ABA Banking Journal Podcast
Business & Finance
About
Bank executive insights, unique business strategies, regulatory updates from D.C., and fun banking stories—all this and more on the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, brought to you weekly by the American Bankers Association's award-winning podcast team.
Episodes
- How consumer deposits drive full relationship banking
Marc Womack from TD Bank discusses strategies for banks to attract consumer deposits in a competitive market. He highlights the importance of data utilization, tailored product offerings, bundled services, and a combination of physical and…
- How an Ohio banker talks with policymakers about stablecoin issues
Jenny Saunders, former president of FCBank and past chair of the Ohio Bankers League, shares her experiences discussing stablecoin and cryptocurrency with members of Congress on the ABA Banking Journal Podcast. She encourages bankers to pr…
- Tech transformation and AI to power bank growth
Vincent Delie, CEO of F.N.B. Corporation, shares insights on the bank's significant growth, strategic investments in employees, and its approach to mergers and acquisitions. The discussion covers utilizing data scientists, the "e-store" co…
- ABA's ecosystem strategy to tackle fraud
Rob Nichols and Paul Benda discuss ABA's fraud reduction strategies, emphasizing an ecosystem approach and highlighting participation in the UN/Interpol Global Fraud Summit, the SCAM Act, and international banking collaborations on anti-fr…
- Capitalizing on opportunities to serve high-net-worth clients
The ABA Banking Journal Podcast discusses how banks can serve the growing number of high-net-worth clients by addressing structural shifts, client needs for services like estate and tax planning, evolving revenue models, and institutional…
- Are credit union commercial loans risky business?
In recent years, credit union business lending and the number of credit unions that exceed the statutory cap on member business lending have shot up sharply. What risks do these trends pose to safety and soundness and financial stability?…
- Risk and strategy in sponsor banking
Sponsor banking, or banking as a service, is a unique opportunity for banks — but it requires strategy, discipline and a laser focus on risk. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Amanda Swoverland, president of Hatch B…
- From stablecoin to fraud, top takeaways from the 2026 ABA Summit
On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Rob Nichols offers his top takeaways from the ABA Washington Summit — including industry unity on stablecoin regulation, credit card policy challenges, federal preemption, and bipar…
- How the SCAM Act would encourage platforms to go after scammers
Major tech platforms make billions of dollars from scammers who advertise on their sites, according to reporting from Reuters , and there's not much incentive for them to change their practices — yet. Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Bern…
- A new kind of 'community bank' for small businesses
From one location in Wilmington, North Carolina, Live Oak Bank is the nation's largest Small Business Administration lender and a leading partner in developing technology for community banks. With an uncertain economic and business environ…
- A Lone Star banking perspective
If Texas were an independent country, its economy would rank as the world's eighth-largest. "France is the seventh largest economy in the world and I don't think it'll take as much time at all to catch them," laughs Texas Bankers Associati…
- The incredible shrinking penny (circulation)
The discontinuation of penny production in 2025 caused operational challenges for banks when the regional Federal Reserve banks said they would stop accepting pennies for deposit at coin terminals -- accelerating the circulation shortage t…
- Cybersecurity in a mobile-first banking landscape
The Philippines is a fast-growing economy, but it lags its peers in the unbanked rate, with more than four in 10 Filipinos unbanked, according to McKinsey. Many Filipinos use nonbank-provided ewallets, but bank penetration is on the rise s…
- The 2026 outlook for bank M&A
The bank consolidation logjam broke in 2025, with several banks, including large regionals, inking major deals amid an accelerated pace for approvals. While that may reflect both pent-up deal flow and a rush to get transactions done in a f…
- The outlook for tech-forward community banking
Jon Sisk and Matt Lujano's banks couldn't be more different at first appearance — Sisk is a top executive at a community bank in Santa Cruz, California, near the beating heart of America's tech ecosystem, and Lujano leads a bank primarily…
- The Erie Canal at 200
The Erie Canal — one of the biggest milestones of American history — celebrated the bicentennial of its completion this week. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, acclaimed economic historian and Banking Journal column…
- Intelligent Origination: Reinventing Lending with AI
Blend's Intelligent Origination — an AI-powered orchestration layer embedded in Blend's platform that reduces the cost of loan origination, improves speed and accuracy, and redefines how lenders and borrowers experience the lending process.
