Relationships are the foundation of community banks, and they are evolving as social media platforms impact how, where and when financial institutions connect with customers. As social media becomes ubiquitous, Billy Beale, president and CEO at Union Bankshares Corporation in Richmond, Va., says the relationship between banks and their customers hasn’t fundamentally changed, but it has taken on a different look. (ABA Banking Journal)

The appeal of a cashless society is a popular topic among economists, and now there is one factor that will put a tick in its favor. The increasingly common, though equally controversial policy of capital controls. According to some, a global economy running without physical cash will make it much easier for governments to control capital flow. (Fortune)

Every year, migrants send billions of dollars worth of remittances back to friends and family in their home country. And there's a massive industry that facilitates these payments — and has for more than a century. The legacy remittance industry has been long dominated by cash, but these companies' comfortable hold on the industry is now being challenged by digital remittance startups. Digital-first remittance companies are competing on fees and usability, and capitalizing on the way people's expectations have changed with the advent of digital and mobile channels. (Business Insider)

A study suggests female CEOs and directors may follow more conservative strategies. After the bank failures of 2008, Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, quipped: "If Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Sisters, today’s economic crisis clearly would look quite different." Was there some truth in her statement? Would the global financial crisis have been any less severe had there been more women in top finance jobs? Some recent research suggests it might have been. (Wall Street Journal)

The fintech revolution will end badly for most startups, according to veteran financial-services investor J. Christopher Flowers. While a few new technology companies seeking to win business from established banks and financial-services firms will be extremely successful, the majority won’t survive. (Wall Street Journal)

U.S. stock markets had a Super Tuesday, with the S&P 500 gaining 2.39%, but the latest moves haven’t quieted Wall Street fears of a coming recession. Though most economists don’t see a recession coming this year, the number that do are on the rise. If and when it does come, analysts are starting to worry that the recession will be longer than most. The reason? The Federal Reserve doesn’t have nearly the room it is used to having, in terms of the ability to lower interest rates, as it usually does. (Fortune)

By a bipartisan 34-22 margin, the House Financial Services Committee today advanced the ABA-advocated TAILOR Act. The bill — a key part of ABA’s Agenda for America’s Hometown Banks and crafted with the assistance of the state bankers associations and ABA — would direct financial regulators to tailor regulatory actions based on the sizes, business models, risk profiles and other differentiating characteristics of the institutions they supervise. (ABA Banking Journal)

The Financial Accounting Standards Board yesterday issued its new lease accounting guidance, which requires all operating leases to be recorded on the balance sheet of lessees. The new standard is expected to be issued by year end, with an effective date of fiscal year 2019 for public business entities and 2020 for non-public business entities. (ABA Banking Journal)

Yesterday, Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan called for the U.S. central bank to be patient when it comes to raising interest rates, citing the effect of tighter financial conditions on U.S. economic growth. Global factors like the drop in stock markets, the decline in the price of oil, and the rise in the dollar since the beginning of the year are acting like a brake on the U.S. economic recovery, similar to the effect of an interest-rate increase, he said. (Reuters)

A company that gives earnings forecasts is at risk of having to cut its outlook. That’s the problem that is now facing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Only in her case, the "stock" is the U.S. economy, and what’s at risk is the entire market, not just the shares of one company. So say some of Wall Street’s most prominent economists. While trying to give clarity, she may be hurting the Fed’s credibility, as the market has increasingly become at odds with the Fed’s outlook. (Fortune)

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has built his campaign on the claim that big banks are a menace to society and should be broken up. But the preoccupation with "too big to fail" is misplaced. In their zeal to stamp out any possibility of future government bailouts, policy makers risk creating new vulnerabilities that could undermine the economy and make the next crisis worse. (Wall Street Journal)