The Banker Next Door

What is going on with credit scores?

A war of sorts has broken out between Fair Isaac and the three credit reporting bureaus (Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian) over pricing and usage of the FICO credit scoring model. This episode examines how American’s overall credit scores are performing, how rental payments can be used to improve consumer credit scores, and the effects on consumers of the FICO dispute. This episode reviews multiple articles from CNBC and The Wall Street Journal.   

Update on U.S. auto industry

The U.S. auto industry is currently dealing with a myriad of problems that include a pull back on electric vehicles, tariffs, a fire at aluminum producer Novelis, underwater car trade-ins, concentration of purchasing by the wealthy, subprime delinquency, and microchip issues with Dutch (CCP controlled) company Nexperia. Some of these issues will be solved faster than others but the auto industry, just like many other industries, is facing a paradigm shift around tariffs and technology. This episode reviews multiple articles from The Wall Street Journal, Epoch Times, and CNBC.

BND: Strategy Room 11-1-2025

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 Episode - Subprime auto industry crisis!

This is a BND: Strategy Room bonus episode from the 10-25-2025 live stream. This episode details the current subprime auto industry crisis, which has seen the recent failures of Tricolor Holdings, First Brands, and now Primalend. A number of banks have gotten ensnared in this crisis.

Interview with Dan Knezevich, Commercial Appraiser

Dan Knezevich has been a commercial appraiser for over 30 years. Dan’s background in appraising commercial properties is extensive. We discuss the different valuation methodologies, pricing for commercial appraisals, what constitutes a commercial property, valuing different property types, and other services his firm provides. Dan is the President of Quest Realty Advisors, LLC (“QRA”) a full-service appraisal firm located in Wayne, Pennsylvania. QRA provides the following services: commercial real estate appraisals, real estate tax appeal, estate planning, expert witness testimony, eminent domain disputes and fair market value / presales listing valuation. Links to QRA’s website and Dan’s LinkedIn profile are included below.
Link:  Competent Real Estate Valuations - Real Estate Tax Appeal Wayne PA
Link: Daniel Knezevich - Expert Witness, Real Estate Appraiser and Investor, Public Speaker | LinkedIn

The rise of Erebor!

Erebor bank earns preliminary government approval to proceed as a new startup bank. Erebor is seeking to target many of the same customers from Silicon Valley Bank. The approval for Erebor follows a wave of other companies and startups seeking to become banks. This episode examined articles from The Wall Street Journal and S&P Global Market Intelligence, both require subscriptions. The Wall Street Journal Article is titled “How Hobbit-Inspired Startup Plans to Replace Silicon Valley Bank.” The articles form S&P Global are titled “US bank charter applications surge, dominated by nonbanks” and “OCC grants conditional approval for Erebor Bank’s national charter application.”   

CFPB 'deluged' with comments on Open Banking!

The CFPB collected approximately 14,000 comments on the 1033 rule aka Open Banking rule during the open comments period. The Open Banking debate drew comments from many different groups, which included banks, fintechs, advertisers, food suppliers, consumer advocates, convenience stores, credit unions, grocers, retailers, retirees, libertarians, mortgage lenders, taxpayers, and cryptocurrency groups. Everyone involved arguing for or against this rule. This is one hot topic! This episode examines an article from Banking Dive titled “CFPB deluged with open banking comments.” A link to the article is included below.
Link: CFPB deluged with open banking comments | Payments Dive

Chengpeng Zhao pardoned! Update on crypto regulation and activities (Crypto Series Part XXX)

This is part 30 of the crypto series. Lots of activity in the crypto world! Founder of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, was pardoned by President Trump. US banks are starting to warm up to stablecoins. Zelle is getting into the international crypto competition. Banking panel says stablecoins must be simple. Fed Governor Michael Barr warns about stablecoin risks. Citi CEO says clients want tokenized deposits, not stablecoins. Binance acquires stake in South Korean crypto exchange. Ripple makes another big acquisition. Coinbase buys angel investment platform Echo. This episode examines a series of articles from Fox Business, Investopedia, Banking Dive, S&P Global Market Intelligence, and The Wall Street Journal.     

Major ruling in Heartland Tri-State Bank crypto embezzlement case (Crypto Series Part XXIX)

This is part 29 of the crypto series. Shareholders of Heartland Tri-State Bank received a favorable and somewhat unprecedented ruling from a judge in the crypto embezzlement case. The judge awarded bank shareholders all money recovered, and the FDIC got nothing! Heartland Tri-State Bank was a small bank in Kansas that failed in July of 2023 due to the CEO embezzling $47 million because of getting sucked into a crypto scam. This episode examines an article from Bank Director titled “Failed bank’s shareholders win big in crypto embezzlement case.” A link to the article is included below.
Link:  Failed Bank’s Shareholders Win Big in Crypto Embezzlement Case | Bank Director

BND: Strategy Room 10-25-2025

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.