<a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/why-the-local-food-movement-is-good-for-community-banking-1069946-1.html" target="_blank">Why the Local Food Movement Is Good for Community Banking</a>
"I'm always interested in arguments about how broader cultural trends may impact the financial industry. In this piece, finance professor Lamont Black points out that the same concern with quality and community that is driving the locavore movement could easily be applied to community banks. As farmer's markets and microbreweries continue to gain in popularity, it stands to reason that more Americans will also start seeking out local lenders." Sarah Todd, Deputy Editor, BankThink
<a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/low-tech-means-high-risk-banking-1065428-1.html" target="_blank">Low-Tech Means High-Risk in Banking</a>
"As the legendary banker, the late Citicorp chairman Walter Wriston, once said, 'A bank is just a giant information system.
<a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/why-the-largest-us-banks-are-too-big-to-serve-1071167-1.html" target="_blank">Too Big to Serve the Working Class</a>
"Payday lenders, check cashers and other businesses in the alternative financial services industry receive a lot of criticism for charging high interest rates and fees, thereby keeping borrowers mired in a cycle of debt. Lisa Servon's article highlights an often-overlooked point: many Americans frequent these businesses because they feel that banks are failing to provide them with the services they need. Servon's fine narrative skills are on display as she pieces together interviews with a range of consumers and industry experts to argue that the country's largest financial institutions need to do more to serve low- and moderate-income Americans." Sarah Todd, Deputy Editor, BankThink
<a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/accounting-for-turbulence-in-the-value-of-deposits-1071626-1.html" target="_blank">Accounting for Turbulence in the Value of Deposits</a>
"Cash on hand is not the same thing as cash in the bank. That realization is a
<a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/why-volcker-rule-compliance-is-a-fools-errand-1070294-1.html" target="_blank">Why Volcker Rule Compliance Is a Fool's Errand</a>
"Mayra Rodríguez Valladares' eight-part series on the Volcker Rule taught me more than I ever thought possible about the difficulties that banks and regulators will face in implementing the landmark regulation. In this introduction to the series, Valladares clearly and concisely outlines her reasons for believing that the complex proprietary trading rule will be nearly impossible to carry out in time for the 2015 deadline. Looks like she was right: recently, regulators
<a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/prepare-for-customers-to-push-back-on-privacy-1070884-1.html" target="_blank">Prepare for Customers to Push Back on Privacy</a>
"A useful counterpoint to the Rossi post mentioned earlier: If banks ever get as good as Silicon Valley's big brands at mining insights from data, they'll hopefully be better at respecting customers' privacy than some of those companies that
<a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/conflict-of-interest-at-root-of-fed-oversight-woes-1071422-1.html" target="_blank">Conflict of Interest at Root of Fed Oversight Woes</a>
"The New York Fed took a lot of heat in 2014 as the release of
<a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/financial-regulators-should-listen-to-bill-gates-on-mobile-money-1070489-1.html" target="_blank">Financial Regulators Should Listen to Bill Gates on Mobile Money</a>
"People in the financial inclusion and compliance fields have been saying for years that overly stringent identification requirements unnecessarily restrict access, but it was big that an icon like Gates said it at a forum like Sibos. Two words:
<a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/big-banks-headed-straight-for-another-bailout-1069774-1.html" target="_blank">Big Banks Headed Straight for Another Bailout</a>
"J.V. Rizzi answers the question of whether the government has succeeded in solving the too big to fail problem with a resounding no. I admired his admittedly bleak outlook for the way it methodically outlines a number of solutions that could help reduce the risk that megabanks pose to the financial system only to explain why each measure is unlikely to come to pass." Sarah Todd, Deputy Editor, BankThink