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April 1, 2022
Q1 Bank Earnings Preview: Waiting for Normalcy by Joe Fenech Hoping for a return to normalcy has felt more like waiting for Godot.. Heading into Q1 bank earnings season, is the stage finally set for a return to normalcy for bank fundamentals and bank stocks? Or, is there a recession looming? Is there a historical parallel for the macro environment we seem to be heading into? Interest rates, the yield curve, inflation, and geopolitical events all have their say in addressing these questions and more not just for the purpose of the upcoming earnings season, but with longer-term implications as well. [read more] |
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February 16, 2022
The New Rules of Talent Acquisition by Amber Burke, Director of Insights at Alloy Labs Alliance The top concern for bank leaders going into 2022 is the ability to attract qualified talent. According to a December survey conducted by Cornerstone Advisors, the percentage of banks identifying hiring as a concern jumped from just 19% in the 2021 survey to a whopping 67% in 2022.... [read more] |
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February 8, 2022
Recent Tech-Forward Bank Stock Performance Suggests an Intriguing Risk/Reward Dynamic by Joe Fenech In an article we published just last month, we noted the extraordinary performance of tech-forward bank stocks during 2021, as compared to their more traditional regional and community bank peers. Without rehashing all the details, we’ll simply note the following: bank stocks as a group were among the top-performing sectors of the stock market in 2021, up 36% for the year (as measured by the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF), while the 16 publicly-traded tech-forward banks that comprise the Travillian Tech-Forward Bank Index were up 107% on average – roughly 3x the KRE – with returns for each of the 16 stocks exceeding 50%... [read more] |
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January 27, 2022
Talent at a Tech-Forward Bank: A Q&A with Ed Barry, President, CEO & Director at Capital Bancorp, Inc. Recently added to our Tech-Forward Bank Index, Capital Bancorp, Inc. (Capital Bank, N.A.) has had a very successful venture into payments and credit cards, which has been well-regarded by the street as well as their peers. Travillian's Head of Banking and Fintech, Brian Love, had a conversation with Ed Barry, its President, CEO, and Director, about his career history and what attracted him to join CBNK. He also explains a current recruitment success and his opinion on home growing talent in an age when speed-to-market is everything...[read more] |
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January 20, 2022
Share Price Performance of Travillian Tech-Forward Banks Significantly Outpaced Peers in 2021 by Joe Fenech It's been clear for some time now that Tech-Forward banks are separating from the pack. The Travillian Tech-Forward Bank Index was created last year to help identify a select subset of the bank sector that we felt was at the forefront of the convergence of traditional banking and fintech. Each company that was selected benefitted from “first-mover” advantage in their early embrace of technological change and were among the leaders in their area of fintech expertise... [read more] |
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January 12, 2022
Investigate Your Investors: How Investor Relations Can Help Drive Long-Term Value by Diane Fitzgibbons, President at The IR Group Investor relations ("IR") is the process of communicating with the financial industry, including investors, analysts, traders, portfolio managers and media. IR is the discipline designed to establish and maintain strong corporate reputations with the financial community. IR can assist with building strong relationships with shareholders, potential investors, and financial influencers thereby establishing credibility and driving long-term value...[read more] |
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January 7, 2022
Could Banks Be Punch-Drunk from the Pandemic? Critical Advice for your Bank’s Balance Sheet - A Q&A with Gary Svec Travillian's Head of Banking and Fintech, Brian Love, had a conversation with Gary Svec, Managing Director - Investment Banking at Performance Trust, about the somewhat cloudy economic waters that lay ahead for financial institutions, once the stimulus "buzz" wears off. Gary illustrates how he advises his bank clients on matters like excess liquidity, raising debt, and recruiting talent... [read more] |
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December 16, 2021
Regulatory Tumult, Talent, and Technology – Community Bank Observations with Stan Orszula Brian Love, Head of Banking and Fintech at Travillian, and financial institution legal advisor Stan Orszula, Partner at Barack Ferrazzano, had a colorful conversation about several hot topics within the community bank space, including:
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December 1, 2021
Magic & Fintech in the Desert by Keith Daly, Director of Financial Technology at Travillian As the plane descended into Las Vegas, I was amazed as a sea of lights simply appeared from the dark Nevada desert. It had been over 15 years since I was in Vegas last, but the jolt of energy felt the same. It may be 2am with an early wakeup call in a few hours, but the lure of the lights can be hard to resist. But this time around it was business, so I ordered room service, set the alarm, and collapsed into my bed at the Sahara. ... [read more] |
