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'It's reminiscent of Blockbuster investing in remodeling': Comments of the week

By Victoria Finkle
October 18, 2018 10:00 PM

Readers react to efforts to improve bank branches, weigh the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision to pull back on enforcing the Military Lending Act, consider efforts to build finetch sandboxes and more.

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On an argument for raising the minimum wage to $15/hour and the potential impact for bank tellers:

"We raised our minimum to 15 an hour. It did more for our morale and employee engagement than it cost the bottom line. Employees were proud that we recognize the value of our people."

Related: How increasing the minimum wage helps women in banking
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On an argument that regulators have an opportunity to do more to develop fintech sandboxes:

"A regulatory FinTech test bed that does not also have two elements is useless: 1) The regulators need to approve, deny or approve with modifications these types of proposals timely, ideally within 30 days. That may sound like a fast timeline in the world of bank regulation however in the real world outside the banking industry it is very slow. 2) Safe Harbors for BSA/AML/FACTA need to be available & freely given out for a properly designed pilot that lays out exactly how BSA/AML/FACTA compliance will be achieved. As long as a financial institution does what it says it will do following approval from its regulators for the FinTech test bed it should be prohibited for the regulator to cite any BSA/AML/FACTA violations against the financial institution(s) involved in the pilot in examination reports while the pilot is up and running."

Related: Regulators can do more to encourage fintech innovation
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Silhouette of US soldier with rifle against a sunset
On the response from lawmakers and the public to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision to to stop examining financial firms for compliance with the Military Lending Act:

"One would assume that Senator Nelson knows how to fix this problem - it is called legislation. The "lacks statutory authority" issue is easy to solve and probably one of the few things that would get bi-partisan support in Congress. And while they are at it, they should "direct" the bureau to conduct examinations and should statutorily remove the flaws (crate a safe harbor for documentation of a database inquiry) that serve as traps. Maybe even appropriate funds to fix the database."

Related: Pentagon, others baffled by CFPB plan to cease military lending exams
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The Amazon.com Inc. application icon is displayed on an Apple Inc. iPhone in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. Amazon.com unveiled a new security tool for cloud customers last week, part of a slew of product announcements designed to fend off competition from Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.'s Google and others in the fast-growing cloud computing market. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
On efforts to improve branch customer service to compete with the likes of the big tech giants:

"Why are we fixated on making the branch more appealing? It's reminiscent of Blockbuster investing in remodeling and adding products to its video rental stores, when consumers were flocking to streaming services. Digital self-service in branches is a technology fail; consumers don't need or want to come to our location and use our devices to conduct digital transactions when they can do them on their devices from anywhere, at anytime."

Related: Why banks still lag Amazon, Apple in customer service and satisfaction
Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney
Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, April 12, 2018. Senator Elizabeth Warren clashed with Mulvaney, accusing the former GOP congressman of putting politics ahead of protecting consumers. Photographer: Toya Sarno Jordan/Bloomberg
On the CFPB's plan to write a rule defining the term "abusive":

"If an FI's behavior is unfair or deceptive, then it is abusing their stakeholders. These institutions should know that they are entrusted to act in everyone's best interests."

Related: CFPB writing rule to define ‘abusive’ standard: Mulvaney
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On an argument that banks need to do more to understand how their products truly affect customers:

"As a community banker, I have to ask, "Who is struggling to regain public trust”? Certainly not those of us who live in and serve our communities. We do not need data to help our customers succeed or to improve their lot. If we do not help customers to succeed then we will not succeed either. To suggest that we might do otherwise is insulting."

Related: Banks should measure their social impact
Victoria Finkle
BankThink Editor , American Banker
UDAAP Branch banking Fintech Fintech regulations Minimum wage CFPB
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