We’ve been hard at work at Bauer (not just eating turkey and watching football) updating bank star-ratings based on September 30, 2024 financial data. We expect to have credit union ratings out shortly. In the meantime, let’s talk about how…
7 Tips to Avoid Becoming a Victim This Season
If you are shopping online this season, the FBI and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (a division of Homeland Security) have some suggestions on how to keep your personal information safe from “want-to-be-thieves”. It is good advice for anytime of…
Thanksgiving Dinner to Cost 5% less than Last Year
2024 marks the 39th year the American Farm Bureau Federation has conducted its informal survey on the price of a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. What they discovered was, in spite of a second consecutive drop in the cost, we are still…
Subpar Credit Unions with Uninsured Deposits
During the 12-month period ending June 30, 2024, uninsured shares and deposits at our nation’s credit unions increased to nearly $170 billion. Roughly $1.5 billion of those uninsured deposits are at credit unions that are deemed less-than-Well-Capitalized by regulatory standards.…
New 5-Star Bank Branch Coming
Since January 1, 2023, 475 5-Star community banks have opened nearly 600 branch offices. Those with four or more new “organic” branches during 2023/2024 are highlighted in this article. Those with two or three new branches can be found on…
Commercial Loans, Enforcement Actions and Crypto, Oh My
This week we examine some of the reasons that many banks are currently reducing their asset size. As the title suggests, the primary reasons include 1) divestiture of commercial loans, CRE in particular; 2) regulatory enforcement actions; and 3) exiting…
Banks: Finding Niches & Growing Assets
During the five years ended June 30, 2024, the number of U.S. banks decreased by over 14%, mostly by way of mergers and acquisitions. This consolidation of the banking industry in the U.S. has increased the average bank asset size…
Credit Union Acquisitions of Banks Pick up Speed
Since January 1, 2023 at least 37 banks have either been acquired or have made plans to be acquired by a credit union. (The list seems to grow daily.) Some of the acquiring credit unions are repeat customers, gobbling up…
Residential Real Estate Faltering in the Heartland
This hurricane season will undoubtedly have lasting effects on the people, businesses and banks operating in the Southeastern United States. Our hearts and prayers are with them. For the most part, residential real estate had been holding up quite well…
Can’t Bank on Mother Nature
If anything has been made clear over the past couple of weeks, it is that no place is protected from the wrath of Mother Nature. Beyond a devastating human toll, weather-related events also take a huge financial toll. This is…