BankThink

In keeping with the April Fool's Day tradition that goes back to at least the 14th century, we bring you these headlines and stories on just this one day per year.

Robert Fouch, President/CEO of Corporate Central Credit Union, says it is healthy for the financial industry to focus on the National Credit Union Association nomination.

Roger A. Licht, President of Credit Union One, explains why paying board members hurts cooperative credit union difference.

We all agree education is vital to success in life. Yet consumers may not realize that applies as much to managing personal finances as to any other area of our lives.

Human enterprise is powered by financial resources and expertise. Banks truly can help people in all walks of life accomplish what they set out to do.

Limiting the number of overdraft fees could cause consumers to miss important payments, be denied necessities and wind up with negative information on their credit reports.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Thursday a massive expansion of its consumer complaint database. It will be nearly 5 times larger, making it the biggest public collection of financial consumer complaints submitted to a federal regulator.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch launched two new software applications designed to address Dodd-Frank Remittance Regulation 1073, which establishes a new regulatory framework for cross-border payments.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Reopened: Cypriot banks reopened this morning, after being closed for nearly two weeks due to the country's financial crisis, but there are limits to what customers can do at their branches. Per the Post, cash withdrawals will be limited to 300 euros ($383) per person a day, transactions with other countries will be capped at 5,000 euros and those travelling won't be able to take more than 1,000 euros (as well as the equivalent sum in foreign currency) along for the trip. Cypriot banks were "braced" for an outflow of money once doors reopened, but, according to this Journal article, things thus far have been fairly quiet. "For the moment … the only crush at the branch was from the swarms of foreign journalists that have descended on the island over the past few days," the paper reports, adding that some Cypriots are waiting until the weekend to make withdrawals in order not "to topple the banks" the government is trying to protect. Meanwhile, U.S. markets are slipping because "investors just can't get past Europe" and German politicians are worried about all the criticism Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble have received as a result of the controversial Cyprus bailout. Another Journal article outlines how Cyprus' big banks ended up in financial ruin. The short version: It involves a lot of bad bets on Greece. It also appears regulators did little to flag (or stop) the exposure. Per the article, "both Cypriot banks passed Europe-wide stress tests in 2010, relieving them of pressure to change course. They passed again in 2011."

Tailoring a bank's loan policy to the business available in its trade area tends to effectively reduce loan losses and prevent major credit debacles.