- Why branches are top priority for PNC
PNC Bank is the nation's eighth-largest bank by assets and the sixth-largest by deposits, but it ranks fourth in the number of physical branches. In a time when many banks are streamlining their in-person service locations, why has PNC dou…
- From tractors to drones, how farming tech affects ag lending
With equipment repair costs up 40% over the past few years, how farmers deploy expensive agricultural machinery is of top concern for ag bankers. With equipment increasingly complex and often software driven, many equipment manufacturers h…
- Bigger data boosts financial inclusion at Synchrony
- AI and the future of BSA risk management
Banks have been using natural language processing and machine learning applications for years in managing their anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act obligations. But how does the growing adoption of generative AI tools affect how BSA…
- The real difference between stablecoins and tokenized deposits
In the wake of the summer's Genius Act, many banks and nonbanks have announced new stablecoin initiatives. Another digital asset — tokenized deposits — may meet needs similar to stablecoins, but the two asset types have significantly diffe…
- The 'capacity crisis' in leadership today
Princess Castleberry began her career in risk management in financial services, and the biggest risk she sees today is that "leaders are in a capacity crisis." Work experience, education and professional networks are undermined by this lac…
- AI, third-party risk and the future of partner banking
The rapid evolution of the financial services marketplace means the market for banking as a service is also evolving rapidly. From artificial intelligence to other new technologies to regulatory expectations, how is the partner bank sector…
- Demographic trends shaping the U.S. banking outlook
The U.S. is experiencing a massive demographic shift driven by the aging Baby Boom generation, declining birth rates and shifts in immigration trends. What effect will aging have on the banking outlook? In the season finale of the ABA Bank…
- How institutional banking helps build one regional bank's strategy
Alongside the commercial and consumer markets, institutional banking is one of three strategic pillars of $70 billion-asset UMB Bank. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, UMB's Phil Mason discusses: How institutional b…
- The future of careers in risk and compliance
What does the future hold for bank risk and compliance professionals? On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Krysti Cunningham of Security National Bank in Omaha, Nebraska — and winner of the 2025 Distinguished Service A…
- Breaking down the bank-related provisions in the big budget bill
Following the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, hear from ABA experts on how key ABA-supported provisions on tax policy, rural real estate and health savings accounts in the budget reconciliation law will affect banks. Experts a…
- Inside ABA's new Treasury Check Verification System API
ABA's new online platform to provide members with free access to the Treasury Check Verification System is now live. On a special joint episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast and ABA Fraudcast — presented by Intrafi's Banking with Inte…
- Staying close to clients amid tariff-driven volatility
Amid tariff-related volatility, how are small and midsize businesses and the banks that serve them faring? On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by Intrafi's Banking with Interest podcast — John Buran, the pr…
- Old National's Jim Ryan on the things that really matter
Jim Ryan has led Old National Bank through a massive wave of growth — through major mergers and organic growth, the Evansville, Indiana-based bank has reached $70 billion in assets and a footprint that extends from Minnesota to Tennessee.…
- What bankers need to know about 'First Amendment audits'
So-called "First Amendment auditors" have long filmed themselves trying to provoke police and other public officials into stopping them from recording in public settings. Now, some auditors are targeting banks, filming for hours outside ba…
- Accelerating banking for quick-service restaurants
As independently owned and operated small businesses, fast-food restaurant franchisees have unique business needs. They have mobile and often part-time workforces, complex inventory management and the constant challenge of managing both a…
- How a Georgia community bank supports government-guaranteed lending nationwide
Government-guaranteed lending requires special expertise and back-office functionality that grows increasingly expensive for smaller banks. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Bix2x — Chris Hurn and Jere…
