Jeff For Banks
JUNE 26, 2011
'When I began my journey as a bank consultant, my firm''s top-notch cost accountant repeated this post title to me often. He was teaching me the mechanics of cost allocations from support centers to profit centers in FIs, and further down to products. The key, he told me, was to develop a rational allocation method that is understandable to those being measured and apply it consistently.
Jeff For Banks
APRIL 9, 2011
'A bank attorney spoke at a recent Financial Managers'' Society (FMS) meeting that I attended. His topic: Leadership. His thesis: Analytics should be the basis for strategic decision making. He offered an interesting fact: 40% of critical decisions in U.S. companies are made from the gut. This style of decision making was romanticized by Jack Welch in his popular 2001 book: Jack Straight from the Gut.
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Jeff For Banks
OCTOBER 22, 2011
'Today I had a Twitter conversation about how the Durbin Amendment turned out to be a boon for retailers and a bust for financial institutions and consumers. Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois sponsored the amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act, decrying the unfairness of the debit interchange fees charged by financial institutions to retailers and how it inflated costs to consumers.
Jeff For Banks
MAY 8, 2011
'Several months ago I was enlisted to coach middle school girls lacrosse. It is a relatively new sport to our area, so my learning curve was steep. We are nearing the end of our season, and yesterday we completed our first double header sweep. As I reflected on how far the girls have come, I thought of the lessons we learned along the way. These lessons apply to many areas of life, including the banking profession.
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Jeff For Banks
MAY 1, 2011
'When a significant portion of your cost structure is fixed, then growing revenues should generate positive operating leverage. the cost of generating the next $100 of revenue should be less expensive than generating the previous $100. This fundamental logic stands behind the banking industry buzzphrase, economies of scale. The fixed cost of your IT infrastructure is less on a relative basis for a $1 billion in assets financial institution (FI) than a $500 million in assets FI.
Community Banking Brief brings together the best content for Community Banking professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Jeff For Banks
DECEMBER 21, 2011
'This 1946 Christmas classic is a story about the impact one man made on his family, his business, and his community. It goes beyond the fate of the Bailey Building and Loan. It teaches us to take stock of our lives, to be helpful instead of hurtful, and be thankful for what we have instead of stressed over what we don''t. But It''s a Wonderful Life is also a testament to the importance of community financial institutions (FIs).
Jeff For Banks
DECEMBER 17, 2011
'I recently read Harvard Business Review''s 10 Must Reads on Strategy and reviewed it in this blog. One of the "must reads" was The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution by Gary Neilson, Karla Martin, and Elizabeth Powers from Booz & Co. I dedicated one blog post: naming it Common Sense to Successful Strategy Execution because I didn''t think it was a secret.
Jeff For Banks
NOVEMBER 23, 2011
'After nineteen years in financial services, I am finally witnessing the tide turn in bank and credit union strategic planning. What once was an annual budgeting exercise, is now beginning to take the more productive path of identifying and paving the way to the financial institution (FI) of the future. The one that makes clear either-or choices to ensure future relevance for their customers, employees, communities, and shareholders (if stock owned).
Jeff For Banks
NOVEMBER 16, 2011
'Last year Millward Consulting merged with my firm. The combination gave Millward greater resources to serve clients, and my firm senior-level expertise to develop our talent, deepen our services, and expand our geography. At the time, I didn''t think much about a trend developing in bank consulting. A couple of months ago two other community bank consulting firms merged, Danielson Associates and Ambassador Financial Group.
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In this report, you’ll find a comprehensive analysis of survey responses from executives at banks, credit unions, and insurance companies concerning their organization’s current and future use of automation. The report’s key insights include: Which types of automation are saving organizations the most time and money How to overcome the biggest barriers to automation implementation and adoption Why automation investments will continue to grow over the next few years How much you could save in 202
Jeff For Banks
OCTOBER 4, 2011
'I am a student of my industry: consulting and banking. If bankers tell me their institution has a superior brand, I want to know what that means. Too often I am told that the FI has a superior brand because customers come up to senior executives and board members on the street and tell them so. I am no statistician or expert on human behavior, but I have to believe that people willing to approach senior executives or board members of the local financial institution are probably going to say som
Jeff For Banks
SEPTEMBER 24, 2011
'Things look grim for us: community financial institutions (collectively, "banks") and those that serve those august institutions. We lost the mortgage business a generation ago to category killers like Countrywide, Golden West, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac and the mortgage brokers that fed the beast. When the beast collapsed, we inexplicably donned the bullseye of blame.
Jeff For Banks
MAY 29, 2011
'I was researching videos of positive customer experiences for another potential post when I discovered this gem from Forrester Research done in 2007. Four years in our information driven society may seem like a lifetime but I listened with fascination as Forrester Research Principal Analyst Kerry Bodine described key elements of a customer centric culture.
