Banking Resources – Search Results
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ILSR Comment Letter Raises Concerns about Big Tech’s Expansion into Finance
In a comment letter to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, ILSR raised several areas of concern that the agency should examine as part of its inquiry Into Big Tech payment platforms.… Read More
Statement from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance on Today’s Reintroduction of the Bank Merger Review Modernization Act
“As community and local financial institutions disappear or merge with larger banks, more entrepreneurs and business owners are struggling to obtain the capital they need to start and grow their businesses,” said ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell.… Read More
Small Business Lending by Size of Institution, 2018
In 2018, community-based financial institutions made 52 percent of all small business loans, even though they controlled only 16 percent of banking assets.… Read More
Op-Ed in Fortune: The Hidden Price of Cashless Retail
In Fortune, we detail the growing cashless retail trend, steps cities and states are taking to regulate it, and the ultimate effect monopoly credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard have on small businesses and the economy at large.… Read More
Small Banks, Big Benefits (Episode 16)
In this episode of the Building Local Power podcast, our guest is Justin Dahlheimer, president of a community bank in west-central Minnesota. Justin and our hosts discuss the benefits of community banking, and how banks lend differently when they have a vested stake in their community.… Read More
A Tool to Find Banks that Invest in the Local Economy
A new tool called Bank Local, which was developed with input from ILSR and other experts, makes it easier to assess the impact that banks have on their communities.… Read More
How One State Escaped Wall Street’s Rule and Created a Banking System That’s 83% Locally Owned
North Dakota has a different kind of banking sector than the rest of the country does, with six times as many locally owned financial institutions per person as the rest of the U.S., and local institutions controlling 83 percent of the market. What is North Dakota doing differently? A lot of the answer is the Bank of North Dakota.… Read More
Why Glass-Steagall Should Be a Key Issue During the 2016 Campaign
In a 2016 campaign season already dominated by candidates’ pursuit of Wall Street donations, how to regulate the banking sector remains one of the most pressing issues facing the country. The Glass-Steagall Act is becoming, and should remain, a key part of the debate.… Read More
Public Banks: Bank of North Dakota
The state-owned Bank of North Dakota operates as a kind wholesale bank by offering partnership loans that effectively expand the lending capacity of local banks and credit unions. Thanks in large part to BND, North Dakota has the largest number of local banks and credit unions per capita of any state, and these local financial institutions account for a remarkable 83 percent of the market. Our research shows that having a robust local banking system pays off in big ways for North Dakota, including by providing a significantly higher volume of loans to finance local businesses and farms. … Read More
One in Four Local Banks Has Vanished since 2008. Here’s What’s Causing the Decline and Why We Should Treat It as a National Crisis.
The precipitous decline in the number of community banks in recent years is a national crisis, and there’s a fierce debate underway right now about what’s to blame.… Read More
Just How Concentrated Is Our Banking Sector? [Video]
This 90-second video shows how giant banks have devoured the banking sector over the past 20 years.… Read More
Federal Study Confirms “Too Big To Fail” Gives Megabanks a Hidden Funding Advantage
When the country’s giant banks were teetering on the verge of collapse during 2008’s financial crisis, the U.S. government stepped in to bail them out. The banks were, in a phrase that has since become infamous, “Too Big To Fail.” Would the government do it again? And does the expectation that it would step in give megabanks an unfair competitive advantage over local community banks? Those are the questions at the heart of an eagerly awaited report released at the end of July by the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan federal department. In a conclusion that highlights the need for more regulatory action to reduce concentration in the banking system, the G.A.O. found that the answers to both questions are “yes.”… Read More
Understanding the Small Business Credit Crunch
Even as their big competitors are awash in capital, many locally owned businesses are struggling to secure the financing they need to grow. This analysis finds that, since 2000, bank lending to large businesses is up 36 percent, while small business loan volume has fallen 14 percent and “micro” business loans — those under $100,000 — have plummeted 33 percent.… Read More
Small Businesses Figure Heavily in Goldman Sachs’ PR, But Not its Portfolio
By Stacy Mitchell and David Morris For years Goldman Sachs gave only a tiny fraction of its profits, less than 1 percent, to charity. Then the depression hit and the huge bank was in the public’s crosshairs for its role in that collapse and the billions it continued to give out in bonuses. Even as millions … Read More
Free Checking is Rare at Big Banks, Common at Small
While just 24 percent of big banks offer totally free checking, more than 60 percent of credit unions and small banks do, according to a new report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. The report also found that credit unions and small banks have lower fees on average and do a better job of disclosing fees to prospective customers.… Read More