Wednesday, February 4, 2026
We make bankers better!

Week of Dec. 22

December 23, 2025

In This Issue…

From Adrian’s desk …

By Adrian Beverage
OBA President & CEO

Just some random tidbits that might be of interest to our bankers this week!

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I just returned Monday evening from a trip to Disneyland with my family! It was great to visit the original park – while not near as large as its big brother in Orlando, it’s still a big-time recommendation from me!

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Every week our fraud department fields phone calls or emails from bankers in a panic because their bank or their customer is suffering a large loss from some fraud scheme.

Here are links to a few recent warnings: Be informed on possible ATM attacks, Fraud event strikes Oklahoma businesses, Account takeover fraud hitting Oklahoma banks. For 2026, I’ll be mentioning fraud more frequently as it is our goal to bring the latest trends to your attention as quickly as possible and hopefully before your bank suffers a loss.  If the person(s) in your bank working fraud events is not receiving OBA Updates and OBA Fraud Alerts directly in their inbox, please sign them up!

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My ‘Huskers men’s basketball team keeps rolling along with another win Sunday to keep a spotless 13-0 mark this season! I’d never guessed we’d almost be to the new year’s and the basketball team hadn’t loss yet!

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Capitol capital: What’s happening in D.C./OKC?

(Editor’s note: This will be a semi-regular feature in the OBA Update to highlight bills, debates and issues percolating at both the national and state capitols.)

Last week the House Financial Services Committee voted to advance nine bills that are important to the banking industry.

  • H.R. 5577, the NFIP Extension Act of 2026, led by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), would extend the National Flood Insurance Program through Sept. 30, 2026, and make it retroactive to Sept. 30 of this year. The vote was 53-0.
  • H.R. 6553, the Tailoring and Indexing Enhanced Regulations (TIER) Act, led by Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), would index various asset-based thresholds for bank regulations to nominal GDP. The bill focuses on mid-size and regional banks and primarily includes indexing for enhanced prudential standards, periodic and supervisory stress tests. The vote was 33-19.
  • H.R. 6554, the Community Bank Representation Act, by Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), would expand community bank representation on the Federal Reserve board by providing a more explicit role in the supervision and regulation of banks with less than $17 million in total assets, indexed annually for nominal GDP. The vote was 30-23.
  • H.R. 6536, Rural Depositories Revitalization Study Act, by Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), would require the prudential regulators to jointly study ways to improve the growth, capital adequacy, and profitability of rural depository institutions and to identify regulatory barriers to the formation of new depository institutions. The vote was 50-0.
  • H.R. 6551, the New Bank Application Numbers Knowledge Act (New BANK) Act, by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), would require the Fed, FDIC, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the National Credit Union Administration to publish annual reports on applications received for federal depository institution charters, depository institution holding companies, federal deposit insurance and state depository institution charters. The vote was 53-0.
  • H.R. 6546, Merger Process Review Act, by Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas), would require the inspector general of each banking regulator to review its merger review procedures every three years and submit a report to Congress. The vote was 52-0.
  • H.R. 6570, the Merger Agreement Approvals Clarity and Predictability Act, by Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.), would require the comptroller general to study the use of commitments, conditions and other aspects of the merger review procedures by regulators in connection with bank merger applications. The vote was 52-0.
  • H.R. 6544, The Regulatory Efficiency, Verification, Itemization and Enhanced Workflow (REVIEW) Act, by Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.), would amend the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996, or EGRPRA, to build on the existing regulatory review process by increasing the frequency from every 10 years to every seven year It also would require the Fed, FDIC, OCC and NCUA to conduct an internal review of the cumulative effects of their regulations. The vote was 29-22.
  • H.R. 6550, the American Financial Institution Regulatory Sovereignty and Transparency (American FIRST) Act, by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), would require the Fed, OCC and FDIC to include in their annual reports information on their interactions with global financial regulatory or supervisory forums like the Basel Committee. The vote was 29-23.

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ATM burglaries: an ongoing issue

Just when you thought you had everything under control, these trans-national, organized criminal rings figure out another way to burglarize your ATMs.

The OBA received a report this week of a bank who placed mitigation protocols in place and stopped what could have been a significant loss. Those of you in small towns who think this will never happen to you … think again!  Mitigations to consider now:

  • Change the universal ATM key! If you don’t, check your insurance coverage to make sure an event of this nature is covered.
  • Replace existing hood switch to a mercury switch.
  • If you receive a hood-open alarm, shut the ATM down immediately until the machine can be physically (not just visually) inspected.
  • Educate your local law enforcement about these ATM attacks. Ask them to keep a closer eye on ATMs between 2-5 a.m. Feel free to print out any of the OBA Fraud Alerts or alerts published by Diebold Nixdoft or the U.S. Secret Service.

Report any pre-attack surveillance visits (hood opened and pictures taken but no loss of cash), attempts or successful ATM attacks to your local law enforcement and the U.S. Secret Service Task Force immediately.

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Fed report shows increased interchange fees, revenue

U.S. payment card networks processed 100.7 billion debit and general-use prepaid card transactions valued at $4.7 trillion in 2023, representing an annual 4.6% increase in both value and volume over the two years studied, the Federal Reserve said in its biennial report on interchange fee revenue.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires the Fed to regulate debit card interchange fees – which it does through Regulation II – as well as report on the costs incurred by issuers and payment card networks. The report noted that while both value and volume grew in the most recent time period studied, it was “significantly slower” than the average annual growth rates from 2009 to 2021, which were 7.8% by volume and 9.5% by value.

Interchange fees across all debit and general-use prepaid card transactions totaled $34.12 billion in 2023, representing an average increase of 3.9% per year since 2021, according to the report. For transactions covered by Reg II, the average level of interchange fees has not changed materially since the regulation took effect in 2011. The average interchange fee for covered transactions processed over single-message networks was $0.24 in 2023, while the fee for covered transactions processed over dual-message networks was $0.22.

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OBA education corner …

Umm, we weren’t exactly expecting a white Christmas, but it’d be nice to not have to turn our air conditioners on! Unfortunately, it might be the case as record high temperatures are expected this week … including Christmas day. So, fire up the barbecue pit and get the patio ready and just move your Memorial Day plans up to Dec. 25! Oh, also make sure you take a little time to keep up with what’s happening on the continuing education front, including the following:

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