'Might as well buckle up and get used to it': Comments of the week
March 1, 2018 10:00 PM
terovesalainen - stock.adobe.com
Readers weigh in on whether or not banks should take a stand on gun control, opine on digital banking outages, reflect on banks building more branches in the internet age and more.
Biryukov Pavel/pavel_shishkin - stock.adobe.com
On BB&T struggling with widespread outages to ATMs and digital platforms:
“We'll be seeing more of this sort of problem as large banks struggle to provide the kinds of products, services and delivery systems that today's consumers want. These banks often have old legacy core systems configured long before these new products and services were conceived; they were not designed to facilitate their use, and interfacing with the new applications is an enormously complex and difficult feat. Might as well buckle up and get used to it.”
Link:BB&T fixes ATMs hit by tech glitch, but online banking still down
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George Frey/Bloomberg
On the reputational risk banks may encounter if they don’t take a stand on gun control:
“This is a no-win situation and bankers best avoid making the same mistakes that other companies have when taking a position on a controversial and often political issue. The jury is out on the business impact of hasty decisions made by Delta Airlines and others who cancelled NRA contracts. This decision is provoking anger and counter-boycotts from not only NRA members but also other supporters of constitutional protections. Talk about creating reputational risk...”
Related: Guns pose a political risk for banks
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Diane Macdonald/Diane Macdonald - stock.adobe.com
Another reader urges banks to stay out of the gun control debate:
“Do companies engaged in commerce really want to become political pawns to the issue du jour for Millenials, or any other societal group? Societal urges for governmental changes are best left to the political structures established to handle them. Tailor your products and services to the needs of your customers, but don't try to bundle them with political appeasement to any group. Today it may be ‘gun control.’ What issue do you want your business held hostage to next?”
Link:Guns pose a political risk for banks
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Talaj - stock.adobe.com
On digital-only Ally Bank taking a different approach to strengthening relationships:
“Perhaps the day will come when digital banks truly become primary banks, but for now, that is still a work in progress. Many of the flashy non-traditional banks (Ally, USAA, etc.) get great press, but when a deeper analysis is conducted, they come up woefully short on primacy relationship ratios & true relationship depth. That may change, but the reality is customers stubbornly differentiate between traditional & non-traditional banks. Financial trust is still primarily a human-centric emotion.”
Link:Is this the future of cross-selling?
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Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
On the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s acting Director Mick Mulvaney saying the bureau will let states more often take the lead on enforcing consumer protection laws:
“I like what Mr. Mulvaney has done so far, focusing on fiscal restraint and pulling the CFPB back from what is, perhaps, a path outside of its boundaries. But saying that he's looking to state AGs and regulators for more leadership when it comes to enforcement makes me wonder what that will look like. Does it mean that when the CFPB finds stuff, it will refer it to the states for action? This isn't sounding like a good idea.”
Link:AGs, not CFPB, should take greater role on enforcement: Mulvaney
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On why banks are still building new branches when consumers are shifting to digital banking:
“Actual bankers who pay attention to their customers have not been the folks promoting the ‘death of branches.’ People running these businesses day in and out know branches are where the heavy lifting gets done.”
Link:Not dead yet: Branches remain crucial to banks' growth plans
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Zach Gibson/Bloomberg
On a credit union official arguing that some of his biggest competitors may deserve to be taxed:
"You are not alone. I have had this very same discussion with a number of credit union CEO's in the last 10 years. Unfortunately, many of them are no longer around. Hatch has always been a proponent of real credit unions, his opinion hasn't changed, the industry has."
Related:I’m a credit union CEO who agrees with Hatch: Tax big credit unions
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freshidea - stock.adobe.com
On an argument that reversing a federal court ruling involving state interest rate caps would help lenders and consumers:
"Lenders I know have adapted to Madden in various ways. Some don't guarantee rates and terms when they sell the loan, others retain an interest, still others stop interest accruing when they sell a charged off loan. Some don't lend in the Second Circuit. Madden has mostly distorted and gummed up the markets and the author is correct that the problem will get worse as interest rates rise."
Related:Bill to correct Madden ruling would benefit consumers
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