Profile of Bill Bradway

Blog Posts: 28

Regulation Implementation Paralysis — Painful or Not?

3/7/2011
With regulatory change in the works, not being prepared to participate in the related propose-feedback-publish process can be bad for financial institutions and their bank technology vendors.

Mark to Market for Lending Dies -- Good News or Not?

2/7/2011
Although a mark-to-market rule for bank loans is off the table, loan troubles persist.

Strategic vs. Tactical IT: Both Add Value -- Timing Is Important

1/24/2011
Which IT priorities -- strategic vs. tactical -- are right for the near, medium- and longer-term?

How Much Better Will 2011 Be Than 2010 -- and for Whom?

1/9/2011
What can we expect in 2011 in terms of financial institution spending, vendor activity, and investor strategies?

A Long-Term View of the Fed’s Debit Interchange Gambit

12/20/2010
What kinds of changes will banks need to make to both the debit card account and related debit card processing fees for consumers and merchants?

Data Management: A New World Order or Not?

12/5/2010
Data management leaders will produce a comprehensive data management framework that provides a stronger for compliance with future regulatory reporting requirements.

Mobile Payment Alternatives Expand: To Be or Not To Be?

11/21/2010
Mobile payment alternatives : Has the mobile payments landscape has reached a tipping point for one or more alternatives?

Bankers Show Interest in Customer Centricity

11/8/2010
Customer-centric institutions are growing faster and more successfully than product-oriented institutions.

Setting Priorities and Budgeting for 2011

10/24/2010
How can banks make the annual budget-crunching process a thoughtful effort, rather than a reactive one?

Basel III: What Will It Mean and By When?

10/11/2010
What kind of impact will the proposed Basel III bank capital rules have on U.S. banks – not only the biggest institutions, but also mid-sized and community banks?

Wholesale Credit Union Failures: Painful Implications All Around

10/4/2010
The ink is barely dry on the latest round of multi-billion dollar government-assisted failures.

What Do Customer Centricity and Risk Management Have in Common?

9/14/2010
Some readers may consider this question an oxymoron while others may be puzzled by the fact that there could be common attributes that link customer centricity and risk management.

Smart IT Decisions Matter; Not Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget

9/13/2010
In my last column (Hot Summer Matches Heat in a Banker’s Kitchen) I offered an analogy about the choices facing the management teams and bank technology vendors under stressful conditions.

Hot Summer Matches Heat in a Banker's Kitchen

8/16/2010
Most parts of the U.S. are experiencing a hot summer, noticeably above average in heat, and in many cases humidity too. I am reminded of a phrase attributed to President Truman, "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen."

2Q Earnings for FIS and Fiserv - Sluggish, But a Few Bright Spots

8/2/2010
The two largest bank technology vendors reported their 2Q 2010 earnings since my last column 10 days ago. Jack Henry is scheduled to report its fiscal quarter and year-end results on August 17th. FIS and Fiserv both recorded sequential revenue growth of 2.4% (1.7% in constant currency) and 2% respectively. Within these sluggish growth rates, there were bright spots that reflect each vendor's diversified mix of products and services. Both vendors have recurring contract revenue streams that tend

Is An IPO in Prepaid Cards a Green Light for Growth?

7/19/2010
A wide range of interested parties are contemplating the growth prospects for future growth in the prepaid card market. The unusual Green Dot (GDOT) IPO that is currently going to market is providing some existing shareholders with the opportunity to monetize a portion of their holdings. Green Dot will not receive any proceeds from the estimated $130 million IPO. Its shares will be available for purchase by new investors and the remaining shareholders will have a market for selling shares in the

Are Innovation Labs Worth the Time and $?

7/1/2010
Yesterday, BS&T covered the Citibank Innovation Lab's venture into the public domain.

Time for a Mid-year Bank IT Review

6/17/2010
Six months ago, I provided a Bank IT forecast for 2010 (Bank Tech Budgets: Making Sense of Up, Down or Sideways) which noted that "the expectations for 2010 face a continued air of uncertainty for IT spending."

The Pros and Cons of Vendor Leveraged Buyouts

6/3/2010
The recent news surrounding the potential, and subsequently abandoned, leveraged buyout (LBO) of FIS by a group of private investment firms is an example of a recurring process that recycles capital and raises questions for all parties affected by an LBO.

Navigating Legislative and Regulatory Sea Changes

5/20/2010
One thing everyone connected to the banking industry can agree on is there is no lack of daily headline-grabbing developments. One area that contributes to this condition is the variety of regulatory related topics.

Banking's Future in the "Digital Marketplace"

5/6/2010
A headline like this one usually gets bank and credit union executives to spend a moment contemplating the topic; in this case, the "Digital marketplace?". Questions pop up -- like, what is the "digital marketplace?"

TCO vs. ROI vs. Payback Time: Is One Better?

4/21/2010
In the best and worst of times for IT budgeting, internal debates and analysis within banks and other financial institutions will invariably get around to some financial justification for incremental new spending, evaluating new projects, or looking at contracts up for renewal in one or two years. Over the past three decades there have been several methodologies that bank finance types and third party consultants have used to perform this type of analysis. None of the alternatives are perfect an

Consequences of Consolidation: Hunting for Elusive Growth

4/7/2010
The long term secular trend of consolidation that has affected the US banking and credit union industries for 25 years is destined to continue for the foreseeable future, at least another five and perhaps ten more years. What do I mean by secular trend of consolidation? Simply, the number of institutions (consolidated to the holding company for banks) has been shrinking steadily. Let's put some numbers on the table. In 1985, there were 17,900+ FDIC and FSLIC charters for banks and thrifts (formi

Mark to Market Lending: FASB Dances on Banking's Toes

3/24/2010
This column is not about banking's version of "Dancing with the Stars." Rather, the issue of mark to market may return to the table. Most observers, including yours truly, agree that the doomsday financial meltdown scenario has passed. With a few notable exceptions, the largest financial institutions have survived the crisis and are returning to profitability. However, many mid-size and smaller banks are still struggling. Now, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) may stomp (not dance)

Disaster Recovery From Online Mayhem

3/11/2010
Over the past 15 years, we all recognize that the role of the internet has expanded dramatically for a wide range of industries including financial services. Internet standards have become widely accepted and the prior generation's mix of proprietary network infrastructure solutions has been, or soon will be, replaced by web-compatible technologies. Physical terrorism and/or tragedy, such as the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center or Hurricane Katrina, significantly disrupted trading and banki

Banking Yields Growing Pains for the BankTech Community

2/24/2010
A little over two years ago (January 10, 2008, Analysis & Opinion Brief 2008-01), my analysis of the coming crisis was accurate in some areas and understated in other areas.

Why Bankers Should Make an Effort to Become "IT Savvy"

2/11/2010
In May 2003, Nicholas Carr made a big splash in the IT world by writing an article for the Harvard Business Review titled "IT Doesn't Matter." Without getting into details, Carr differentiated between IT as an infrastructure commodity, like electricity, with no competitive advantage, and proprietary technology investments, which can be the foundation for competitive advantage. The commotion over this article among my clients was noteworthy. Among his conclusions, Carr argued for "managi

CRM in Banking 10 Years Later: Was It a Crusade or a Parade?

1/27/2010
One of the benefits of tenure as an independent BankTech analyst is the opportunity to look back and use some 20/20 hindsight to evaluate earlier analysis and forecasts.