Pub. 11 2021 Issue 3

The FASB’s new credit loss model is one of the most significant accounting changes in recent history. The time to act is now – here is how you can prepare and comply.

The pressure on banks to really step up their digital experience game is, as we all know, greater than ever. Branch banking, according to pundits, is probably going away. “Probably” because, honestly, no one really knows, right? It sure looks like it, however.

Digitalization continues to
change the way financial institutions interact with clients. Lower levels of face-to-face contact, combined with higher expectations related to turnaround times as well as digital channel data volume, have created unprecedented operational and financial challenges for banks and credit unions. Additional digital-related pressures that demand management focus include increased card-not-present transactions, requirements for new KYC solutions, higher levels of fraud, and staff-related issues ranging from remote workforce oversight to recruitment and training.

There are so many ways to violate TRID. Mastering the content requirements (knowing what to put where) is difficult for even the most seasoned compliance professional and is the source of numerous violations. Conquering the timing requirements (knowing when to give what) seems to be a much easier assignment, but it too causes numerous violations. When it comes to what information to include in disclosures and in which section, there are many gray areas, too much, in fact. However, the regulations are a lot more black and white when it comes to giving the disclosures.

Time is ticking away with LIBOR’s discontinuation, and regulators are urging financial institutions to act now to ensure a smooth transition. While we have been reporting on this since the announcement of LIBOR’s cessation was made, it is increasingly important to get preparations in order.

Robots have been demonized for a long time —
and understandably. Hard to believe, but it’s been 50 years since HAL, the spaceship’s computerized brain, threatened to kill the Discovery One astronauts in the film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” It’s one of the earliest films that I can remember that warned us about how artificial intelligence could very well be “an experiment gone horribly wrong.”

On June 30 at 4:54 p.m., the first regular session of the 55th Arizona Legislature adjourned Sine Die. Lasting 171 days, this year’s session clocked in as the state’s third-longest and threatened to continue into the new fiscal year starting July 1. After almost two months of negotiating, however, a budget deal was struck, and policymakers wrapped up this year’s work.

Paul Hickman discussing banking priorities with Congressman David Schweikert.

America’s banks have a longstanding commitment to helping reduce the number of unbanked and underbanked individuals and families in the U.S. July marked a major milestone in that endeavor, with an announcement from the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund that the number of Bank On-certified deposit accounts now available has surpassed 100. At the time this column was written, it was up to 114.