BankThink

The challenges of running a business become exponentially greater when managers seem to be spending more and more of their time finding and training new team members than in actually executing strategy.

Wall Street JournalAML clarification: U.S. banking regulators issued a "Fact Sheet" that tries to clarify anti-money-laundering rules that some critics say are forcing banks to cut off access to innocent countries, businesses and individuals for fear of being penalized. The report is intended to "dispel certain myths" about the rules, which have caused some banks to refrain from serving customers in island nations, emerging-market countries and those in drug-ridden areas, such as the U.S. border with Mexico. In a blog post accompanying the report, senior Treasury officials said regulators resolve "about 95 percent" of compliance failures without penalties and that banks are not required to vet the customers of their foreign bank clients.

While biometric authentication has garnered significant attention in recent months, its actual application in face-to-face environments has seen slow adoption to date.

Banks and regulators both deserve credit for how they have navigated the post-crisis period, but how regulators continue to implement rules — and how banks continue to deal with this environment — will determine if this is a turning point for finance or the prelude to another round of pain.

Banks need more specific guidance that clarifies requirements around vendor contracts, risk assessments, data management and other issues.

Wall Street JournalCutting out banks: Transferwise, the global money transfer startup that has so far worked indirectly with consumers through its bank partners, wants its own independent licenses, eschewing banks. The five-year-old London-based company currently partners with Barclays in the U.K. and Community Federal Savings Bank in New York. It has licenses in 37 states, and can operate independently in three states that don't require licenses. The company's CEO says having its own licenses will enable it to cut costs and offer more features. "This is the latest example of the evolving and complex relationship between aspiring fintech disruptors and traditional banks," the Journal writes.

Financial institutions offering checkless checking is trending, and checkless checking accounts—as part of the FDIC’s 2011 Model Safe Accounts Pilot—appeared to perform well among the underserved consumer participants.

It's long been assumed that technology will help the financially underserved access the banking services they need. Christine Duhaime, an attorney and founder of the Digital Financial Institute, a financial technology think-tank, says this assumption is wrong, and that some tech advances are already starting to have unanticipated adverse effects on the financially disadvantaged. Banks will have to think creatively — by teaching people to code and maybe even making house calls — to ensure they provide fair access to services.

Employees are the heart and soul of any company. When they are engaged, they behave in ways that have a tremendous positive impact. Companies that want to tap into that power should foster these three attitudes in their employee ranks.

Millennials came of age in the wake of the Great Recession and have developed a hardened skepticism about banks. For banks to attract them as employees, it's going take more than a promise of work-life balance.