Correspondent Blog

The new split bipartisan Covid Relief Bill got traction yesterday and stands a good chance of getting approved in the next couple of weeks. Most versions of a new stimulus package contain the approval for the next draw of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The SBA, in turn, is preparing to bring the program live…

With FDA approval and the first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine start to hit our communities this week, the question comes up over should banks have a policy around if the vaccine should be mandated, recommended, supported, and acknowledged in the workplace?  On the one hand, taking a proactive stance supporting workplace vaccination could be…

We recently spoke to a frustrated banker who was amazed that a regional bank was trying to poach his existing customer by quoting the borrower a credit spread of 1.65%. At such a thin credit spread, how would any bank make a profit, and why was this regional bank so irrational?  In this blog, we…

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us we can turn our attention to the holidays. That means our annual gift guide for bankers. We do this as we not only have a good time putting this together, but it is one of the pieces of content that we produce that drives heavy traffic. At this time,…

On October 23, 2020, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) published the Fallback Protocol (Protocol) that allows firms that use LIBOR to transition to SOFR when LIBOR becomes unavailable.  On November 30, 2020, ISDA and IBA announced that it will cease publication of the one-week and two-month US dollar LIBOR settings immediately following the…

In a recent training, the recording of which is below, our Bank participated in an intro class on how to get better at remote selling and coaching put on by Jack Hubbard of St. Meyer & Hubbard. Given the pandemic and the fact that we believe remote selling is here to stay, we found it was…

We have blogged about how low-interest rates, COVID-19 credit strain, and tough competition for quality commercial loans create a challenging environment for community banks. One way that community banks are responding to deterioration in net interest margin (NIM) is by embracing commercial loan hedging programs. These hedging programs can appeal to borrowers in today’s interest rate…

Office lending for banks has been one of the better-performing sectors of commercial real estate (CRE) for banks for some time. Even during the pandemic, the credit on office loans is doing surprisingly well. The question arises, what happens in the future? Will it be business as usual post-pandemic? Will companies take more space to…

Between low-interest rates, the concerning rise in COVID-19 cases, and tough competition for quality commercial loans, community banking is a tough business.  While there has been a nominal deterioration in credit quality thus far, a deterioration in the business environment related to the pandemic and lack of fiscal stimulus may change that. Net interest margins…

Being able to adapt and pivot is the hallmark of success in 2020. There are many new skills that we picked up, how to work various video conferencing applications, how to do remote check-ins, and, of course, how to run your entire bank from your home dining room table. One skill that still can use…

It may seem counter-intuitive, but many banks are loosening CRE underwriting standards instead of continuing to tighten them. With a new presidential administration, it is likely that we will face more stringent pandemic mitigations in the near future. While this is likely good for public health, it increases the short-term risk for commercial real estate…

In the last five years, one of the new disciplines in banking that has emerged is the combination of machine learning and satellite imagery to gather bank intelligence on fraud, credit, and bank marketing. While this sounds daunting, in this article, we will show you some relatively simple applications of both artificial intelligence (A.I.) and…