The Banker Next Door

Episode 320: Who is collecting data on you? A list of consumer reporting companies

This episode examines a recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that was issued in January 2025 titled “List of Consumer Reporting Companies.” Consumer reporting companies collect your personal data to provide reports to other companies about your activities. These companies use these reports to provide you with credit, employment, residential rental housing, and insurance. It is critical to know the companies that are collecting data on you and why. A link to the report is included below.
Link: cfpb_consumer-reporting-companies_list_2025.pdf

Episode 319: Open Banking discussion with Mickey Marshall from ICBA

This episode is a discussion with Mickey Marshall, who is the Assistant Vice President, Regulatory Counsel for the Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA), about the 1033 rule aka Open Banking. We discussed the origins of Open Banking, how we got to where we are today, the need for ICBA to create a Guide to Open Banking, and why every banker should care about Open Banking. We concluded the discussion by talking about the role of FDX and how things might play out over the next 6-12 months. Links to ICBA’s website, the Open Banking Guide, and FDX’s website are included below.
Link: Independent Community Bankers of America - ICBA
Link: adv_2353a24_icba-open-banking-guidebook.pdf
Link: www.financialdataexchange.org

Episode 318: What types of payments did small businesses use in 2024?

This episode examines a recent report from the Federal Reserve Banks that was issued in December of 2024 titled “2024 Report on Payments: Findings from the 2023 Small Business Credit Survey.” For small businesses, customer payments are the primary source of available cash. Some of the key findings in the report include roughly four out of five small firms face challenges related to these payments, payment processing fees continue to be an issue, and main payment channels continue to be checks, cards, cash, and ACH. A link to the report is included below.  
Link: 2024 Report on Payments: Findings from the 2023 Small Business Credit Survey

Episode 317: ABA Blueprint for 2025

This episode examines the American Bankers Association (ABA) blueprint for growth in 2025 and beyond. As ABA celebrates its 150th anniversary, the organization has three main goals for 2025. 1) Focus on the following actions: tax policy, ACRE, mission-driven banks, housing, and fraud. 2) Pursue rational regulations to preserve main street access to credit and capital. 3) Foster a competitive financial services market. Links to the ABA website and the blueprint for growth in 2025 are attached below.   
Link: www.aba.com
Link: 2025-blueprint-growth.pdf

BND: Strategy Room 2-7-2025

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

Episode 316: Chaos in Kansas! A conversation with Allan Burkley

This episode examines a recent article from Bank Director titled “Victim or Perpetrator?” This story is about the failure of Heartland Tri-State Bank and the fraud that was committed by their CEO Shan Hanes. This story is fascinating from many angles including internal controls, separation of power, checks and balances, who should serve on the board, the effect of a dominant CEO, internal fraud at banks, and how a bank’s failure can affect all stakeholders. Allan Burkley joins me to discuss. A link to the article is included below.
Link: Magazine Exclusive: Victim or Perpetrator? | Bank Director

Episode 315: Is starting a small business worth it?

This episode examines a recent article on CNBC.com titled “41-year old’s business brought in $1 million in its first year – then he quit to take a 9-to-5 job instead.” This article does a great job of showing the typical plight of entrepreneurs. It begs the question, is starting a small business all that it is hyped to be? A link to the article is included below.  
Link: Carlos Gil: Why I quit entrepreneurship for a 9-to-5 job

Episode 314: Individuals charges in largest U.S. COVID tax fraud scheme

This episode examines a recent article from The Epoch Times (subscription required) titled “7 charged in America’s biggest COVID tax credit fraud scheme.” 7 individuals have been charged with allegedly stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in a very sophisticated tax fraud scheme. The defendants sought to abuse the ERC tax credit using VPN’s and shell companies. This is considered the largest potential COVID tax credit fraud scheme in the U.S.  

Episode 313: Talking TikTok and AI with Alex Blom Creates

This episode is an interview with Alex Blomstrom owner of Alex Blom Creates. We discussed the ban on TikTok and how that is affecting content creators and small business owners that utilize the platform. We discussed ways that entrepreneurs use TikTok to make money. We also discussed AI in terms of different platforms and how Alex uses it in her business. A link to Alex’s website is included below. You can follow her on Instagram and TikTok @alexblom.creates.
Link: www.alexblomcreates.com

Episode 312: Are regulators concerned about CECL?

This episode examines a recent article in Bank Director titled “Regulators scrutinize CECL processes at community banks.” Regulators have concerns around credit quality particularly with commercial real estate. In upcoming exams, they may choose to take a closer look at your bank’s CECL processes. Has your bank been making refinements since CECL was first implemented? A link to the article is included below.   
Link: Regulators Scrutinize CECL Processes at Community Banks | Bank Director