Search

Byline: Special to the RBJ During the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Five Star Bank continued to make commercial real estate loans despite all the vagaries in the [...]

Byline: Special to the RBJ Nearly two years after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Rochester region in earnest, bank lobbies are back open for business, but community banking is not [...]

Not all ministries carry the trappings of traditional religious observance, and not all ministers look like a preacher from Central Casting. Take, for example, 'Pastor Mike.' Serving the Lord for [...]

Systemic shake-up, or business as usual: what will Basle II really mean for the banking industry? Fears of a new caste system favouring the large sophisticated banks have helped hold [...]

Community banks are making an array of residential loan products available to consumers, expanding online mortgage services, and capturing significant jumbo loan business. Those are some of the key findings [...]

Community banks should consider in-house check printing as a way to increase fee income, enhance customer service, provide a unique product and strengthen brand identity. In-house printing can also be [...]

This article offers a five-question list that has helped the author gain a quick understanding of an industry's chemistry without spending hours reading industry reports. For community banks, each small [...]

The community bank business model is being severely tested by a one-two-three flurry of regulatory punches that can do real damage. As always, the best defense is a good offense, [...]

Technology is enhancing the capability of the traditional call center. It is also making it more affordable, even for community banks. In the past a call center was an expensive [...]

If it weren't for his impeccable manners and the dripping heat outside, it would be easy to think Suresh Sookoo, chief operating officer of Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, [...]

In a community bank, commercial lending and, by association, commercial credit analysis have traditionally been considered very prestigious areas of employment. The loans and customer relationships are often larger than [...]

Discussing the allowance for loan and lease losses (ALLL) usually sends shivers up the backs of community bank executives. In today's banking environment, it is not that reserves are not [...]

Byline: Kristin Broughton A number of community banks, eager to make inroads with underbanked clients, are looking to offer employer-sponsored payroll loans. Several community development financial institutions are already offering [...]

MOST OF US in the banking community look forward to a renewed focus on new business. For the past two years, we have spent an enormous amount of time and [...]

Byline: Richard Magrann-Wells Regional and community banks haven't lost to Silicon Valley--yet. But they face some serious challenges. Luckily, banks have an unexpected weapon in the coming battle against Internet [...]

Marc Sprouse says his bank plans to unveil its remote deposit capture service by the end of the first quarter. Meanwhile, like many in the survey, Sprouse has found capture [...]

'Insurance should not be your first line of defense,' says insurance consultant Ron Summerville. 'It should be your last resort.' However, while it is also said that that the best [...]

Approximately 23 percent of community banks employ call center customer service representatives, according to America's Community Bankers 2004 Compensation Survey, which is being released this month. The likelihood of a [...]

Byline: Claude Hanley Small-business lending is in need of an overhaul at most community banks. Right now, the lending process tends to be paper-intensive, cumbersome and inefficient for both borrowers [...]

Byline: Jackie Stewart Building a credit card rewards program can be difficult, especially for community banks. Smaller players have to compete against the largest card issuers, which can afford star-studded [...]

Byline: Jackie Stewart Farmer Mac wants more community banks to consider using its services as a way of bringing in more revenue. After enduring a rough patch following the financial [...]

Byline: Jackie Stewart Smaller banks are ramping up commercial lending to pad their bottom lines. But those banks must be mindful of the risks tied to commercial lending. Unlike other [...]

Byline: Jackie Stewart More community banks are looking at equipment finance as a way to generate revenue. Smaller banks have historically shied away from equipment finance because it requires a [...]

Byline: Rachel Witkowski The potential of falling off the fiscal cliff is making bankers more cautious about their exposure to government contractors. Community banks in particular are re-evaluating every client [...]

Byline: Harry TerrisA bullish thesis on construction activity has taken hold among investors who have bid up the shares of major home builders by as much as 80% in the [...]

Byline: Joe Adler WASHINGTON - Despite ardent opposition from community banks, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. followed through Wednesday on a new set of guidelines aimed at curbing abuse of [...]

Byline: Harry Terris The personal saving rate has rebounded to a range not witnessed in 15 years while core deposit growth has tailed off, but this should be no surprise. [...]

Byline: Marissa Fajt When Pacific Continental Corp. says it is going to be picky, it has credibility. After all, the $1.1 billion-asset company in Eugene, Ore., has made only one [...]

Byline: Harry Terris Small banks are major suppliers of credit to small businesses, but that means they could also be a circuit for the transmission of problems in commercial real [...]

Gallows humor about our banking crisis fueled by excess holiday cheer at a recent luncheon surfaced this concept for a TV reality show: A mix of actors in their 20s, [...]

WASHINGTON - The push to create a single bank regulator is driving a growing debate over whether consolidated supervision threatens the dual banking system. On one side are community bankers [...]

When Larry Brown, the chief executive at Bank of Little Rock, first heard the name Kasasa, he thought the conversation had turned from rewards checking to what's for dinner. 'First [...]

What recession? While the banking industry as a whole is pulling back on technology spending, community banks are increasing their budgets, especially for payments systems. In part, this is because [...]

The financial crisis of 2007-2009 has produced a playing field increasingly tilted against community banks and a general danger for all banks that regulatory burdens will increase markedly as compared [...]

Sen. Carl Levin urged the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Tuesday not to impose another special assessment on the industry. In a letter to FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, the Michigan [...]

John Murphy, a financial network rep at Union National Community Bank in Lancaster County, Pa., had been one of the $500 million-asset bank's top producers from 2005 to 2007, and [...]

It is no secret that as the credit crisis has deepened and prolonged over the last year, many independent mortgage brokers and specialty mortgage companies have been shown the door. [...]

Cbank Network Inc. is aspiring to be the Facebook, Amazon.com and Craigslist of the community banking world. The company operates a social networking Web site that bankers can use to [...]

This is a tale of two cities, Pontiac and Mt. Clemens. Both are the county seats in their respective counties. The courthouse and county building in Mt. Clemens is an [...]