Insights from OpsDog

The finance function—which can include general accounting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, budget and analysis, cost accounting, financial reporting, payroll, internal controls, treasury, and more—is evolving. In the past, the finance function focused mostly on historical transactional financial reporting such as the balance sheet or profit and loss statements. But the role that the finance department plays in banks is changing. The work is becoming more complex, in part due to regulatory burdens and complex business models. Banks increasingly view the finance function as a true partner to the CEO and…

While customers are increasingly adopting online and mobile banking, many still prefer the branch for opening accounts or for big-ticket transactions like mortgages. Brick-and-mortar branches also provide one of the best opportunities for banks to deepen their customer relationships, cross-sell products and services, and build their brand. Retail branches will continue to play an important role for banks in acquiring accounts and serving customers, but banks will need to tweak and refine their branch strategies to deliver a better customer experience while keeping operating costs in check. However, as one…

What is Commercial Banking, or Commercial Lending? Commercial Lending is defined as the process of loaning money to businesses by banks or other financial services institutions. The process is much different than a loan made by commercial banks to individual consumers and is typically much more complex. Commercial loans can help businesses with mortgages for commercial real estate, short-term funding to float payroll, or even renewed indefinitely as a revolving line of credit based on incoming revenue. Most commercial loans are secured credit facilities backed up by collateral such as…

KPI reports have become pivotal to managing businesses of many different types. If not quite as old as old as business itself, (performance measurement can be traced back to the 1494 published work of Italian accountant Luca Pacioli), what is universally known as ‘the bottom line’ can be taken as being the original key performance indicator. Even if a business can absorb a series of negative financial performance results, over time, practically every business prospers or folds based on the bottom line. With systems for a variety of strategic and…

Banks today face an ever-changing landscape, challenges arise in multiple areas and a risk in one area can easily impact another. According to ABA Banking Journal the security and cyber risks remain at the top of the risk lists in most banks. No matter the size of the a financial institution there is always a cybersecurity risk to consider, banks must monitor technology upgrades to ensure that criminals can’t target vulnerabilities in the system. There are other risks to consider aside from the threat of ransomware and other cyber criminals.…