- Quantum computing's shakeup in payments, cybersecurity
Quantum computing is an entirely new way of processing information, and it has the power to solve extremely difficult computational problems much more quickly than binary computers. As the technology continues to advance, the latest episod…
- Why the Fed paying interest on reserves matters
The payment by the Federal Reserve of interest on bank reserves may sound like an abstruse matter of economic theory, but these payments are critical to bank operations and the Fed's conduct of monetary policy. In the latest episode — spon…
- Travis Hill on the regulatory agenda at the FDIC
ABA's Washington Summit just wrapped up, and this episode — sponsored by Intrafi's Banking with Interest — features a main stage conversation with Travis Hill, acting chairman of the FDIC. In this episode, Hill discusses: Revisions to the…
- Play ball! Financial education home runs
April is Financial Literacy Month, a time when bankers think creatively about how to engage young people on topics of financial wellness. Citi's Michelle A. Thornhill and Roads to Success's Bashan Fernandez for a discussion of Citi's appro…
- Breaking down the executive order on Treasury checks
In the wake of this week's significant executive order directing the Treasury to eliminate the use of paper checks for federal government disbursements (and payments to the U.S. government), ABA's Steve Kenneally joins the podcast for a co…
- What's next for stablecoin policy and tech
Legislators and regulators are strongly focused on policy related to payment stablecoins, most recently with the passage of the Genius Act in the Senate Banking Committee. On this episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by n…
- How mail theft fuels the check-fraud boom
The big story of check fraud is not only its vast cost to the country and to individual victims, but simply the remarkable rate at which it is increasing. On this episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by nCino — we bring y…
- The pinnacle of American politics: The life and career of Charles Dawes, part 2
A century ago, in March 1925, Charles G. Dawes was sworn in as vice president of the United States. Being elected vice president of the United States — as Dawes was, alongside Calvin Coolidge, in a landslide — is usually a career pinnacle…
- The rise of a celebrated American banker: The life and career of Charles Dawes, part 1
A century ago, in March 1925, Charles G. Dawes was sworn in as vice president of the United States. Being elected vice president of the United States — as Dawes was, alongside Calvin Coolidge, in a landslide — is usually a career pinnacle…
- Bowling 300 on bank policy advocacy
In rural southeastern New Mexico, bank CEO and varsity bowling coach Ken Clayton often takes his team on 500-mile one-day roundtrips for bowling tournaments. For Clayton, that commitment to going the distance is also what community banking…
- How having joint accounts improves couples' relationships
A recent article in the New York Times — " Love and Money: Why Sharing Accounts Is Good for Your Relationship " — explores scholarly evidence for the benefits of couples' combining their bank accounts. The article features the insights of…
- The real story on CRE risk management
On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by R&T Deposit Solutions — ABA's Jeff Huther and Sharon Whitaker rebut a false narrative about how banks are managing commercial real estate credit risk. Expanding on a r…
- One community bank's fight against a mass text scam
Today's episode features a crossover from ABA's brand new podcast series: ABA Fraudcast: Cyber and Fraud with Paul Benda. Community banks can be targets of large-scale fraud, just like larger banks. On the inaugural episode of the ABA Frau…
- How boards can position their banks to navigate change
From AI and crypto to complex regulatory challenges and increasingly diverse markets, bank executives face increasingly complex strategic decisions — and so do bank boards as they set and oversee the strategic direction for their banks. An…
- The behavioral psychology of the Christmas savings club
In this holiday bonus episode — sponsored by TransUnion — host Evan Sparks digs into the Banking Journal archives to learn more about the "Christmas Club" savings vehicle, and what this financial product says about human psychology and beh…
- Making the feeling 'mutual' for a new generation of bank customers
"Well, your money's in Joe's house, that's right next to yours. And in the Kennedy House, and Mrs. Macklin's house, and, and a hundred others. Why, you're lending them the money to build, and then, they're going to pay it back to you as be…