Bank Nerd Corner

Bank Nerd Corner welcomes Rajesh Narayanan, a professor in the Department of Finance at Louisiana State University. Rajesh recently coauthored a paper titled “The Decline of Branch Banking,” which was presented at the 2025 Community Bank Research Conference. Kiah and Rajesh discuss how the restructuring of the U.S. bank branch network is driven primarily by deposit activity, not lending. Rajesh explains how interest rates and depositors’ comfort with digital banking increasingly factor into the value that banks derive from their deposit franchise. The paper found that banks are more likely to close branches in areas where deposits are "hot" or flighty, and where customers don't place high value on physical proximity to a branch. Kiah and Rajesh explore whether banks’ ability to pay below-market rates on deposits will survive in an increasingly digital world. Rajesh also discusses what regional bank CEOs should consider when rationalizing their branch networks, and why deposit acquisition and retention costs should guide their strategies. Read “The Decline of Branch Banking” here: https://www.communitybanking.org/-/media/files/communitybanking/2025-papers/rs1_p1_rajesh-narayanan_the-decline-of-branch-banking.pdf?sc_lang=en Fintech Takes Banking is the weekly newsletter for bank execs who get it. Subscribe for the latest in regulation, tech, financials, operations and, yes, accounting, straight to your inbox: https://fintechtakes.com/banking/newsletter-subscription/ Follow Kiah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett Follow Professor Narayanan: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajesh-narayanan-a4954031

In March’s episode of Bank Nerd Corner Squared, Kiah and Alex spend some time with the biggest stories in the nonbank finance space.  First up is the surprise news that Kraken was approved for a limited Federal Reserve payment account, a little more than a month after the comment period closed on the Fed’s skinny account proposal. They then chat about private credit, including a brief history and the concerns behind the headlines we’re seeing today. Finally, they return to the bank space to talk about a more traditional channel: branches. Specifically, why is Chase opening so many? --- Fintech Takes Banking is the weekly newsletter for bank execs who get it. Subscribe for the latest in regulation, tech, financials, operations and, yes, accounting, straight to your inbox: https://fintechtakes.com/banking/newsletter-subscription/ --- Follow Kiah LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett Follow Alex Fintech Takes on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@fintechtakes?si=OcRlAi5F2UYIMl9Q LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson

Bank Nerd Corner welcomes Madeline Fredin, Vice President of Partnership Strategy at Alloy Labs Alliance. Madeline is an AI whisperer for Alloy Labs Alliance banks, where she helps them figure out how to deploy AI and even think about what a “black box” bank of the future could look like.  Madeline shares the story of IBM’s Deep Blue, a supercomputer chess bot that beat a grandmaster in 1997, to show how it figures out new ways to accomplish tasks. She and Kiah talk about how artificial intelligence has created a level playing field for institutions right now, if banks can figure out how to capitalize on it. To do that, they’ll need to come up with new skills to build agents and new governance to oversee them.  --- Fintech Takes Banking is the weekly newsletter for bank execs who get it. Subscribe for the latest in regulation, tech, financials, operations and, yes, accounting, straight to your inbox: https://fintechtakes.com/banking/newsletter-subscription/ Follow Kiah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett Follow Madeline: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelinemtaylor/

Jason Mikula, fintech newsletter founder and writer on finance and white-collar crime, and Alex Johnson, fintech commentator focused on regulation and tech, dig into Forbes 30 under 30 figures tied to fraud. They examine four notorious cases, discuss incentives and startup culture that enable misconduct, and debate how publicity and vetting shape who gets celebrated.

Bank Nerd Corner welcomes Bernadette Ksepka, senior vice president and deputy head of product management for the Federal Reserve System’s FedNow Service. FedNow is a real-time clearing and settlement service that supports instant payments in the United States. It was developed and launched by the Federal Reserve Banks in summer 2023. Bernadette shares her observations about how the first three years of the network have gone, and the growth and adoption trends she’s seen over that time. The network is growing but has connections to less than a quarter of total financial institutions in the country, which represent about 50% of deposit accounts. But a variety of use cases are popping up, which may drive broader future adoption.  Kiah and Bernadette also discuss the shifts and adjustments financial institutions need to make so they can successfully implement instant payments and navigate the accelerating pace of change.  Fintech Takes Banking is the weekly newsletter for bank execs who get it. Subscribe for the latest in regulation, tech, financials, operations and, yes, accounting, straight to your inbox: https://fintechtakes.com/banking/newsletter-subscription/ Follow Kiah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett Follow Bernadette: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernadette-ksepka-bbb4212/