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November 16, 2021
Is the Pause in Bank Deal Approvals a Transitory Issue or Something More? by Joe Fenech There are numerous examples of pending M&A deals that are bogged down in the regulatory process, enough to label it a trend. Over the past few months, it seems clear that while regulatory approval of announced bank M&A transactions isn’t quite at a standstill, the pace has slowed considerably. The trend is much more pronounced for larger bank deals, many of which are still pending well past the expectations communicated by bank management teams at deal announcement, though several smaller transactions have been held up as well... [read more] |
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October 13, 2021
Is the M&A Tide Finally Turning in Favor of the Acquirers? by Joe Fenech The market has been mostly hostile to M&A announcements so far this year…We’ve written several articles this year on the topic of M&A; more specifically, the generally poor reaction to announced deal activity in the market. Prior to the pick-up in M&A activity earlier this year, we cautioned that this might occur for a variety of reasons... [read more] |
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September 20, 2021
A Bank with a Fresh, Innovative Culture and How it Achieves High Employee Retention Mary Jayne Crocker, EVP Chief Operating Officer, at Bridgewater Bank, joins Travillian’s Brian Love in a transparent discussion on Bridgewater Bank's "unconventional” culture, how they attract younger talent and maintain employee retention - much higher than their peers – throughout their relatively short history. They cover many topics including core values, team building, minimum wages, onboarding, recruitment and retention... [read more] |
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September 2, 2021
Who is Driving Your Banks Digital Bus?
by Dion Lisle, Managing Partner - Forty Grand
A lot of confusion already exists around which type of technological leader a bank needs (Chief Technology Officer? Chief Information Officer?) and now we’ve seen the advent of an even newer role to consider: a Chief Digital Officer. So, what is a Chief Digital Officer? And is this the right role to install at your bank? Let’s first define these roles in a bit more detail to help you determine what may be best for your institution... [read more]
Who is Driving Your Banks Digital Bus?
by Dion Lisle, Managing Partner - Forty Grand
A lot of confusion already exists around which type of technological leader a bank needs (Chief Technology Officer? Chief Information Officer?) and now we’ve seen the advent of an even newer role to consider: a Chief Digital Officer. So, what is a Chief Digital Officer? And is this the right role to install at your bank? Let’s first define these roles in a bit more detail to help you determine what may be best for your institution... [read more]
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August 18, 2021
Bank M&A Has Accelerated as Expected, Though Market Reaction Remains Muted by Joe Fenech The market has cast a wary eye toward the stocks of most acquisitive banks. For several months now, we’ve noted that while we expected the pace of bank M&A to pick up meaningfully, the market’s receptiveness to it would likely be more tempered than what we’ve seen during the early recovery phase of prior cycles. Without rehashing all the details, our basic premise was that banks fared unusually well during the pandemic, helped by their own fundamental resiliency, a novel approach by the regulators to allow forbearance, and massive monetary and fiscal stimulus... [read more] |
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August 12, 2021
Best Practices and New Placements We’re all looking for new talent- here’s five tips to get it right. As evidenced by a strong jobs report this week, hiring is up across the board. The American economy added 943,000 jobs in July (up from 850,000 in June) which was the highest output in 2021. The recruiters at Travillian agree that this could be the hottest candidate market we’ve seen, perhaps in the last decade. If your financial institution is looking to make some key hires, here are a few best practices around hiring... [read more] |
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July 21, 2021
For Investment Bankers, a Shifting M&A Landscape Demands Adaptability (and Creativity) by Joe Fenech The business model at investment banking firms serving the regional and community bank sector over the past few decades has worked very well, helped by an extraordinary level of deal activity, with only brief periods of interruption along the way (i.e. the financial crisis of 2008; the COVID pandemic last year, etc.). The most successful firms had prominent investment bankers assigned to specific regions of the country, with the charge to essentially blanket their assigned region with “coverage”... [read more] |
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July 1, 2021
2021 Mid-Year Banking and FinTech Market Roundup
A very strong economy is providing a tailwind for bank fundamentals, and we are increasingly encouraged. While the vigorousness of the economic recovery is likely to vary across the country, the common theme is that we see some form of economic improvement in virtually all markets, which should benefit banks via stronger loan demand, limited credit costs, and a pick-up in most fee businesses... [read more]
2021 Mid-Year Banking and FinTech Market Roundup
