For several years, federal stimulus dollars swelled the checking account balances of many consumers, who found few, if any, safe alternatives to earn higher yields. That era has now receded into the rearview mirror.
Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Deposits, liquidity, Gig Economy
Digital Assets Regulation Takes Center Stage at Consensus 2023
The Consensus 2023 conference was a fruitful experience for those hungry to know more about emerging digital asset trends. Over 15,000 people from various industries attended the CoinDesk-hosted event in Austin, Texas. Well-known and admired companies, including PayPal, Pepsi, Franklin Templeton, and Mastercard, were on site to share stories about their blockchain-related projects.
Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Digital Assets, Blockchain, Regulation, Digital Identification
The deposit market, which had been remarkably dull and easy to overlook for over a decade, continues to deliver new twists. The latest shot across the bow comes courtesy of Apple and Goldman Sachs – in the form of a savings account with a 4.15% annual rate and no minimum balance.
Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Deposits, liquidity, Apple Savings
It’s an understatement to say that 2023 has been demanding for credit unions.
A flurry of interest rate hikes has created balance sheet challenges. The recent failures of two large banks, and the voluntary liquidation of another, have created questions about the public’s underlying confidence in the financial services industry.
Topics: Digital Banking, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Deposits, CFPB, Overdraft Fees
We were already seeing banks and credit unions step up efforts to attract and retain deposits before last month’s bank fallout resurrected discourse about the importance of liquidity.
Financial institutions of all sizes are doubling efforts to hold onto depositors while serving people who have moved their accounts from Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and others. Deposit balances have become a hot topic – the Independent Community Bankers Association just announced that it would be a focus of its next fintech accelerator season.
Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Deposits, liquidity, Checking Accounts
Looking at AI Language Model Use Cases for Financial Institutions
The banking industry’s reaction to recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) platforms such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and freshly released GPT-4 has been a mix of excitement and caution.
Morgan Stanley is among the banner clients of GPT-4, using it to enhance its internal knowledge base and handle federated search capabilities for its wealth management personnel. JPMorgan Chase, in contrast, has tried to restrict employee use of ChatGPT. We believe adoption is inevitable, especially after Microsoft integrates GPT’s capabilities into its Office products.
Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Large Language Models, ChatGPT
It’s not every day that a phrase as vague and slanted as “junk fees” becomes an actual legislative term, but here we are. In various statements, the White House and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have defined junk fees as “hidden or unexpected fees” and “increasingly sophisticated tools to disguise the true price consumers face.”
Although President Biden highlighted hotel resort fees, concert ticket services, and airline surcharges in his State of the Union address, the CFPB has also pushed to lower the cap for most credit card late fees from roughly $30 to $8. Limiting or eliminating NSF/overdraft fees is also high on the agency’s agenda.
Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Overdraft, CFPB, Credit Cards, Retail Banking
Making Sense of the EWS Digital Wallet Initiative
Stop me if you've heard this one before – a group of industry players creates a consortium to launch a digital wallet to participate in the payments process and exert control over the consumer experience.
Such an endeavor has been pursued in the past years by major U.S. retailers, like MCX, and telecom providers, through the unfortunately named ISIS.
Topics: Payments, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Digital Wallets, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Mobile Wallets, Fintech Strategy
Five Tech Takeaways from Acquire or Be Acquired
The SRM recently returned from Bank Director’s Acquire or Be Acquired conference. The event was well attended, provided great networking opportunities, and created a forum for sharing ideas on numerous growth strategies for financial institutions of all sizes.
While the event remains focused on the topic of mergers and acquisitions, this year’s sessions highlighted broader strategic initiatives that can differentiate winners and losers in the financial services industry. Naturally, fintech played a considerable role, as witnessed by the attendees and the topics.
Topics: Fintech, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Blockchain, Strategy
Creating a Map for Credit Unions’ Digital Readiness
The future is digital, and credit unions’ ability to deliver an exceptional experience will be a critical benchmark for success. Strategic questions abound. How do you harmonize the digital channel with the personalized in-branch experience? Should you partner with fintechs? If so, which providers and services should be prioritized? Do you understand what your members want and how you stack up against your competition?
Topics: Fintech, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Digital Map, Strategy