Chapter Members enjoyed a hot buffet breakfast followed by a very informative presentation by Mike Cohn of Wolf and Co. entitled 10 Financial Industry Trends You Can’t Ignore. Mike noted how rapid changes in technology are changing the world we live in and he discussed the implications these trends are expected to have on the banking industry. He noted the difficulty in recognizing whether we are at the “end of a trend” or the “end of the beginning” of another.

The 10 key trends for 2018 that Mike defined along with significant points that he stressed are highlighted below:

10. New Bank Formation - Minimal new charters since 2010;    Reduced regulatory compliance costs is required to encourage new charters

  9. Interest Rate – economy remains strong; develop customer relationships and deliver new products/services

   8. Credit – small institutions will lose out to large unless regulatory compliance costs are reduced.

   7. Capital - Capital Risk Assessments will emerge in the CFO’s and Chief Risk Officer’s toolboxes

   6. Compliance – Regulatory pressure is ever present

   5. Transaction – Mobile payment systems vs. peer-to-peer providers (venmo, Zelle)

   4. Strategic – Non-banks vs. traditional banks

   3. People – Millennials disrupted societal norms; big users of consumer loans

   2. Vendor – Third parties provide broader risk; expanded due diligence

   1. Cyber – No institution is too small to be a target; more technology required to maintain safety