American Banker Magazine - February 2020

The people of tiny Duncan, Ariz., have found creative ways to adapt to life in a banking desert, but their experience augurs a worrisome future for many other rural communities.

Though there were several high-profile mergers of equals among bigger banks, deal activity rose only slightly, and the vast majority of transactions involved the smallest of institutions. Here's an overview of those trends and others that stood out in bank dealmaking last year.

Can Charlie Scharf fix what ails Wells Fargo? How will Kelly King and Bill Rogers manage the integration of the biggest bank merger since the early 2000s? And will New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy be able to beat back opposition from the banking industry and make good on his promise to create a state-owned bank? Here are 11 leaders to keep an eye on in 2020.

The bank is working with a Swedish fintech to offer a tool that lets account holders track how their spending choices might be contributing to climate change. The tool may never be a big moneymaker, but it could help the San Francisco bank attract customers and recruit employees.

Native American leaders are cheering the proposal, which would give banks Community Reinvestment Act credit for making loans on reservations, even if the lands sit far outside their assessment areas.

Lenders have until the end of 2021 to phase out their use of the London interbank offered rate in setting interest rates, but ServisFirst Bancshares and its CEO Tom Broughton see little reason to wait when a replacement is already available.

Though many merchants remain wary of alienating their customers with fees, others now see an opportunity to recoup the growing costs associated with accepting plastic.

The new Karma Points card donates 10% of revenue to charitable funds established by the company that help people living on the street.

It's no longer enough to conduct traditional demographic analysis of customers. TD Bank wants to know what is going on with individual consumers at any given moment and respond accordingly.

Deposit Solutions says lenders can use its platform to acquire customers at little expense.