A very strong economy is providing a tailwind for bank fundamentals, and we are increasingly encouraged. While the vigorousness of the economic recovery is likely to vary across the country, the common theme is that we see some form of economic improvement in virtually all markets, which should benefit banks via stronger loan demand, limited credit costs, and a pick-up in most fee businesses... [read more]
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June 16, 2021
Counter-Trend M&A Can Often Prove The Wisest Course In The Long Run by Joe Fenech M&A waves typically reflect a “follow-the-herd” mentality. More often than not, periods of heightened bank sector M&A activity seem to be driven by a few common themes in each cycle. But no matter the reason for the pick-up in M&A for a particular period, it usually tends to play out the same way. Early movers are rewarded for their foresight in capitalizing on what eventually becomes the “trend du jour” for that cycle, leading others to attempt to emulate their actions, but with very mixed results as the cycle matures...[read more] |
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June 10, 2021
Surprising Trends Around Bank M&A by Joe Fenech LIKE THE SUMMER HEAT, M&A ACTIVITY HAS SPIKED, AND IN MANY WAYS SEEMS FAIRLY CONVENTIONAL. A number of high-profile M&A transactions -- like M&T / People’s United; Webster / Sterling; BancorpSouth / Cadence; Old National / First Midwest; and New York Community / Flagstar, along with several others that were less heralded and still others that were more unique (Social Finance / Golden Pacific) – have marked the beginning of what we think is likely...[read more] |
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June 3, 2021
The Travillian Group and The IR Group Announce Strategic Partnership to Offer Complementary Services to the Financial Institutions Industry The Travillian Group, LLC, and The IR Group, Inc. today announced they have formed a strategic partnership, combining The Travillian Group’s search and talent advisory services with the IR Group’s financial communication consulting services. With a combined 50 plus years dedicated to serving financial institutions across the country, this partnership will further deepen the industry expertise these organizations can bring to their clients....[read more] |
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May 27, 2021
Russell Reconstitution Update: Need to Knows - Volatility, Programmatic Selling & the M&A Effect by Joe Fenech This has been a unique year in many ways, and that certainly applies to the upcoming reconstitution of the Russell U.S. Indexes. As we’ve discussed at length in prior updates, there is likely to be a record number of community banks that will be deleted from the Russell Index this year, due to a variety of unusual factors...[read more] |
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May 19, 2021
Introducing Travillian's Tech-Forward Bank Index For banks, the ongoing convergence of banking and technology is quite possibly the most intriguing development of the last decade. The companies that make up the first twelve of our Index, along with the others that will join this group in the months to come, are at the forefront of this convergence and have thrived. They hail from all over the United States and have been early industry adopters of financial technology with specialties...[read more] |
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April 29, 2021
The Countdown to Travillian's Tech-Forward Bank Index With 1Q bank earnings season now just about behind us, on May 19th, we will be announcing the first group of banks that will comprise The Travillian Group’s Tech-Forward Bank Index. As a reminder, this is a list of banks that we deem to be at the forefront of the convergence of traditional banking and fintech... [read more] |
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April 22, 2021
Bright Outlook for Banks in 2021 Drives Fierce Competition for Talent
2020 was an introspective and reactive time for banks, but 2021 has brought back confidence and excitement in the industry. “Merger mania” is beginning to take hold and is likely to accelerate in the coming months, spurred by a need to scale as well as a lack of a management succession strategy. Asset quality is much improved across the board and deposit growth has been exceedingly strong. The outlook is very encouraging, particularly for loan growth, given expectations for meaningful improvement in the economy in the second half of the year... [read more]
Bright Outlook for Banks in 2021 Drives Fierce Competition for Talent
2020 was an introspective and reactive time for banks, but 2021 has brought back confidence and excitement in the industry. “Merger mania” is beginning to take hold and is likely to accelerate in the coming months, spurred by a need to scale as well as a lack of a management succession strategy. Asset quality is much improved across the board and deposit growth has been exceedingly strong. The outlook is very encouraging, particularly for loan growth, given expectations for meaningful improvement in the economy in the second half of the year... [read more]
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April 1, 2021
Announcing The Travillian Group's Tech-Forward Bank Index by Joe Fenech What is The Travillian Group's Tech-Forward Bank Index? We have compiled a list of banks that we deem to be “tech-forward” and at the forefront of the convergence of traditional banking and fintech. The business models and strategic priorities of these companies are differentiated from their traditional bank peers, and each is a pioneer and leader in their respective area of expertise...[read more] |
