Correspondent Blog

Several measurable factors drive loan (and, by extension, bank) profitability, including loan size, credit quality, term, cross-sell, and upsell.  In this article, we will consider how and why loan size is one of the most significant drivers of profitability for community banks and what community banks can do to improve performance. Relationship Between Loan Size…

Since our last update on 2Q credit HERE, 3Q commercial loan pricing trends start with a better economic picture as higher than-planned growth and softer inflationary data have changed part of the market’s outlook. The fear of recession has decreased in 3Q, and the new primary concern shifts back to interest rate risk and deposit…

We estimate that approximately 50% of the community banks in the industry have a credit department that exerts influence or sets standards on loan pricing.  While this process appears appropriate and benign, it increases credit risk, decreases bank profitability, and undermines the proper function of bank credit/yield tradeoff.  Many bankers feel that since credit officers…

On our loan hedging desk, we work with hundreds of banks ranging in size from just over $100mm in assets to some national banks with over $1T in assets. Combined with our relationship profitability model, Loan Command, we see the pricing of thousands of commercial loans per month as small as $30k and as large…

Rising funding costs and decreasing liquidity at community banks are causing managers to change pricing methodology for new credits. This makes some sense, as in other industries, if your input pricing goes up, you often adjust your end pricing.  We estimate that 25% to 50% of community banks have a policy requiring minimum yield or…

2022 will go down as one of the worst years for community bank loan mispricing when viewed on a spread basis. Rapidly rising rates crushed performance as many banks held a fixed rate constant and/or booked a fixed rate loan at a misguided level. Even though many loans were booked at below-par value (more information…

We recently posted an article (HERE) about how the Federal Reserve is bursting the everything bubble, and this will cause pain for some banks in the form of interest rate, credit, and liquidity risk.  One of the likely outcomes of this tightening cycle is stagflation, which will cause cash flow constraints for borrowers and create…

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…

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…

If you want to know how you can improve your bank’s profitability, one place that you can start is better loan pricing. While chances are your bank prices most of its loans correctly, it is the fringe cases that, in aggregate, end up having a large impact on bank profitability. In this article, we look…

The FOMC’s recent hawkish pivot and indications of multiple rate hikes in 2022 have created market volatility and an increase in longer-term interest rates. In a period of rapid change (or high volatility), we see about 50% of banks fall into a common trap of mispricing their commercial credits.  This loan pricing mistake does not…

One trick every bank lender should have up their sleeve is the ability to meet a client’s maturity and amortization targets but limit the risk of the bank by adjusting the rate on a loan. This tactic is especially germane in today’s market as certain sectors in certain cities are likely reaching the end of…