Paladin Blog

Excessive fees create a manufactured barrier to acquiring competitive technology that would help the banking industry survive and flourish. This is an unfair business practice at any measure and may not be legal in many states.

The vast majority of middle-market community banks and credit unions will at some point explore acquiring or being acquired because M&As are one of the quickest and most effective ways a bank can scale up, expand reach, and grow. Unfortunately, many of these banks have no choice but to watch lucrative M&A opportunities pass them by because they unwittingly agreed to grossly unfair and inequitable terms in their core and IT contracts.

Global independent investment banking advisory firm Evercore ISI interviews fintech expert Aaron Silva on all things banking. Listen now to Aaron's predictions for the banking industry: bit.ly/SilvaOnEvercore 

As we enter 2018, it's more crucial than ever for local banks to focus on their bottom lines, and for credit unions to improve member value. The number of banks with less than $100 million in assets has declined by more than two-thirds since 1995 — due in large part to big banks usurping market share. 

It's the beginning of a new year, and that equates to an opportunity for a fresh start. For community banks and credit unions, this means the chance to review what obstacles have held them back from competing with the big banks on a level playing field — and to develop strategies to overcome those hurdles in 2018. 

Since 1994, the loan market share held by big banks (financial institutions with assets greater than $10B) has relentlessly increased from 50 percent to approximately 80 percent. This has left community banks and credit unions with less than a quarter of the overall market — an already meager slice of the pie that is steadily shrinking.

So what happened?

Chapter 1 - The M&A Analysis (Special Edition)

Two annual studies by the BPI Network (June 2013 and July 2014) include specific details from several recent merger deals and proves that Core IT contracts are increasingly, and now more than ever, ambushing unwitting bank leaders and negatively impacting mergers. In some instances Core IT contracts are outright killing deals before they can even start.  Bank leaders are usually the cause due to a lackadaisical approach toward these business concerns - mainly because few of them understand this area of Non-Interest Expense nor have they previously received training on how to negotiate these areas of an agreement.