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March 18, 2021
An Encouraging Set-Up Heading Into Quarter-End, But What Does It Mean For Bank Stocks? by Joe Fenech There are several reasons for optimism. The fundamental set-up heading into 1Q bank earnings season is generally pretty encouraging, for a number of reasons. First, we think banks will report further improvement in asset quality, which will lead to lighter-than-expected provisions and for many, outright...[read more] |
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March 10, 2021
Are Tech/Fintech-Focused Investors Bidding Up "Tech-Forward" Bank Stocks? by Joe Fenech On the one hand, pure technology and fintech-oriented stocks have been weak so far year-to-date… So far this year, and especially over the past month or so, it’s been interesting to note the sluggish performance of the tech sector generally and then also stocks that aren’t quite “pure tech” but are probably better characterized...[read more] |
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February 19, 2021
More Banks Now Likely Ensnared in the Russell Web by Joe Fenech A new development and heightened interest leads us back to the Russell topic this week. There were plans to focus on a new topic this week after highlighting what I’ll call the “Russell conundrum” last week, but new developments and a high level of interest in this subject at the moment lead us to delve into this issue...[read more] |
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February 9, 2021
The 2021 Russell Trade: A Challenge for Some, Opportunity for Others, and a Conundrum for Investors by Joe Fenech Russell reconstitution this year could be more impactful, for a wider swath of companies, than in years past. The reconstitution of the Russell indexes takes place annually, at the midpoint of the year. Bank stocks are added to and deleted from the index based primarily on market capitalization thresholds...[read more] |
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January 27, 2021
The Travillian Group Introduces FI Core Staffing to Deepen its Reach within Financial Institutions & Financial Technology The Travillian Group is pleased to announce the founding of a new division, FI Core Staffing, which will deepen their scope and impact on financial institutions. This division will target the critical “core” roles of our clients that are several steps down from the executive level...[read more] |
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January 13, 2021
The Intersection of FinTech and Community Banking by Joe Fenech Last week, The Travillian Group hosted a webinar that I was fortunate to co-moderate along with Brian Love from Travillian. The topic was the ever-increasing convergence of fintech and banking, and panelists included three community bank CEOs...[read more] |
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December 18, 2020
Is a Massive M&A Wave on the Way? by Joe Fenech Pre-COVID, the bank sector was ripe for consolidation. I remember thinking heading into this year that it was likely to be an active one for M&A, for a variety of reasons. First, there were notable fundamental challenges. Interest rates were heading lower, pressuring margins...[read more] |
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December 3, 2020
Uncovering the Connection between Liquidity and Valuation by Joe Fenech Stock liquidity is a frequent topic of discussion, particularly amongst smaller, newly public institutions that are navigating the markets and interacting with institutional investors for the first time. Earlier this year, amidst the crisis in the banking sector...[read more] |
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November 12, 2020
Would Increased Corporate Tax Rates Hit Banks Where It Hurts? by Joe Fenech While no longer inevitable or even likely, higher corporate tax rates are still possible. With the election and its potential ramifications still in focus and in flux, we’re going to stick with that topic this week but drill down on one specific aspect that is of strong interest to market observers of banks...[read more] |
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November 6, 2020
Fastest Three Minutes in Banking: Post-Election Day Musings by Joe Fenech While the country sorts through the implications of the historic vote earlier this week, and with the caveat that things can still change and could remain in dispute for quite some time, my big picture takeaway is that the apparent outcome, as it stands today, is largely positive for the bank sector...[read more] |
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September 23, 2020
Are Share Repurchases a Good Idea? Considerations for management teams - when to execute and what to anticipate. by Brett Rabatin Backdrop on Share Repurchases. With slower loan growth likely and ample capital ratios compared to the last economic downturn, it seems buybacks could presently be considered by bank management teams, particularly when thinking about raising...[read more] |
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September 16, 2020
Efficiencies Through Robotics: Five Star Bank's Journey by Brian Love and Steve Cohn What sets community banks apart from superregional and global banks is the personal touch. However, these banks often struggle to provide a consistent customer experience—requiring large front lines and operations staff—while maintaining low efficiency ratios. For several years...[read more] |
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September 10, 2020
