In a few years, it is a good chance that you will be carrying your financial life around with you on your smart phone. The ING ad where people traverse a city plaza with a six or seven digit dollar sign above their head is going to be somewhat true. The way that people access most of their everyday banking (more…)

Regional Gulf Coast banks, particularly those operating as portfolio lenders, are already suffering.Yet while most of the press on the environmental damage has focused on Louisiana, the real damage for banking is likely to be located among community banks in Florida.

Barron’s recently identified three “top” Gulf Coast banks: MidSouth Bancorp, Iberia Bank, and Teche Holding. Those would not be the only institutions at risk. Regions has always been an active partner with real estate developers in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. BB&T had a big presence in Florida. This year, it added to that when it acquired the assets Colonial Bank. Synovus owns scores of small town banks throughout the area. (more…)

Today’s Miller-Moore amendment makes more sense than would first appear.  The new rule, coming out of the House Financial Services Committee, exempts most financial institutions from new regulatory review by the proposed CFPA.

Banks with assets under $10 billion, and credit unions with assets under $1.5 billion, would not be examined by the CFPA.  It seems like a cave-in, right?  What’s up with the lobbyists giving up on so much work from those 8,000 clients? What’s up with helping the country prevent another meltdown?

Advocates initially responded with some frustration.  The National Community Reinvestment Coalition published a (more…)