Jeff For Banks
MAY 14, 2011
'Movies tell great stories. Most times they exaggerate real life. So I am pouncing on the opportunity to over-dramatize four things I don''t think FI''s should do. 1. Don''t ignore your CEOs age. Prognosticators are predicting incredible shrinkage in community FIs because of regulatory burden. I think it is equally likely that boards throw in the towel because their CEO is far closer to the grave than the cradle, like Aunt Edna from National Lampoon''s Vacation.
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Jeff For Banks
APRIL 2, 2011
'The World Around Us World events are impacting our markets. Unrest in the Middle East has already changed governments in Tunisia and Egypt. Protests and internal fighting in Libya have led to an international coalition bombing the country in order to establish a “no-fly” zone. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also face protests. Triple tragedies in Japan from the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the giant tsunami, and the ongoing nuclear emergencies have us all unsettled.
Jeff For Banks
MARCH 24, 2011
'I had lunch today with a client''s regional manager. We discussed many things, but one thing he told me stuck. they used average balances to determine their highest priority customers. Many of my comrades in the community FI blogosphere feed on data, some good, some bad. But using average customer balances to determine your best customers is unfortunately very common. bad use of data.
Jeff For Banks
MARCH 13, 2011
'The title of this post is common community FI phraseology. I hear it often, and use it often. My epiphany came when I performed research for a client that subscribed to the Return on Equity school of thinking. This FI had a high percentage of funding coming from CD''s and FHLB borrowings, a relatively low loan to deposit ratio, and focused on generating profits within the investment portfolio.
Jeff For Banks
NOVEMBER 30, 2011
'A Written on the cover is a definitive statement made by an entity that has supreme confidence in itself: " If you read nothing else on strategy, read these definitive articles from Harvard Business Review." Wow. And while we''re at it, if you read no other blogs on banks, read Jeff For Banks. As much as I would like to believe it''s true, I would also have to believe that a higher authority is leading the Denver Broncos on their improbable run.
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Jeff For Banks
OCTOBER 15, 2011
'The Occupy Wall Street gang seems to garner more press coverage than the state of the U.S. economy, the presidential election, and the MLB playoffs combined. In terms of media excitement, only the trial of Michael Jackson''s doctor competes. Who are these people and what do they want? The press can''t even figure it out and spin it to something cohesive, even though they really, really, really want to.
Jeff For Banks
OCTOBER 13, 2011
'In keeping up with industry reading it is clear to me that we, as an industry, are perplexed at what to do about branching. The recently released FDIC Summary of Deposits showed the second year of branch decline. The most recent ABA study on delivery channel preference showed online banking eclipsing branch transactions for the 55+ set. That''s right. old people letting their fingers do the walking.
Jeff For Banks
SEPTEMBER 4, 2011
'I was recently moderating a strategic planning discussion with a multi-billion dollar in assets financial institution. During the discussion, the President of one of the bank''s most profitable divisions opined that less than $10 billion in assets was the "dead zone". They had to grow to survive. I challenged the thinking. But he held firm that the regulatory environment, changing customer preferences, and the pace and expense of technology were driving the market towards bigger is better.
Jeff For Banks
AUGUST 24, 2011
'When I was a branch manager, I fondly recall competing with a friend and fellow branch manager for the quarterly sales title. My bank, First National Bank of Maryland, had a very transparent incentive compensation system. I could calculate my own and my team''s quarterly bonuses to the penny. It was called RAISE. Recognizing Achievement In Sales Excellence.
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Jeff For Banks
AUGUST 13, 2011
'A few weeks ago I was driving the Pennsylvania Turnpike when I noticed a sweet ride. Deep black, with flecks of blue, tan leather interior, advanced looking dash, and a pretty, well-dressed lady in the passenger seat to boot. I thought to myself, "what a handsome and successful couple". The car, as emblazoned on the trunk, was a " Genesis ". the beginning. awesome name.
Jeff For Banks
AUGUST 1, 2011
'Financial Brand August 2010 Survey of Banks Social Media Presence [link] Frank Sorrentino’s (Twitter: @franksiii) Blog [link] Susquehanna Bank’s blog [link] Chase’s Community Giving Facebook page [link].
Jeff For Banks
JULY 27, 2011
'I learn a lot from bankers as I visit their offices, speak to them on the phone or at industry events. Occasionally they will offer an insight that I think my Twitter followers would find interesting. Below are selected quotes that I tweeted this year along with my brief insights or background regarding the comment. Note that if the quotes exceeded 140 characters, I would have abbreviated or substituted some words to make them fit.
Jeff For Banks
MAY 21, 2011
'If I had a nickel for every time an investment banker predicted the mass consolidation of our industry I could buy a free round to all attendees at next month''s Financial Managers'' Society Forum. Financial Institutions need greater scale to offset the rising regulatory burden imposed by Dodd-Frank and soon to be imposed by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) is the most often cited reason.
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