The Banker Next Door

Community banks really need to get on the digital wallet train!

By 2027 half of all e-commerce transactions will go through digital wallets. Community banks need to get their own cards into a customer’s digital wallet before someone else does. It is critical to get your card in the top position in a customer’s digital wallet. Banks can offer several incentives for this, which include cash back, promotions, top-of-wallet rewards, and referral bonuses. It is also critical to understand who is leading the mobile wallet pack and what the regulatory landscape looks like. This episode reviewed an article from Banking Dive titled “Digital wallet use outpaces regulators” and a blog post from PCBB titled “Why CFIs should focus on getting digital wallet share.” Links to the article and blog post are included below.
Link: Digital wallet use outpaces regulators | Payments Dive
Link: Why CFIs Should Focus on Getting Digital Wallet Share

Fraud alleged in failure of First National Bank of Lindsay

The First National Bank of Lindsay, Oklahoma was a small $107 million asset bank that was closed in October of 2024. It was the second bank failure of 2024. In 2024, the OCC stated, “after identifying false and deceptive bank records and other information suggesting fraud that revealed depletion of the bank’s capital, the lender was in an unsafe or unsound condition to transact business.” Now the former CEO, Danny Seibel, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank fraud. This episode reviews an article from Banking Dive titled “Ex-CEO of failed Oklahoma bank indicted on fraud charges.” A link to the article is included below.  
Link: Ex-CEO of failed Oklahoma bank indicted on fraud charges | Banking Dive

Who are the best community banks for 2025?

This episode looks at 5 community banks from around the country that were honored by Independent Banker Magazine as the best community banks to work for in 2025. The honorees include Bank of Bozeman (Montana), Texas Traditions Bank (Texas), Peoples Bank & Trust (Georgia), Olympia Federal Savings (Washington), and Peoples Bank (Texas). Each bank offers tips on employee development, culture building, staff retention, communication, and the little things. The article ends with a data dive on various aspects of what employees want and how to keep them happy. This episode examines an article from Independent Banker Magazine titled “The Best Community Banks to Work for 2025.” A link to the article is included below.  
Link: The Best Community Banks to Work For 2025 - Independent Banker - ICBA.org

How are banks budgeting for 2026?

During budget season the conversation usually goes to cost containment and incremental improvements. However, the most successful community banks invest strategically in infrastructure that creates measurable ROI and sustainable growth. The trick is to identify investments that will lead to operational efficiency and a positive customer experience. Community banks need to think about going from maintenance to transformation, how data will be used for decision making, making your business case, considering scalability, and then focus on planning with purpose. This episode examines an article from Bank Director titled “How leading banks are budgeting for 2026.” A link to the article is included below.  
Link:  How Leading Banks Are Budgeting for 2026 | Bank Director

FASB makes update to help CECL double count issue

Back in August, we reported on an M&A issue related to the CECL double count. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has issued an update that changes the accounting for loans acquired in an M&A transaction. This long-awaited fix matters to any bank entering an M&A transaction. This change does not take effect until December 15, 2026, but early adoption is permitted. This episode examines an article from Bank Director titled “FASB CECL update: What bank boards need to know.” A link to the article is provided below.
Link:  FASB CECL Update: What Bank Boards Need To Know | Bank Director

BND: Strategy Room Bonus - Thoughts on Robinhood

This is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream from 11-29-2025. This clip looks at recent changes that Robinhood has made on their app and criticism they are receiving.

BND: Strategy Room 12-6-2025

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.

BND: Strategy Room Bonus - Examining AI from different angles

This is a clip from the BND: Strategy Room Live Stream from 11-29-2025. This clip examines 5 articles on AI looking at how the economy has become dependent on AI, the questionable accounting practices being used, Sovereign AI, Bond sales from AI related companies, and the development of new nuclear power plants.

Review of October 2025 Federal Reserve Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS)

This episode reviews the Federal Reserve Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS) on bank lending practices for October 2025. Some of the key findings of the report include tighter lending standards and stronger demand for C&I loans, unchanged lending standards and demand for CRE loans. Loan standards for residential mortgage loans including HELOCs remained unchanged, but banks did report higher demand for all residential mortgage categories. Loan standards and demand for credit cards, and other consumer loans remain unchanged. Banks reported having eased standards on auto loans. Links to the Fed website, the report, and charts are included below.
Link:  The Fed - The October 2025 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices - Table 2
Link: sloos-202510.pdf
Link: (S-PLUS Graphics)

Review of 2024 CRA lending data

The federal bank regulatory agencies, as members of FFIEC, released data on small business, small farm, and community development lending during 2024. CRA regulations require the agencies to annually disclose this data. The data collected showed 731 reporting lenders in 2024. The lenders made 9.1 million small-business loans totaling approximately $276 billion. This was an 8.1% increase in number of loans and 6.2% increase in dollar amount over 2023. This episode reviewed a report from the OCC titled “Findings from analysis of nationwide statistics for 2024 Community Reinvestment Act data fact sheet.” Links to the press release and report are included below.
Link: Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies Release 2024 Small Business, Small Farm, and Community Development Lending Data | OCC
Link: Fact Sheet - 2024 Small Business, Small Farm, and Community Development Lending Data