Tagged: Retail Banking

It’s no secret that every U.S. bank marketer wants to get more bang for the buck, whether acquiring retirees in Palm Beach or students in Boston.

It may seem that the old-fashioned checking account is falling out of fashion, but that doesn’t mean banks should give up on it just yet.

The recent wave of industry mergers is bound to have many implications for U.S. banks, but one of the most significant is that it will accelerate the shuttering of branches across the country. The industry still has way too much capacity, and mergers — especially those with overlapping networks — provide an opportunity to eliminate capacity and improve efficiency.

It’s still early in the year, but 2019 is already shaping up to be tougher than many bankers expected. Deposit costs are rising fast, loan growth is uneven and mergers are accelerating the industry’s transformation.

Long one of the most under-appreciated and least understood categories for banks, the role of the savings accounts may be on the brink of change due to the industry’s widespread disruption from technology.

So you think you should launch a direct bank? After all, it could be a great way to scoop up deposits across the country at a time when most banks are struggling to acquire new customers and hang onto the ones they have.

It’s a question that is being debated in corporate offices across the banking industry: “What should we do with the back book?”