'Banking Is No Longer Fun': Comments of the Week

June 28, 2013 10:18 AM

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

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On Sheila Bair's urging that Richard Cordray be confirmed as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:

"Perhaps Ms. Bair should read Dodd-Frank. It specifically requires the Senate to approve the director of the CFPB. It is not just based on constitutional 'advise and consent.'"

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On confirming a CFPB director:

"No banker should be afraid of the CFPB if the industry is bulletproof from abusing the customers." (Pictured: Richard Cordray)

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On a suggestion that the Brown-Vitter bill should ask for more equity:

"Raising minimum capital standards will tend to limit a bank's ability to raise capital."

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On whether bondholders should have to bail in a failed bank:

"All creditors should take a hit before taxpayers."

Related Article: The Pros and Cons of Bank Bail-Ins

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On who should lead the Corker-Warner bill's Federal Mortgage Insurance Corp.:

"Other federal insurance programs have benefited from having bipartisan boards and this one likely would as well." (Pictured: Senators Bob Corker and Mark Warner)

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On bankers needing to lower their M&A price expectations:

"Banks are sold, they are not bought. Until executives face the reality that banking is no longer 'fun', you will not see a pickup in M&A. Every bank thinks they're [worth] 2.0x-2.5x book [value]. Most are really not."

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On the idea of using third-party reviewers to jump-start the mortgage-backed securities market:

"With all the focus on faster, better analysis of loan origination results, why must we still hang on to the old-fashioned reviews which have proved so ineffective and expensive in the past?"

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On how to improve mobile alerts:

"One way to keep alerts and notifications relevant is to tie them to transactions the customer is undertaking If the bank recommends the customer hold on to the paper check for ten days after making a remote deposit, a push notification to the mobile banking app when the check clears would alert the customer that it's OK to tear up the check."

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On a call for banks to know the beneficial owners of corporate customers:

"I wish that I could be more hopeful about the possibility of beneficial ownership becoming more transparent in the United States but I just do not see it happening. I believe that the states will battle the federal government." (Via LinkedIn)

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On the argument that low inflation and a strong dollar would hurt the value of virtual currencies like Bitcoin:

"As a store of value, bitcoin is obviously more attractive when other currencies are collapsing. But Bitcoin is first a payments network and at the tertiary it is a store of value." (Via Reddit)

On banks developing and providing products to the underserved:

"The underlying problem is that those with low income and/or poor credit also have highly variable, unpredictable financial behavior."

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On how banks can serve the un- and underbanked population:

"These payday advances essentially destroy the account relationship by rendering the account unusable. Establishing low limit and secured lines of credit with customers is a much more viable and profitable option when compared to these abusive payday loan companies. I believe product innovation will drive the expansion of banking services to the underbanked." (Via LinkedIn)

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On how banks can serve the un- and underbanked population:

"I fear that the increasing regulatory burden will drive these clients to the traditional bank of last resort; the loan shark." (Via LinkedIn)

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On how banks can serve the un- and underbanked population:

"Take a clue from the Mexican playbook, there are stores that offer savings and loan type services like Coppel and electronics distributor Electra owned by business mogul Ricardo Salinas Pliego eventually converted itself to Banco Azteca. The concept is to be the piggy bank for the underbanked. Wal-Mart planning to move on it also." (Via LinkedIn)

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On how banks can serve the un- and underbanked population:

"This is not the difficult and hard mission that many may think. It remains a caste like approach and many bank leaders do not feel comfortable in a market with the underbanked With small margins one needs to remember that a small number of times a large number (of customers) is still a large number." (Via LinkedIn)

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On how banks can serve the un- and underbanked population:

"Aggressive communication with community groups and regulators will help us develop partnerships to serve the under banked. The demographic is not under $75,000 but the large segment that makes $24,000-$50,000. The affordable products and services can truly be a stepping stone to better financial understanding and decisions." (Via LinkedIn)

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On Google Glass:

"How distracting will this be to drivers? Looks worse than texting."

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