Correspondent Blog

Historically, community banks have relied on net interest margin (NIM) instead of fee income to drive return on equity (ROE). In contrast, larger banks have emphasized non-interest income rather than NIM to boost ROE and revenue. For example, 40% of JP Morgan’s commercial banking revenue is derived from fee income, and JP Morgan’s commercial banking…

This week is the start of bank earnings week, and the best bankers on earth will be presenting their results. It doesn’t matter if you are in front of your shareholders, equity analysts, or boss. Sooner or later, you will need to present data to showcase your results. When making a data presentation, there is…

While we look at many annual reports, the two CEO missives that we never miss are Berkshire Hathaway’s and JP Morgan Chase’s (JPM) shareholder letter.  We feel that as community bankers, we can learn much from Jamie Dimon (Chairman and CEO of JPM) and from Warren Buffet. Recently, JP Morgan Chase released its 64-page 2021…

Our recent sampling of 73 banks indicates that most banks have not adjusted loan or relationship pricing assumptions over the last two years. That could be a mistake as the environment has been radically different since 2020, and many banks are mispricing their commercial loans and relationships. In this article, we provide banks with four…

For any bank using Salesforce and/or nCino as their CRM and loan origination platform, respectively, or if you are considering those platforms, we would love to exchange best practice ideas with you. We will be holding an in-person roundtable session at the upcoming S&P Global Community Bank Conference 2022 at the Four Seasons Resort and…

A yield curve shows interest rates associated with different contract lengths for a particular interest rate instrument.  With recent interest rate volatility, the yield curve is changing shape daily, and there is much discussion about how the shape of the yield curve predicts the future strength of the economy.  While economists may use the shape…

Community banks pride themselves on superior customer service. Approximately 90% of all community banks believe that they provide an above-average level of customer service (of course, the math cannot work that way, as half of all banks should be providing a below-average level of customer service). Research by various consultants shows that 80% of companies…

In the future, banks will make money on payment products by DELAYING settlements. That vision is ironic considering financial institutions are spending billions of dollars moving payments from one to three-day settlement to real-time. However, in the next three years, many banks will have the bulk of their payments settling in real-time, and delaying payments…

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…