Podcast
The Banker Next Door
Hosted by Dr. Joseph Bergquist · EN
BND is focused on the U.S. Banking industry and how the industry intersects with finance, technology, and economics. Topics discussed can include all types of banking products and lines of business along with strategy, marketing, management, and leadership.
146episodes
Episodes
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BND: Strategy Room 6-6-2026
Jun 702:26:06Tap to summarizeThe Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.
Transcribe →Why have 7 million men dropped out of the labor force?
Jun 500:20:25Tap to summarizeThe Department of Labor recently reported that the labor force participation rate for prime age men (age 25 to 54) dropped to 66%! About 1/3rd of men or approximately 7 million have dropped out of the labor force all together. This is a shocking statistic. There is no doubt that the country, overtime, will feel the absence of these men in a very profound way. The big question right now is how did this happen? There is not one single issue or event but a compounding of changes over many decades that led to this point. The loss of America’s manufacturing base in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the belief that College was going to be the magic job elixir, the dotcom bubble, the great recession, the rise of wokeness and DEI, COVID, and H1-B visas all conspired to play a part in making this happen. How can we fix this? How do we turn this around? This episode reviews an article from The Epoch Times (subscription required) titled “Where have the men gone?”
Transcribe →Private Credit: Lending to NDFIs slows, BDC valuations, and MFS losses
Jun 300:17:18Tap to summarizeThis episode is an update on Private Credit. The failure of U.K. mortgage lender MFS continues to ripple through markets as banks and financial firms in the U.K. and the U.S. sustain losses. Investors should be very careful about buying shares of Business Development Companies (BDCs) because what may seem like a bargain but could be a disaster. Banks lending to NDFIs decreased in the 1Q of 2026. Regulators required the largest banks to start disclosing their exposure to NDFIs at the end of 2024. NDFI lending is broken down into 5 categories. Regulators are considering if banks should disclose additional information around NDFI lending as the bulk of lending is concentrated in the largest U.S. banks. This episode examined three articles from CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, and S&P Global.
Transcribe →What would the experience of a bank run be like today?
Jun 200:19:58Tap to summarizeWe have all seen the movie It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy plays the President of a small savings and loan bank and in one of the pivotal scenes of the movie he prevents a bank run by talking to the customers and explaining how the bank works. Bank runs have been prevalent in the U.S. since the founding of the country as noted in various panics throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. But will a bank run today be like the bank runs we have experienced in the past? The answer, probably not. In a very weird way, a bank run today could be a quiet unsettling type of experience. The bank branch is closed, the ATM is empty, the bank is limiting withdrawals, and everyone is wondering what the Fed is going to do. No Jimmy Stewart to explain what is happening and calm customers down. Are banks ready for the speed and velocity at which a bank run can occur today? Are customers prepared for the way in which they could potentially be locked out of their money? This episode reviewed an article from The Epoch Times (subscription required) titled “What would a bank run look like today?”
Transcribe →FDIC reviews deposit runs on 3 large regional bank failures in Spring 2023
Jun 100:18:51Tap to summarizeThe FDIC released a report titled “Dissecting Depositor Flight: An analysis of the Spring 2023 Bank Failures.” This report is about the three regional banks that failed during the Spring banking crisis of 2023. The three banks in question include Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank (FRB). This report sought to examine the deposit flow of each back and attempts to determine if a ‘bank run’ is what caused their failure. The report found that the largest depositors were the ones that moved all their money and did it quickly. Small depositors that were covered by FDIC insurance moved very little money. The report analyzes how the deposits were moved via wires and ACH. Perhaps most alarming is that the research showed that all three banks lost a substantial number of deposits in a single day. SVB lost 50% of their deposits on May 6th. There is a lot for banks to learn and take away from this research about preparing for the next banking crisis. This episode examined a research report from the FDIC and an article from Banking Dive. A link to the FDIC report is included below. Link: Staff Studies 2026
Transcribe →How can banks better engage with customers in the fintech era?
