Thursday, December 12, 2024

Week of Sept. 9

In This Issue…

George: Non-banks not allowed to access payments system

There has been some confusion about whether the Federal Reserve’s decision to create FedNow, its version of a Real Time Payments System, would be accessible by non-bank entities such as Amazon, Apple, Google and others. The answer is an unequivocal “no” at this point in time, according to Kansas City Fed President Esther George.

“Non-banks are not (currently) allowed to access the payments system. Period,” George said. “I’m not so naïve as to think these non-banks don’t want access (to the system). There are some who are interested in taking the payments system away from banks. But there are currently no efforts to do so in Congress and this point was never brought up in the Board’s decision-making process.”

That’s good news for traditional community banks.

“We were a bit confused initially because of a provision in the original published notice and request for comment, and because these non-bank firms actually filed several comments encouraging the Fed to enter the development process and broaden its accessibility,” OBA President and CEO Roger Beverage said. “I’ve spoken with Esther directly and confirmed there is no change in current law that denies these commercial firms to have access to the payments system. Any suggestions to the contrary – including some of which I deduced from the reading material and have made directly – are just not true.

“It doesn’t mean that FedNow won’t be expanded to give them access at some point, but it’s not going to just ‘happen.’ I’m certain that efforts will be made to change current law, but that will give us the ability to push back, regardless of whether it’s an effort by Congress or pressure on the Fed to accommodate these non-bank players. In any event, it’s nothing we have to worry about for some time.

“In the meantime, in the event you need access to such a system in the next 3-4 years, The Clearing House alternative is up and running and can accommodate your bank. If you don’t need access right now, there’s no harm in waiting to see how the FedNow system will be built.”

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Deposit Insurance Fund reaches record high

Thursday, the FDIC released its Quarterly Banking Profile that, among other things, confirms the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) has grown to a record high of $107.4 Billion as of June 30th. The DIF now covers 1.4 percent of insured deposits.

“This report is great news for our state’s traditional community banks,” said the OBA’s chief advocacy lobbyist and chief of staff, Adrian Beverage. “Dodd-Frank included a provision requiring the FDIC to allocate assessment credits for the nation’s 5,381 community banks (less than $10 billion). Such credits will off-set all DIF assessments as long as it remains at 1.38 or higher. Those credits will show up in conjunction with second quarter assessments.”

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Deadline approaching to order 2020 Oklahoma Views & Vistas Calendar

The 2020 Oklahoma Views & Vista Calendar is now ready to be purchased – order yours by Sept. 15 to get the special low price of just $1.09 per calendar.

The 2020 Oklahoma Views & Vistas calendar will feature beautiful photos of the great state of  Oklahoma submitted by Oklahoma bankers and their families. Your bank name and logo can be printed on each calendar you order for an eye-catching display in your customers’ homes and businesses year-round. The calendars are being offered exclusively to OBA-member banks.

Click here to download an order form.

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Please whitelist info@oba.com email address

It has been reported to the OBA there are a number of banks/bankers having issues with computer-generated emails (such as password reset, payment confirmation, etc.) from the OBA not going through.

All of these emails come from the address info@oba.com.  If all our OBA member banks and strategic members could whitelist this email address, it would solve many of these issues.

Thanks very much!

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OBA education corner …

Schools have started, as has football, so it feels summer is nearing an end, even if the weather outside doesn’t necessarily agree. One thing that is ending, though, is the usual summer respite from live seminars and events from the OBA’s education department. Many things are on the horizon! Take note of the following:

  • Best-Ever Compliance Checklists for Commercial Loans, Sept. 17, webinar — This colorful checklist, patterned after the popular Best-Ever Consumer Checklists, will guide bankers through traps and ensure compliance.
  • 30 Steps to Audit Your Safe Deposit Area, Sept. 18, webinar — This webinar covers the “nuts and bolts” and the important steps that must be followed to audit your entire safe deposit function.
  • Employment Records and How to Keep Them, Sept. 19, webinar — This program provides information not just on what records you should keep and for how long, but on the several underlying and even more important issue of record creation, storage, and the DON’Ts which create the major liabilities.
  • W-9, W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E Forms and Info, Sept. 19, webinar — During this program, we will do a line-by-line review of the W-9 and W-8BEN forms and the subsequent tax reporting to the IRS.
  • 2019 ACH Processing & Compliance Seminar, Sept. 24, Oklahoma City — Get more information on the important ACH processing and compliance work done in your bank.
  • TRID: All About Construction Loans, Sept. 25, webinar — Join us for a two-hour webinar on the ins and outs of disclosing construction loans under TRID.
  • Quarterly Compliance Briefing: Fall 2019, Sept. 26, webinar — In a simple language webinar format that you can view from your office, we will make sure you have the information you need to keep your financial institution in compliance.
  • Vital Checks and Deposit Issues, Sept. 26, webinar — These operational and day to day dealings with your customer may lead your institution into liability without anyone’s knowledge till there is a lawsuit.
  • Call Reports: RC-C Loan Coding and Related RC-R Reporting, Sept. 27, webinar — Loan information on the Call Report provides critical credit information for regulators, especially in today’s environment.
  • FFIEC Guidance on Employees’ Use of Social Media, Sept. 30, webinar — The use of social media continues to increase as do the risks associated with its use, everyone should become familiar with this important guidance.
  • 2019 Supervisor Bootcamp, Oct. 1-2, Oklahoma City — Supervisor Boot Camp will help you build essential traits such as leadership, professional maturity and emotional IQ.
  • 2019 OBA Consumer Lending School, Oct. 7-11, Oklahoma City — The total program of this school exposes students to major issues consumer credit managers face. It provides a framework for examining a bank’s consumer credit programs, policies and procedures.
  • 2019 OBA Operations School, Nov. 18-22, Oklahoma City — This school is designed to prepare junior-level officers to mid-level operations managers to manage effectively and efficiently an operations function within a bank.

Also, Farmer Mac is hosting a free credit-focused workshop in Oklahoma City on Sept. 26. Attendees can prepare for the upcoming lending season, and hear about the latest loan products and pricing options and secondary market tools available through Farmer Mac’s programs. Come meet the Farmer Mac underwriting and business development teams, have lunch, network with other local lenders and join the conversation. This session is designed for new and existing program participants. For more information and to register CLICK HERE!

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