According to the Federal Reserve’s annual Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households, the number of unbanked Americans was at 6% in 2018, down from 8 percent in 2015. Meanwhile, the number of “underbanked” Americans—those with a bank account but who also use alternative financial services such as money orders or check cashing—fell from 21% in 2015 to 16% in 2018. (ABA Banking Journal)

On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Rodney Shepard—who was recently promoted to be Arvest Bank’s first-ever chief customer experience officer—discusses how he “champions the customer inside our organization,” focusing on the integrated digital, in-branch and call center experience. (ABA Banking Journal) 

The transition to alternative reference rates is in full swing. Here are four key steps to plan for life after Libor. (ABA Banking Journal)

Catherine P. Bessant, chief operations and technology officer at Bank of America, discusses the banking industry’s approach to the cybersecurity threat and her firm's fintech strategy, as well as blockchain and the responsible use of artificial intelligence. (Bloomberg Daybreak)

The Clearing House’s Real-Time Payments system is open to all depository institutions with no volume discounts and with a model that will lead to lower pricing as the system reaches scale, TCH President and CEO Jim Aramanda said at the ABA Payments Forum in Washington. RTP—a new real-time core payments system that is the first new U.S. payment rail in more than four decades—currently reaches about 50% of U.S. demand deposit accounts and seeks to connect every U.S. bank and credit union by the end of 2020. (ABA Banking Journal)

American's confidence in the job market is at an all time high, according to a May Gallup poll released this week showing that 71% of respondents said now is a good time to find a quality job—the highest since Gallup started tracking the trend in 2001. (The Hill)

The OCC has issued a long-awaited final rule implementing a new section of the Home Owners’ Loan Act permitting certain federal stock and mutual savings associations to elect the rights and duties of national banks. (ABA Banking Journal)

Officials at the Fed say they are committed to a "patient approach," even if the economy strengthens, and some are worried about persistently low inflation. (New York Times)

The National Credit Union Administration board has proposed a rule that would allow federal credit unions to have up to 50% of their deposits come from other credit unions and government entities, up from a 20% cap today. (ABA Banking Journal)

BAFT, ABA’s global transaction banking subsidiary, has released an updated New York law master participation agreement, which serves as the industry standard for secondary market transactions to facilitate the buying and selling of trade finance-related assets globally. (ABA Banking Journal)

The Basel, Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board is seeking feedback from industry stakeholders on the post-crisis regulatory reforms for “too big to fail” banks and whether the actions taken “are reducing the systemic and moral hazard risks associated with systemically important banks.” (ABA Banking Journal)