May 3000:20:30Tap to summarizeBanks are constantly challenged in the fintech era, not with loosing accounts, but with maintaining day-to-day financial engagement. Consumers continue to diversify away from bank offerings to multiple fintech platforms, mainly for P2P payments and digital wallets. Bank’s share of the financial relationship with fintechs is shrinking. Speed, flexibility, and control are the main items that customers are looking for. Payments are the front door for customer engagement. Right now, Venmo and Cash App are winning the race, but banks have options such as Zelle. Bank’s can retain financial engagement with their customers, but it will require them to make changes and adapt current offerings. This episode reviewed a research report from S&P Global (subscription required) titled “Community banks in the fintech era: Competing for customer engagement.”
Transcribe →Bank News: CEO apologies, EOs, Living wills, Charters, Exemptions, and Fines!
May 2900:17:06Tap to summarizeBank News: Standard Charter CEO Bill Winters apologized for his ‘lower-value human capital’ remarks that he made about his employees. Flagstar CEO Joseph Otting will stay until 2028 when a successor will be named. Federal Reserve and FDIC approve US banks’ living wills. Senator Warren wants charter details from OCC. Jay Gould justifies conditional trust charter approvals. Senator Warren questions Morgan Stanley exemption allowing them to fold their German investment bank into their holding company. President Trump directed the Federal Reserve to review how it grants access to central bank payment rails for fintechs. Chime is definitely in the market for a bank charter. Ally offers new brand platform. CFPB eliminates information prior to February 2025. Goldman Sachs settles 1MDB case. This episode reviewed multiple articles from Banking Dive.
Transcribe →Regulators are looking to overhaul CAMELS ratings for banks
May 2800:14:53Tap to summarizeThe CAMELS rating system is used by bank regulators to assess a financial institution. The rating system evaluates six key factors – capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity. Banks are then rated on a scale of 1 (Best) to 5 (Worst). This scale helps examiners to determine which banks require closer supervision because of poor performance. The CAMELS framework was originally created in 1979 but has not been updated since 1996. Federal regulators are now looking to make changes by shifting the focus to material financial risk and bolster ratings transparency. The focus of the changes will be related to composite rating changes and management rating changes. Some of these potential changes are welcome as bank executives have complained for years about how the ‘management’ category is rated. This episode reviewed articles from S&P Global (subscription required) and Investopedia. A link to the Investopedia article is included below. Link: Understanding the CAMELS Rating: Evaluation and Calculation Explained
Transcribe →Is Mythos the beginning of endless cyberattacks for banks?
May 2700:14:53Tap to summarizeWhat has AI unleashed on the banking industry? Anthropic’s development of Mythos has sent shockwaves through banking executives. Palo Alto Networks tech chief Lee Klarich sees a small window before hackers begin to use programs like Mythos to launch attacks against software vulnerabilities. Banks should consider this a wake-up call. Think about your current platforms and technology stacks. Consider shifting from static cybersecurity models to dynamic monitoring. This threat is only about to begin. This episode covered an article from S&P Global (subscription required) titled “Anthropic’s new AI model pushes banks to shore up cyber defenses” and an article from CNBC.
Transcribe →CEO used an AI clone of himself?
May 2600:14:21Tap to summarizeCustomers Bank CEO Sam Sidhu caused quite a stir when he used an AI clone for the first 25 minutes of the bank’s most recent earnings call to provide prepared remarks. Mr. Sidhu was trying to display how adept the bank has become at using AI technology. Mr. Sidhu showed how the bank has been able to deploy AI and decrease the efficiency ratio from 62% in 2024 to 49% in 2026. Mr. Sidhu is also hoping that AI will help to shrink the time it takes to close a loan and open a deposit account. This episode reviewed an article from S&P Global (subscription required) titled “Customers targeting efficiency ratio, customer onboarding improvements with AI” and a blog post from Emily McCormick at Bank Director.
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