February 15, 2021

Recently we introduced the new KBA mascot – Flint. In reflection on the nature of a burley buffalo and its place in history, I am drawn to think of each of you. As Kansas bankers, each of you brings the presence of passion to your local communities that creates stability for those you touch. You do it because that is what community bankers do for the communities that depend on us.

As impossible as it is to believe, we have been living in a global pandemic for an entire year. What began as a headline from a distant corner of the world quickly became a worldwide health crisis that continues to wreak havoc on our way of life and has, unfortunately, claimed the lives of too many of our fellow citizens.

It is well known that ATMs are subject to many different types of attacks, from skimming or tampering, to robbery. In the last few months, the U.S. has seen a spike in a new type of assault on ATMs, labeled “Hook and Chain” attacks.

This year has presented bank management teams with a multitude of issues to juggle, many of which seemingly pull in opposing directions, and most of which were not firmly on the radar to start the year. Such is life in 2020. Some banks’ primary concerns stem from the fact that the industry has seen a shift in liquidity. Balance sheets are awash with deposits relative to recent periods, while securities holdings have come down relative to assets. The build-in balance sheet liquidity has come in the form of cash, with an unusually high 7.6% of assets held in cash and equivalents as of June 30.

As part of this rebranding effort, IntraFi Network is adopting new logos and names to better describe its suite of financial services — popular products that until now have included CDARS, Insured Cash Sweep, Insured Network Deposits, and Insured Overnight Funding. Going forward, the company’s deposit products will be consolidated into IntraFi Network Deposits and its funding products will become IntraFi Funding.

National and global fintech companies are becoming household names. We all likely have at least one application downloaded that is categorized as a fintech—even more so now due to the pandemic’s creation of reliance on technology to continue to foster relationships and financial savviness at more than an arm’s length away.

Nearly every banker I’ve spoken with in the past few months has posed the same basic question: What’s next? With the promise that the pandemic will eventually be behind us, everyone is trying to predict the “next normal” and imagine if they have what it will take to succeed – or even survive — in a post-pandemic economy.

Banking is a tough business. Low interest rates, low margins, increasing regulations, and a competitive marketplace for talent. Why do 66% of all banks hold a boring asset known as Bank Owned Life Insurance (BOLI) on their balance sheets?

We are very excited to announce that Elizabeth Roche joined our KBA Insurance team Feb. 1 as our Vice President Employee Benefits Administration. Elizabeth will oversee all aspects of the administration of our employee benefit plans and will be an additional resource to assist our member banks and their employees on a variety of benefits issues. Elizabeth comes to us from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, where she has worked in a variety of roles over the last 20 years. Most recently, she was Regional Operations Manager. She has extensive experience and understanding of the KBA Medical Plan. Please join us in welcoming Elizabeth to our team.