American Banker Magazine - February 2018

How do you eliminate "pain points" in the banking experience, increase wallet share and improve loyalty? Companies like Ally, USAA and Bank of the West are believers in tracking the customer journey to find the answers.

Amid all the complaining about increased regulation, and the need to maintain higher capital levels, bankers are failing to realize that there is also a significant opportunity: Those that develop operational excellence at deploying capital can set themselves apart from peers.

A number of banks, especially those with extra real estate on their hands, are trying to capitalize on the co-working craze to appeal to fledgling companies that could become success stories — and their customers.

Any decline in home equity balances could be offset by higher demand for other types of consumer loans. The worry is that only borrowers with blemished credit will take out home equity loans, increasing banks’ risk.

The announcement Tuesday by Sen. Orrin Hatch that he will retire at the end of the year could have a ripple effect throughout the Senate, including the leadership of the Banking Committee.

The market for initial public offerings was the best since 2014, reflecting a surge in bank stocks and a need to fuel expansion plans.

Commercial customers, including small businesses, seem ready to pay up to shift to faster, more sophisticated electronic invoicing and payments, and enterprising banks that provide them the technology to do so could find it lucrative.

Grupo Coppel and Insikt, an online lender, would appear to be cut from different cloth, but they share an expertise in providing credit to working-class, largely Hispanic consumers. The retail conglomerate also operates 1,000 bank branches in Mexico, mixing banking and commerce in a way that U.S. regulators have not allowed.

Startups that have developed the technology for real estate finance are starting to conduct a broader array of transactions, including property sales.