They dissect a flashy new national bank and question its valuation, strategy and leadership. They unpack the Fed's skinny master account idea and who would actually benefit. They tackle loan accounting shifts like fair value vs reserve methods. They explain industrial loan charters, controversial FDIC approvals and why nonbank firms chase bank charters.

Bank Nerd Corner welcomes Michael Perito, senior vice president and head of corporate strategy at Jersey City, New Jersey-based Provident Bank. Banker’s Hours explores the personalities in banking for some real talk on important, interesting and fun topics.  Mike and Kiah talk about his career trajectory of covering banks as a sell-side equity analyst to joining Provident Financial Services, where he helps build and execute the $25 billion bank’s strategy. They discuss a few trends he expects to see in 2026, including why he thinks interest in bank deals will remain high and how fintech competitors should affect how banks think about their core customers. They also explore what it means to be a high-performing bank and whether and when asset size matters in banking.  Follow Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-perito-5b761023/ Fintech Takes Banking is the weekly newsletter for bank execs who get it. Subscribe for the latest in regulation, tech, financials, operations and, yes, accounting, straight to your inbox: https://fintechtakes.com/banking/newsletter-subscription/ Follow Kiah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett

Bank Nerd Corner welcomes Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. Heather focuses on labor data and consumer health — an important topic for healthy of financial institutions and the economy writ large.  She’s seen some concerning things in the last 12 to 24 months: a K-shaped recovery and an emerging jobless boom. One reason why could be how companies are leveraging artificial intelligence to maintain or lower headcounts while maintaining productivity.  Finally, Heather and Kiah think about what financial institutions should be looking at for signs of consumer health or weakness, and how they can stay close to their consumers. Fintech Takes Banking is the weekly newsletter for bank execs who get it. Subscribe for the latest in regulation, tech, financials, operations and, yes, accounting, straight to your inbox: https://fintechtakes.com/banking/newsletter-subscription/ Follow Kiah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett Follow Heather: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hlong/ Twitter: https://x.com/byHeatherLong

Bank Nerd Corner welcomes Brian Peters, a veteran of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and insurance giant AIG.  Brian writes the newsletter Perspectives on Risk, which draws on his experience in bank supervision at the New York Fed and as chief risk officer at AIG. He’s interested in financial stability, bank supervision and how technology, climate and demographics impact the economy.  Brian and Kiah discuss the different mandates of the various federal banking agencies and the unique spot the New York Fed occupies, the three approaches he’s seen when it comes to bank supervision, credit quality trends at banks and his experience trying to convince a large language model to use public data to predict bank failures.  And as promised, Brian did publish his newsletter about credit quality that he mentions during the episode, available here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-183560508. Fintech Takes Banking is the weekly newsletter for bank execs who get it. Subscribe for the latest in regulation, tech, financials, operations and, yes, accounting, straight to your inbox: https://fintechtakes.com/banking/newsletter-subscription/ Follow Kiah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett Subscribe to Perspectives on Risk: https://perspectiveonrisk.substack.com/

In their first Bank Nerd Corner Squared episode of 2026, Kiah and Alex try their best to keep it light in the face of a lot of tough news. 2026 has been light on serious bank topics to date, but they talk about the interesting trend of fintechs buying banks, especially compared to the de novo charter applications from similar types of companies. They then hit some of the low points of the news cycle, including President Donald Trump’s proposal to cap interest rates at 10%, the grand jury subpoenas sent to the Federal Reserve Board and the announcement that the Trump family’s cryptocurrency firm, World LIberty Financial, would apply for a national trust charter. To lighten the mood, Kiah closes with a small credit card rant. Fintech Takes Banking is the weekly newsletter for bank execs who get it. Subscribe for the latest in regulation, tech, financials, operations and, yes, accounting, straight to your inbox: https://fintechtakes.com/banking/newsletter-subscription/ Follow Kiah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson