The Banker Next Door

This is the best of BND: Interviews. A discussion with Allan Burkley about the failure of Heartland Tri-State Bank in Kansas and the fraud that was committed by their CEO Shan Hanes. This story is fascinating from many angles including internal controls, separation of power, checks and balances, who should serve on the board, the effect of a dominant CEO, internal fraud at banks, and how a bank’s failure can affect all stakeh...

This is the best of BND: Interviews. A discussion with Mac Thompson, who is the Founder & President of White Clay. We discuss how White Clay’s software helps banks and credit unions maximize profitability within a product or business unit. How you can fully utilize existing data to build stronger relationships with your customers. How White Clay can help with balance sheet management and thus strategic planning. We also d...

This is the best of BND: Interviews.  A discussion with Greg Smith, Curriculum Director for the Stonier Graduate School of Banking. Stonier is a banking school, which is run through the American Bankers Association (ABA) and has a partnership with the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Stonier has been around for 91 years and was originally founded by Dr. Harold Stonier in 1935. Listed below is a lin...

This is the best of BND: Interviews.  Continuing the discussion with Bob Newman from Chatham Financial. Chatham is a global advisory and technology firm focused exclusively on financial risk management. Chatham has expertise in the debt and derivatives markets. The conversation here is based around an example of a “vanilla” derivative transaction, that can help a bank turn mismatches in assets and liabilities on th...

This is a great time for your bank to treat the 2Q CECL cycle as a ‘health check’ on the process. Consider questions such as: has anything changed in our portfolio and macro view? How did your ACL move from quarter to quarter? Do we need to consider any changes to our key assumptions and qualitative factors? Other components to review third-party models, overlays, qualitative factors, documentation, ALCO, and credit ris...

The Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank recently conducted a focus group with subjects representing the Unbanked and Underbanked demographic. What they found was that this group really likes cash, alternatives such as prepaid cards, fintech tools, and money orders were very popular, hacking fears and bank fees are a top concern, complained about the time it took to open a bank account, and had some negative experiences with banks. On th...

An AI test was conducted using the largest four AI models. The test included Gemini, GPT, Grok, and Claude. Researchers built a virtual town with a town hall, marketplace, police station, and homes. Ten AI residents with jobs, names, memories, and relationships were created. The town was provided with an economy. Residents were expected to earn their keep, follow rules, carry out tasks, and create laws. Crimes had to be identified....

Bank News: First Reliance Bank buys Colony Bank. Superior National Bank to purchase Range Financial Corp. North Shore Bank to acquire 1895 Bancorp. Hancock Whitney Corp’s acquisition of OFB Bancshares was very strategic. Credit Union purchases of banks have slowed in 2026. Washington state de novo United Development Bank announces leadership team. Management shake up at JPMorgan. Big banks breeze through stress tests. Deluxe ...

The Dallas Federal Reserve Bank recently conducted research on the effects of unauthorized or more accurately illegal immigration on U.S. labor and housing markets. The findings of the paper suggest that local employment increased without significant declines to local wages. However, on a per capita basis, illegal immigrant workers reduced wage compensation of the local workforce. In addition, the influx of illegal immigrants cause...

The Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank recently conducted research on the overall risk exposure of bank lending to nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs). Direct bank lending to the nonfinancial business sector in the U.S. has decreased in recent decades. However, bank lending to NBFIs, which then lends the money directly to the nonfinancial business sector has dramatically increased in recent years. What then is the true credit risk e...