By Thomas F. Siems, Ph.D., CSBS Chief Economist The CSBS second quarter 2024 Community Bank Sentiment Index (CBSI) indicates that community bankers are less pessimistic than they have been since the end of 2021, but some concerns persist. The Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary policy tightening over the past 27 months has significantly raised interest rates, resulting in greater deposit competition

By Temple University Professor of Finance Jonathan A. Scott and CSBS Chief Economist Thomas F. Siems In the 2023 CSBS Annual Survey of Community Banks, 21% of respondents reported that their pricing decisions on loans and deposits influence local market interest rates, 59% reported they have some influence, and the remaining 20% reported no influence. Can community banks product pricing

CSBS is pleased to introduce a new blog series featuring staff across the state financial system who are going above and beyond to empower the multistate network for better supervision and industry compliance. Congratulations to our CSBS Networked Supervision Champions. “Networked Supervi sion makes us all better!” Jeff Peterson is not shy about saying that up front. The senior financial

The NMLS team is focused on enhancing the NMLS user experience (UX) to ensure the improved system is intuitive and user-friendly. The NMLS team recently conducted a card sorting exercise with 40 NMLS users to better understand the best way to organize menus and pages within the system. Read further to find out why card sorting is a valuable exercise

In November 2023, we invited more than 60,000 NMLS users to participate in a survey to measure their satisfaction with the system and over 1,400 responded. The survey consisted of two parts: customer satisfaction and system usability. Survey results suggested that, on average, 85% of users are satisfied with their NMLS experience. However, survey comments indicated there are aspects of

By Temple University Professor of Finance Jonathan A. Scott and CSBS Chief Economist Thomas F. Siems Community banks that specialize in agricultural lending play a pivotal role in supporting the U.S. economy by providing financial services to farmers and ranchers that helps ensure a stable and reliable food supply. Comprising 26% of the overall population of the nation’s community banks

The 2024 NMLS Annual Conference & Training featured an NMLS user experience station where system users were able to participate in research activities and engage with the NMLS team about the future of the system. This dedicated station was important because we rely on input from NMLS users − both regulators and industry − to help determine how we will

Just after midnight on Aug. 8, 2023, a brush fire began in central Maui. Within 24 hours, the fire had burned approximately 1,000 acres of land, destroying the town of Lahaina and displacing hundreds of families from their homes, jobs, and livelihoods. “The unique feature of this particular disaster was how many buildings were completely lost,” said Assistant Secretary for