If you have thick skin, you’ll do just fine as a banker. I know, I walked in the moccasins for about 10 years.
As economic cycles come and go, consumer confidence and trust in large financial institutions varies, but the range of difference bounces between “low and lower”. The American Banker Magazine (nicely relaunched recently and [...]

Navigating the business landscape requires more discernment and wisdom than ever. It seems to be the season of negotiation, and lobbyists from both sides of a case seem willing to take huge gambles for a chance to win big.
When the National Football League’s collective bargaining agreement expired on March 11, the locked-out players responded swiftly, [...]

Imagine you are playing a video game populated by card based loyalty programs. It wouldn’t be difficult to choose the best weapon from your arsenal to facilitate widespread destruction.
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 was signed May 2009 and implemented over 3 phases through August 22, 2010. This would be the first [...]

I don’t take credit for much, but Total Relationship Banking (TRB) is a term that I created while working with the Colloquy consulting group around the turn of the Millennium. I recently had the chance to catch up with the “Patron” of TRB, Fabio Garcia and our talk spurred thoughts for where TRB might be [...]

Relationship Banking is making a comeback with the launch of Regions Relationship Rewards this  past summer. The $137 Billion asset bank ranked #3 among 11 banks in the Southeast region of a JD Power survey on customer satisfaction, but was facing some challenges as the survey footnoted their ranking this way; “customer loyalty and perceptions [...]

Relationship Banking is a term that has been around since the 80’s. In its first use, it described a holistic level of service that branch personnel could deliver to customers by having the entire bank relationship on their computer screen.
Gone were the days of reviewing daily overdraft reports and making subjective decisions about whose items [...]

When people are asked about their greatest fears, you might be surprised by the results.
In recent polls, I have seen public speaking rank ahead of getting cancer and being stricken by terrorist attacks!
Apparently in Canada, the list would be different still. A recent article in the Toronto Globe & Mail reported that in a recent [...]

Citibank launched its ThankYou! Network in 2004 and in doing so,  staked out ground as the first top-tier bank to embark on a rewards program that went beyond credit card and included multiple retail bank products like checking accounts and consumer loans.
Credit to the first bank to launch a Relationship Banking program in North America [...]

There are some things that people just can’t live without these days. The mobile phone tops the list and, depending on your age and demographic, is closely followed by the Blackberry, iPod, Instant Messaging service, or Xbox 360.
Fortunately for bankers, the 7.16 square inches of plastic known as a credit or debit card is high [...]