tiger greeting visitors and an ironic portrait of CEO Jamie Dimon, who has been a crypto naysayer. Now,…

In our article last week (HERE), we discussed how the yield curve is currently flat between the three and 20-year points.  This makes term loan pricing between three years and 20 years virtually identical.  Banks that cannot offer competitively priced term loans out to 20 years may be at a significant disadvantage when competing or…

The reality is that most banks only design less than half a product. Sure, bankers are great at getting the basics right, but there is rarely much thought around 66% of the product’s design after that. In this article, we look at the elements of excellent bank product design and provide some hacks on how…

Community banks refine their products and services to compete for better borrowing relationships – the better borrowing relationships are associated with better credit quality, meaningful cross-sell opportunities, acceptable margins and fee income, and higher return on equity (ROE).  Unfortunately, current market dynamics are making it hard for community banks to outcompete for these better borrowing…

Scoff at the NFT’s all you want, but they are your bank’s future. Not every bank, just those that will survive. All the crypto ads during the Super Bowl are another sign of this. Sure, in part, it’s a hype-driven Pets.com moment. However, like the changes that took place around Web 1.0, Web 3.0 is…

In a recent blog [Here], we argued that banks are almost always in an inferior position by not re-quoting the loan rate with market movement until the loan closes. We think that when banks book a fixed-rate loan, the fixed-rate must be finalized at the closing table; otherwise, banks give borrowers a free option that…