BankThink

It's not like the past few years haven't seen growth in at least a few job categories. Political Ad Distortion Enhancer. Bruce Jenner Facial Expression Stand-in. Steve Jobs Mythmaker. And within CUs, financial counselor.

It's not about fees. It's about you and me making an intentional difference for our neighbors, small businesses, and families. It's about helping others create a firm foundation for their future. That's the Credit Union difference.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column describing the financial preferences and behaviors of underserved consumers by painting a picture of an archetypal consumer named Sue. Taking stock of the true needs of the underserved helps explain why traditional bank products and practices often miss the mark.

The war over interchange between merchants and the payments industry continues. That's not surprising with tens of billions of dollars being allocated by Washington rather than the market in question.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Super Mario to the Rescue: Could Europe at last be on the verge of a final, conclusive, ultimate fix to its slow-motion train wreck of a financial crisis? Perhaps. Light has begun to emerge at the end of the Euro financial tunnel in the guise of comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicating a willingness to ease his opposition to a central bank bailout, a la the Fed's — if, that is, European Union states commit to a closer fiscal union with the will and authority to prevent member states from engaging in more rampant deficit spending. What seems to make a deal more workable than in the past is the face-saving nature of what's emerging. It would enable fiscal hawks like German Chancellor Angela Merkel to claim they'd administered a dose of bitter budget-balancing medicine to their profligate partners while at the same time, in the vernacular of the day, bring the "big bazookas" of the central bank and Germany to bear on supporting the troubled continent. Draghi hasn't committed outright to opening the spigots, but both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal used the term "quid pro quo" to characterize his comments during a European Parliament speech. There's lots to like here for policymakers on both sides of the pond, but Europe still isn't China — meaning what makes eminent sense to cloistered elites still has to pass muster with pensioners in Athens and the unemployed in Madrid. Throwing a bucket of Teutonic cold water on the notion that a quick solution is at hand, Germany's Merkel was quoted in a speech saying "Marathon runners often say that a marathon gets especially tough and strenuous after about 35 kilometers (22 miles)… But they also say you can last the whole course if you're aware of the magnitude of the task from the start." Wall Street Journal, New York Times

"There can be little doubt that financial stability issues have risen to the top of the agenda for the major central banks."

A recent American Banker online survey asked what to do about unprofitable customers. Most responders said that bankers must be more "creative" and find profitable ways to keep these customers.

Cyberthieves are using denial-of-service attacks to prevent corporations from discovering that their bank accounts have been raided.

Health-care organizations are reporting an unhealthy number of data breaches.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Bad News Banks: About one of every three banks cut their work force last quarter, leading to the smallest industry growth in a year and a half. Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded 37 banks worldwide, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo here at home. The downgrades were the result of revised rating criteria. The Times noted that of the eight largest U.S. banks under review by S&P, only State Street escaped a downgrade.