|
This ABA Banking Journal newsletter is a free, twice-monthly supplement to the ABA Banking Journal magazine intended to help you stay on top of industry and policy news.
You can also stay abreast of banking news by visiting aba.com/BankingJournal, home to ABA Daily Newsbytes stories, digital exclusives, the ABA Banking Journal Podcast and more.
On the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Chrisite Obenauer—CEO of Union State Bank in Hazen, N.D.—talks about how the state-owned Bank of North Dakota has worked with Union State Bank to expand its lending capability and bring a new $30 million critical access hospital, large day care facility and other needed projects to her hometown. (ABA Banking Journal)
|
Among the highest ideals for digital payments—driving innovation in transactions and customer experience—is, of course, the concept of seamlessness. That implies an ease of use while giving up nothing when it comes to security. Getting there is a long road with many twists and turns, with guidance provided not only by back-end technology but also by updated rules from organizations with a governing role across the payments industry. (PYMNTS.com)
|
Conducting well-designed self-assessments can lead to better performing boards. Usually the province of the nominations and governance committee, board assessments are a discipline for evaluating whether the board has the people, tools and focus needed to achieve corporate strategy. (ABA Banking Journal Directors Briefing)
|
Overall customer satisfaction with retail banks came in at 807 (on a 1,000 point scale), up a point from 2018, according to J.D. Power’s recent annual retail banking satisfaction study. The study noted that an improvement in customer satisfaction with products and fees was offset by declining satisfaction in areas of problem resolution and telephone customer service. (ABA Banking Journal)
|
Concerns about the U.S.-China trade feud pushed mortgage rates lower this week. According to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average slipped to 4.1 percent with an average 0.5 point. It was 4.14 percent a week ago and 4.55 percent a year ago. (Washington Post)
|
The House Financial Services Committee has voted to advance H.R. 2514—an ABA-backed bill introduced by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) that would modernize the Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering framework. ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols welcomed the move. (ABA Banking Journal)
|
In a letter to congressional leaders this week, a bipartisan group of 38 state attorneys general urged lawmakers to advance legislation allowing banks to serve marijuana-related businesses in states where the drug is legal. (ABA Banking Journal)
|
The Federal Reserve is seeking public comment on whether the Fed banks should extend the daily operating hours of the National Settlement Service and Fedwire Funds Service to facilitate adoption of a third same-day ACH processing and settlement window. (ABA Banking Journal)
|
After Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) unveiled a bill that—among other things—would cap consumer loan annual percentage rates at 15% nationwide, the ABA forcefully pushed back with quotes in several media reports.(ABA Banking Journal)
|
In a comment letter to the FDIC, ABA advocated for updates to the agency’s outdated and overly broad brokered deposit rules and interpretations. ABA noted that the scope of what is classified as a brokered deposit far exceeds the original intention of Congress, which was to prevent troubled institutions from holding this kind of deposit.
|
|
