The Banker Next Door

BND: Strategy Room Bonus Episode - Update on failed Silvergate Bank

The SEC is continuing with charges against Ex-Silvergate Bank CFO. Silvergate Bank was the first bank to fail in the Spring Banking crisis of 2023. Silvergate was the main crypto bank in the country at that time and ran the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), which was the main rail system between the crypto world and the banking world. The failure of FTX in the fall of 2022 led to a run on deposits at Silvergate Bank. 

Win more commercial relationships by mastering the account switching experience!

The account switching experience for commercial banking clients remains one of the most confounding issues. We delve into some of the main bottlenecks, which are redirecting payroll, merchant services, ACHs, customer payments, notifying vendors, and closure of legacy accounts. This is a process that can take 3 to 6 months to complete. The bank that can address this issue will gain a lot of commercial clients. This episode examines an article from Bank Director titled “The hidden bottleneck in winning commercial relationships.” A link to the article is included below.
Link:  The Hidden Bottleneck in Winning Commercial Relationships | Bank Director

Cybersecurity threats are increasing, does your bank have an incident response plan?

As banks continue to grapple with cybercrime that includes ransomware, phishing attacks, and business email compromise (BEC), they need to have an incident response plan. However, simply having an incident response plan is not enough. This plan needs to be updated, tested, and practiced annually. This episode examines an article from Independent Banker Magazine titled “Tackling familiar cyber threats with smarter tools.” A link to the article is included below.
Link: Tackling Familiar Cyber Threats with Smarter Tools

Review of CSBS Annual Survey of Community Banks for 2025

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has released their annual survey of Community Banks. Some of the reports’ key findings include community banker optimism is up, net interest margins, core deposit growth, cost of technology, and cost of funds are the main concerns. Regulatory burden fell from 1st to 6th in this year’s survey. Community banks feel that other regional banks are their primary competitors, but nonbank institutions are gaining. A link to the survey is included below. 
Link: 2025CBSurvey_web_CSBS.pdf

FinCEN offers clarification on bank Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR)

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued frequently asked questions (FAQs) on issues related to suspicious activity reports (SARs). The FAQs clarify regulatory requirements relating to structuring, continuing activity reviews, and a bank’s decision not to file a SAR. Scott Bessent stated, “These are commonsense yet consequential reforms that will ease regulatory burdens without undermining law enforcement efforts.”  Links to both the press release from FinCEN and the frequently asked questions PDF are included below.   
Link:  FinCEN Issues Frequently Asked Questions to Clarify Suspicious Activity Reporting Requirements | FinCEN.gov
Link: SAR-FAQs-October-2025.pdf

Review of Federal Reserve Bank of New York Survey of Consumer Expectations

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data released their Survey of Consumer Expectations for September 2025. The report found that household inflation expectations increased at short and long-term horizons and labor market expectations continue to deteriorate. Links to the press release and the report are included below.  
Link: Short-Term Inflation Expectations Continue to Tick Up; Labor Market Expectations Deteriorate - FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK
Link: Survey of Consumer Expectations - FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK

BND: Strategy Room 10-17-2025

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.

How can bank boards deal with shareholder activism?

With the bank M&A market heating up, shareholder activism could be on the rise. This episode examines a recent article from Bank Director titled “Shareholder activism could heat up. Should boards fight back?” With the recent announced acquisition of Comerica by Fifth Third Bank, it was revealed that an activist investor played a role in pushing Comerica to seek a sale of the bank. What can banks do if faced with an activist shareholder? This article offers several strategies that a bank board can implement along with considering whether or not they should be combative.  A link to the article is included below.
Link:  Shareholder Activism Could Heat Up. Should Boards Fight Back? | Bank Director

Are consumers shifting to the 'Super App'?

The rise of so called ‘super apps’ that help small businesses to manage messaging, financial services, payments, and provide other tools could change the game for how banks manage their own apps. WeChat, in China, has been the prototype as the do everything app in the world. But now WhatsApp, google, and X, are all in on trying to create their own super app here in the U.S. What can banks do to compete in the super app market?  This episode examines a blog post from PCBB. A link to the blog post is included below.
Link: From Messaging to Money: The Super App Shift

Review of ICBA Advocacy in Action for 4Q 2025

This episode examines ICBA Advocacy in Action for 4Q 2025. This is a quarterly publication from ICBA which covers all the hot button regulatory topics in the banking industry. Regulation covered includes 1071 rule, deposit insurance, digital assets regulatory framework, trigger leads, ACRE implementation, 1033 rule, and GSEs. A link to the PDF is included below.   
Link: top-issues.pdf