Natalie Bartholomew is chief administrative officer at Grand Savings Bank in northwestern Arkansas, but she is probably better known for her popular blog “The Girl Banker,” which provides advice on career advancement and work-life balance for women in banking as well as spotlighting female leaders in financial services.(ABA Banking Journal)

Mortgage rates held steady this week, according to the latest data released by Freddie Mac showing that the 30-year fixed-rate average was unchanged at 3.75% with an average 0.6 point. It was 4.60% a year ago. (Washington Post)

Debit card use and market penetration continued to grow last year, while fraud losses declined, according to Pulse’s latest debit issuer survey. Digital transactions—that is, card-not-present purchases—grew 24% year-on-year, more than five times faster than in-person card transactions, and now account for a quarter of all debit purchases. (ABA Banking Journal)

Liens and judgments aren’t reflected in credit scores, but customers who have them pose increased credit risk. (ABA Banking Journal)

Today, every company is a technology company. This dynamic is playing out in financial services, which used to be an entirely distinct vertical – the domain of banks, payment processors and insurance companies. Through innovation led by fintechs, the financial services industry is poised to permeate across the fractured silos of the economy. (Forbes)

Remember when checking your balance online was new and novel? The advent of the internet and online banking permanently changed the way consumers conduct their banking activities and interact with their financial institutions. (ABA Banking Journal)

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will propose a new standard for bringing “disparate impact” claims under the Fair Housing Act. HUD is issuing the proposed rule to conform its 2013 disparate impact rule with the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, which recognized disparate impact analysis to demonstrate discrimination claims under the FHA but added key limitations to ensure the burden of proof in disparate impact cases is with the plaintiffs. (ABA Banking Journal)

A group of 51 state bankers associations wrote to congressional leaders today calling for a review of the credit union industry to determine whether it is living up to its statutory mission of serving people of “small means.” (ABA Banking Journal)

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank’s rate cut approved Wednesday was part an ongoing move to adjust to economic conditions though no guarantee of future cuts. (CNBC)

A group of 13 Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee today urged the federal banking agencies to accelerate implementation of regulatory reforms made by the S. 2155 reform law, as well as other reforms that they said would enhance economic growth. (ABA Banking Journal)

The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s current expected credit loss model for loan loss accounting is a solution in search of a problem, according to an op-ed by banker Brice Luetkemeyer in American Banker magazine. (American Banker)

While the 2018 Farm Bill reclassified hemp as a legal agricultural commodity, banks still face challenges in serving hemp producers and hemp-related businesses, the ABA said in a statement submitted for the record of a recent Senate Agriculture Committee hearing. (ABA Banking Journal)