Consolidation Across the Nation: Trends and Takeaways for your Branch Network by Brett Rabatin Introduction. For many years, bank delivery models have been transforming due to massive digital adoption, which was accelerated in 2020 with no sign of looking back. A recent survey (Novantas) indicated less than half of consumers say they will return...[read more] |
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August 26, 2020
Virginia is for Mergers: Insights on the MOE Trend in Banking - an interview with two dynamic CEOs in Southern Virginia by Brett Rabatin and Brian Love (Brett Rabatin, CFA, worked as a Wall Street sell-side bank analyst covering banks between 1998-2019 for Piper Jaffray, Sterne Agee, FTN Midwest and JC Bradford. Brian Love is the Head of Bank Search and Co-Head of TTG|Align at The Travillian Group.) Charlottesville, VA-based Blue Ridge Bankshares and Richmond, VA-based Bay Banks of Virginia announced a $100 million merger on August 13th. This MOE marks a possible trend that may be more common...[read more] |
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July 29, 2020
Three Key Trends That Emerged from Bank Earnings Season by Brett Rabatin Of the 133 out of 164 banks with greater than $5B in assets that have reported so far, 58% exceeded consensus expectations for 2Q20. Bank stocks have bumped around but are basically flat since early June and about half the industry trades at or...[read more] |
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July 8, 2020
Gazing into the M&A Crystal Ball by Brett Rabatin While I have resided in bigger cities since high school, I grew up in a small town in the South. Fishing, either from the shore or a small boat was part of the small-town culture, as were community banks. Fishing as a pastime in small communities has not changed much, but banking surely has...[read more] |
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July 2, 2020
The Secrets of Their Success: Profiling Three Florida Banks CEOs Featuring John Corbett of South State Bank, Chip Reeves of Beach Community Bank and John Stephens, previously of Atlantic Coast Bank by Steve Cohn and Brian Love Great leaders fit the needs of specific banks under specific circumstances. In this article, we profile three Florida bank CEO’s to demonstrate how they were uniquely suited to three different leadership situations. Whether recruiting externally or grooming internal talent...[read more] |
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June 19, 2020
Credit Quality in a COVID World: It's All About the Shape of the Recovery by Brett Rabatin Backdrop. Investors spent the last few years debating the cause of the next economic cycle. With all the possibilities, a virus resulted in ~40 million people losing their jobs in just three months (more than one in four workers from peak employment in February). Ridiculous. For those comparing to the last cycle, 37.1 million jobless...[read more] |
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June 3, 2020
The Transformation Catalyst? - Digital Strategy Thrust to the Forefront by Steve Cohn and Brian Love We are in the middle of a digital revolution, yet technology is nothing new to banking. Magnetic strips and ATMs have been around since the 1960s, and, incredibly, online banking goes back to the mid-90s. Until recently, this so-called “revolution” was linear. Suddenly, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, we hear “the death of branch banking” bandied about. Looking in his crystal ball...[read more] |
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May 18, 2020
Updates on the PPP - Insights, Forgiveness and Unknowns by Brett Rabatin and Brian Love It’s been up to our nation’s banks – small and large – to administer the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Plan and deliver aid to small businesses, by keeping their workforces gainfully employed during the crisis. Now, after nearly 2 months in existence, we take a look at the PPP: what are the trends and...[read more] |
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April 24, 2020
Stepping Up for the PPP - A Day in a Banker's Life by Steve Cohn and Brian Love Community banks were handed a seemingly insurmountable task in late March: design and implement processes to execute the US Treasury and SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program. Some banks lacked the requisite project management skills; others lacked the infrastructure. Yet the innovation, dedication, and leadership that successful institutions have exhibited remind us why...[read more] |
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March 30, 2020
A Bridge Over Troubled Water - A timely Q&A with the CEO & the Marketing Communications Director of Washington Federal, a true innovator in community banking by Steve Cohn and Brian Love Washington Federal ($16.4B; Seattle, WA) has made news recently for its Small Business Lifeline loan program, designed to help both current and new customers get through current economic turbulence. Recently, we had the chance to speak with Brent Beardall, CEO, and Brad Goode, Marketing Communications Director, not only...[read more] |
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March 20, 2020
Inspiring the Troops - Real Stories of Bank Leadership in a Crisis and the Benefits to Employees and Customers by Brian Love This is the inaugural article of Travillians's original content emphasizing the "human element" to the banking industry. The dilemma: At a time when COVID-19 has wreaked havoc in our personal and professional lives, and it feels like we need less coverage, not more, what can we put out worth reading?...[read more] |
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