Best of BankThink 2013: Readers' Choice
December 20, 2013 7:30 AM
The 10 most popular BankThink posts of 2013, based on audience page views.
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10. Google Presents Biggest Threat to Banking
Michael Nuciforo, a mobile and digital banking consultant, suggested tech giant Google could be banking's biggest disruptor, based on updates to Google Wallet and the introduction of Google Glass. "Google could do to banking what Apple did to music, or what Amazon did to print," he wrote. "Sometimes the company you least expect has the advantage of disguise."
(Image: Bloomberg News)
9. Full Frontal Banking
Susan Ochs, former Treasury Department advisor and a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute, kicked off BankThink's The Future Model of Banking series by suggesting banking would get more intimate. "Future banking will feel more like a medical relationship - integrated into everyday life, understanding and serving you with the intimacy and attention of the family doctor," she wrote.
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8. Fincen's New Regulations Are Choking Bitcoin Entrepreneurs
This Monetary Future Column from Jon Matonis, now executive director of Bitcoin Foundation, looked at how new guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network would affect the crytocurrency's entrepreneurs. "By saddling startups with compliance requirements, and making them unattractive clients for regulated banks that despair of serving MSBs, Fincen is choking these businesses that facilitate conversion of bitcoins into dollars," he wrote.
(Image: Bloomberg News)
7. Bitcoin and the Rebirth of Financial Safe Havens
Another Monetary Future column from Matonis looked at how Bitcoin could spawn the rebirth of financial safe havens. "Future regulatory and confiscatory attacks on safe havens and banking secrecy will become irrelevant, because bitcoin provides for a personal 'offshore center' under direct and sole control of the individual," he wrote.
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6. Why Bankers and Regulators See Very Different Future for Giant Banks
American Banker's departing Editor at Large Barb Rehm examined the end game of "too big to fail" based on the prevailing sentiments among bankers and regulators. Per the post : "To some it's the breakup of the largest institutions into lots of smaller pieces. But to most it's a stable financial system, and that might very well occur with the higher, tougher capital and liquidity standards being put in place and the more intensive oversight being applied to the behemoths."
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5. Why Payday Loans Are Good for Millions of People
William Isaac, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., stood up for the much-maligned payday lending industry . "The truth is that millions of customers have a very favorable experience with the short-term lending product, and we should be careful not to disrupt this important lifeline," he wrote.
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4. 5 Ways Banks Can Prepare for Social Media Rules
Yasmin Zarabi of Hearsay Social advised banks on how they could prepare for new social media rules from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. Her first pointer: Set goals. "As with any corporate initiative, it is important to establish the company's overall objective for its social media program," she wrote. "Too many companies are so focused on just getting a presence on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook that they skip this critical step of asking 'why?'"
(Image: Bloomberg News)
3. Successful Salespeople Get Rejected More than Others
Retail banking expert Dave Martin pointed out that rejection isn't always a sign of failure. Per the post : "Facing rejection is the price to be paid for sales success. That's just how it works. Folks who are willing to pay the price tend to eventually succeed. Those who aren't usually won't."
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2. The Branch Is Dead - Long Live the Branch
Martin's contribution to BankThink's The Future Model of Banking series urged banks to reimagine, but not totally eradicate their branch networks. "Tomorrow's banking winners will be those who find ways to give customers personal touch points the most efficiently," he writes. "In a technology-driven and commoditized industry, human interaction actually becomes more important than ever in differentiating from the pack."
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1. Time to Bring Bank Staff Back Onshore
Nucifero, who bookends our 2013 Readers' Choice list, urged banks to stop offshoring. Per the post : "With wage costs on the rise offshore, talent available in abundance locally, and new delivery models required to create exciting new products, the world has moved on. The sad irony is that for banks that are willing to pack up and abort the mission, the real gold is waiting for them right at home."
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