
Bank Nerd Corner: Debanking and Reputation Risk: What’s Really on the Line?
Fintech Takes
Exploring the Revival of Fair Access Regulation and Its Impact on Banking
This chapter explores the potential reintroduction of federal fair access regulations that would require banks to serve specific customers. It delves into the political interest from congressional Republicans, historical context, and the challenges posed by bank resistance and differing state laws.
Welcome to Bank Nerd Corner! This week, we’re making history. Our first-ever returning guest, Julie Hill—now Dean of the University of Wyoming College of Law—is back with Kiah and Alex to tackle a hot topic: reputation risk.
Is it the boogeyman of compliance, or a real force shaping banking decisions?
Here’s the puzzle we’re unknotting:
• When regulators say "reputation risk," do they mean actual threats to a bank's stability—or is it a way of saying, “Don’t do anything dumb”?
• Can bad press really sink a bank, or are customers too sticky to care? (Looking at you, Wells Fargo.)
• And why is the Supreme Court questioning whether this so-called "risk" even exists?
Plus, we explore debanking—the practice where banks cut ties with customers. Is it actually about managing risk or…just controlling the narrative?
Join us as we dig into the data, decode the headlines, and ask the uncomfortable questions regulators and banks wish we wouldn’t 😏
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Follow Julie:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-hill-15929821/
Follow Kiah:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett
Follow Alex:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson