The Banker Next Door

Entrepreneur Alex Blomstrom returns to the podcast. Alex has been very busy over the last year recreating her brand. Alex’s first company was Alex Blom Creates. She has rebranded that business as Blue Horizon Clothing Co. Alex and I discussed business strategy, changes that entrepreneurs go through over time, social media, marketing strategy, and the realities of tariffs and increasing oil prices...

Banker Allan Burkley returns to the podcast. We discuss the ongoing issues in the Private Credit Market, stablecoins, crypto legislation, the increase in bank charter applications, and how fintech and crypto players might transform bank strategy. Allan Burkley is a highly experienced commercial banker. He currently works for Tompkins Bank. You can follow him on LinkedIn.

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on March 14, 2026. Jerome Powell appears to have escaped potential problems from subpoenas issued in regards to the renovations of several buildings on which costs have ballooned up to $2.5 billion. A federal court judge blocked subpoenas that were issued from a grand jury. Some will say the investigation into the Federal Reserve was highly...

The 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.

This report is crazy! Pulaksi Savings Bank failed in January of 2025. The FDIC Office of Inspector General (OIG) complete an in-depth review of the bank’s failure, which was completed in March 2026. Initially, when the bank was closed by the FDIC, they stated that fraud was suspected. The newly released OIG report blamed the failure on ‘key employees’ and $20+ million in liabilities NOT listed in...

What is the CFPB really costing American consumers? Three reports have recently been released from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs, and The White House Council of Economic Advisors. These reports had dueling narratives about what the impact and cost of the CFPB has been on the American consumer. The report from GAO...

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) released a report in February 2026 that outlines three vulnerabilities in government bond-backed Repo Markets. The interlinked potential sources of structural vulnerabilities include 1) Repo Markets can facilitate a build-up of leverage, 2) Demand and supply imbalances in Repo Markets can arise quickly in stress periods, and 3) Repo Markets are highly concentrat...

Cornerstone Advisors released their annual report ‘What’s Going on in Banking’ for 2026. The report focuses on Banks and Credit Unions in the United States and provides survey results from hundreds of bankers. The main themes in this year’s report were AI, crypto, tech spending, fraud, and payment channels. Most bankers are very optimistic about the overall outlook for 2026. Deposit gathering is t...

Dr. Murray Rothbard (March 2, 1926 to January 7, 1995) would have turned 100 on March 2, 2026. Dr. Rothbard was an American economist of the Austrian School, an economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Dr. Rothbard was one of the most prominent economic thinkers of the 20th century. He was a central figure in the libertarian movement. Politically he was right leaning but got involved...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on March 7, 2026. The approximately $1.8 Trillion private credit market turmoil has entered a new phase. It started last year with the failures of Tricolor Holdings, First Brands, and several other small companies. Now Blue Owl Capital is in free fall, BlackRock is restricting investors from withdrawing from one fund while marking down the v...

The 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.

Q2 is a fintech company that has been around for over 20 years delivering innovative digital banking solutions. This episode looks at one of their market analysis reports titled “The State of Commercial Banking 2026.” The report has six key takeaways, which include 1) liquidity recovers enabling stronger NIM, 2) loan demand has rebounded, 3) competitive climate has intensified, 4) fraud risk is in...

How does a debit or credit card transaction work? What are Swipe Fees? ICBA just released a new Interchange Guide which explains this payment channel for small business customers. A debit or credit card transaction has six steps and includes four parties (cardholder, merchant, acquirer, and issuer). Swipe Fees are what the merchant pays the acquirer to accept the card. Swipe Fees have three parts:...

As the consternation on Wall Street around the Private Credit market continues, we examine bank lending to NDFIs. This has been banks largest and fastest-growing loan segment since 2010. The compound growth rate from 2010 to 2024 is 21.9%, almost three times as high as the next segment, which is multifamily CRE. NDFI lending has increased from $56B in 2010 to $1.32 trillion in 2025! NDFI lending a...

The U.S. banking industry had solid performance in the 4Q of 2025 according to the FDIC. ROA and Net Income improved significantly from 2024, Net Interest Margin improved to 3.39%, loan growth continued to expand up 5.9%, domestic deposits increased for a sixth straight quarter, and asset quality metrics remained generally favorable, but some weakness is beginning to show. Unrealized losses on sec...

This is part 37 of the crypto series. In this episode we examine the lawsuit filed against Jane Street alleging that the trading firm used insider knowledge to profit from the demise of Terraform Labs. Did Jane Street cause the Crypto Winter of 2022? Binance fired staff that were investigating the movement of $1 billion dollars through the platform to Iran-backed terror groups. Crypto firms think...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on February 28, 2026. Jane Street is being sued by the trust administrator for Terraform Labs. The suit alleges that the company engaged in insider trading to profit unlawfully and ultimately caused the collapse of Terraform Labs. Did the actions of Jane Street cause the destruction of Terraform Labs and thus cause the Crypto Winter of 2022?...

The 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.

Checking accounts have become a commoditized product for banks. How can banks unlock a value creating growth engine and protect market share from new competitors such as neobanks? Using the Amazon strategy of bundling products through a subscription service feature might be the answer. Amazon is currently offering a checking account bundled with additional service for a monthly fee. Based on resea...

Vetting and assessing fintech partners can be a difficult task for community banks. In seeking a framework to assist community banks in this effort, a new organization called the Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards (CFES) was created in March of 2025. CFES has now rolled out the Standardized Assessment for Risk Management & Compliance or STARC framework. STARC can certify that a fintec...

This one is for the ladies! There are now 154 billionaire women in the U.S. These women have a comparable median net worth to the men of around $2 billion. While 154 billionaire women is a smaller number than the 981 male billionaires in the U.S., there numbers are growing. How did these women amass their fortunes? Most of the money was inherited but the number of self-made entrepreneurs is growin...

The conversation around Prediction Markets continues as the CFTC is ready to go to court and fight states over who has jurisdiction when it comes to enforcement and regulation. In addition, we look at why options traders are moving to Prediction Markets. The blurring of the lines between trading and gambling continue. Finally, we consider how sports betting is a zero-sum game. What does this ultim...

As the fallout from SCOTUS’ decision on tariffs continues, we consider five takeaways. 1) Tariffs are not authorized under the IEEPA, but all other tariffs are okay. 2) The refund process is likely going to be a mess. 3) The Trump administration is already looking at existing tariff laws to keep the current tariffs deals in place. 4) In justice Kavanaugh’s dissenting opinion he stated that other l...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on February 20, 2026. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) struck down President Trump’s tariffs that fell under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act or IEEPA. This decision by SCOTUS had interjected chaos into President Trump’s economic agenda and slows down his ability to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. This deci...

The 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.