BankThink

I received an e-mail from a CU board member asking me to explain why a tagline is important in branding. My initial reaction was surprise that anyone would ask this. But then I realized that people wisely question the value of taglines, because there are so many truly bad taglines out there.

Recent bank failures have given brokered deposits a bad rap, writes George Sutton, a former Utah commissioner of financial institutions. When used properly, they carry benefits that vastly outweigh the isolated instances where they are misused, he says.

If the budget impasse forces a government shutdown, most of the federal banking agencies will remain open. But history shows a federal shutdown can affect banks in other ways.

For underwater borrowers looking to relocate, why not allow banks to simply substitute new collateral for old, charging a fee for the service?

Consumers will continue to look for ways to be smarter borrowers in 2011. Credit unions can continue to be at the forefront of helping them achieve that goal.

A new definition: "Leadership is sustained followership toward a shared vision." Why followership? What is a leader without followers!

BETHPAGE, N.Y. — Bethpage FCU has unveiled its new Bethpage Ballpark sign on the home ballpark of the minor league Bethpage Ducks.

Credit unions both as a community and individually have hired some famous names to act as spokespersons over the years. But one credit union may have set a record for famous spokespersons with its latest TV ad.

Some 7,000 community banks have been thrown under the Dodd-Frank bus and are feeling the full brunt of the financial "reform" legislation. The 2,300-page bill will heap at least 10,000 pages of new regulations on community banks while doing almost nothing to solve the problems that brought us to financial panic in 2008.

In the business of growing checking account revenue, we see clear winners and losers as a result of the Fed's proposed rulemaking on the Durbin Amendment, and some for whom the status quo will continue to exist.