FDIC Podcast

In an age when most people access banking through digital channels, is there a future for old-school relationship lending?  In this episode, we discuss whether the explosion of financial technology spells the end of human-to-human banking.

Banking in rural America can be a very different experience than banking in cities and suburbs. In this episode, we speak with Donna Gambrell who leads Appalachian Community Capital and Kent Curtis of First Southwest Community Bank in rural Colorado. Together, they describe the unique banking needs for those who live and work in less populated areas across our country.

In the second in our two-part podcast series, FDIC’s Chief of Deposit Insurance Martin Becker returns to discuss the risks consumers need to keep in mind when it comes to deposit insurance—from companies that misrepresent their products as ‘FDIC-insured’ to legitimate firms offering pass-through deposit insurance coverage.

96 percent of all U.S. households had at least one bank or credit union account in 2021 and the percentage of unbanked households fell to a record low. FDIC Analysts Keith Ernst and Karyen Chu describe the findings of the FDIC’s 2021 National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households and the work being done to bring more people into the financial fabric of our nation.

Federal deposit insurance is at the heart of FDIC’s mission. But who is protected and what products are covered by deposit insurance? FDIC’s Chief of Deposit Insurance Martin Becker answers some of the frequently asked questions about what deposit insurance is…and what it isn’t.

In the banking world, risk is a fact of life. Identifying and managing those risks are critical functions of bankers and bank regulators alike. But what are the risks to our banks?

In our latest episode of the FDIC Podcast, we break down the potential challenges for the banking system —from rising interest rates and inflation to cyber threats, illicit activity and climate-related risks.

We invite you to listen as FDIC researchers Kathy Kalser and Krishna Patel discuss the new 2022 Risk Review, our latest comprehensive summary of the emerging risks to FDIC-insured institutions and the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund.

In the history of  our country, minority banks were created to serve people and places that were denied access to the mainstream banking system. Today, these banks are still making a big impact in communities of color. Nicole Elam of the National Bankers Association and economists Karyen Chu and Kristen Broady discuss how these institutions are ‘punching above their weight’ in 2022.

In this episode of the FDIC Podcast, we look at banking in Indian Country with two bankers who lead Native-owned and operated institutions and who work and lend in communities, where if not for these banks, there may not be a bank at all —Tom Ogaard of Native American Bank and Susan Plumb of Bank of Cherokee County.

In this episode of the FDIC Podcast, we look back on 2021 to see how our nation’s banks fared in a year that was still very much impacted a global pandemic and its economic consequences. FDIC senior financial analysts Pat Mitchell and Meg Hanrahan break down the latest annual report card on the condition of the U.S. banking system.

In the first episode ofour new series, Banking on Inclusion, the FDIC’s Betty Rudolph and Nicole Elam of the National Bankers Association explore the world of Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). These ‘mission-driven banks’ play an outsized role in the economic life of the communities they serve.

In this episode of the FDIC Podcast, we sit down for a final time with departing Chairman Jelena McWilliams to reflect upon her tenure leading the FDIC during a challenging time for our financial system.

With the explosion of financial technology in the marketplace, how can we make certain that as our banking system adopts these new technologies, it remains inclusive and accessible to everyone, including the UN-banked? In this episode, FDIC Chief Innovation Officer Sultan Meghji discusses the ‘fairness of Fintech’ with Chris Brummer, director of Georgetown University's Institute of International Economic Law.

In an increasingly digital world, how can banks make certain their customers are who they say they are? FDIC Chief Innovation Officer Sultan Meghji discusses how the FDIC and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) are working to improve digital identification, reduce identity-related crime, and preserve confidence in the digital banking environment.

Born in a small Texas town, Arleas Upton Kea came to the FDIC nearly 40 years ago as a young attorney and rose through the agency’s senior ranks in good times and during moments of crisis.  Meet Arleas and her incredible legacy of public service.

In our post-pandemic world, will there be lasting impacts to the commercial real estate sector? The FDIC’s Bob DiChara joins three community bankers who examine of how commercial real estate is trending where they are —John Buran, Flushing Bank in Uniondale, New York; Jim Edwards, United Bank in Griffin, Georgia; and Joanne Kim, Commonwealth Business Bank in Los Angeles.

All across our nation, minority banks and community development financial institutions work and lend in lower income communities where, if not for these banks, there would be no banking presence at all. FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams recently launched a first-of-its kind investment fund to support these banks. It’s called the Mission-Driven Bank Fund. In this episode, Chairman McWilliams speaks with two of the Fund’s anchor investors—Microsoft’s Anita Mehra and Truist Financial Corporation CEO William H. Rogers, Sr.

In an age when technology is changing our lives in so many ways, the FDIC Podcast looks ahead into the not too distant future to imagine how quantum computing may open a new frontier in how our banks operate. FDIC Chief Innovation Officer Sultan Meghji is joined by three of the nation’s leading minds in quantum computing from Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering: Dr. Jimmie Lenz,  Dr. Jungsang Kim and Dr. Chris Monroe.

In part two of this special episode of the FDIC Podcast, we continue our historical look back on the financial crises that shaped how our banking and financial systems operate today.  Art Murton, Deputy to the Chairman for Financial Stability, picks up where we left off in part one —the collapse of the nation’s savings and loans in the 1980s.

In a two-part episode of the FDIC Podcast, we take a trip down memory lane to recall some of the recent (and not so recent) financial crises, how we recovered from those disruption, and what that means for us today.  In his more than 35 years at the FDIC, Art Murton, Deputy to the Chairman for Financial Stability,  has seen it all. Since joining the agency as an economist in 1986, Art has had a front row seat for all the ups and downs in the banking and financial sectors.

When it comes to malicious cyber attacks against our financial system, how prepared are our nation’s banks? FDIC Chief Innovation Officer Sultan Meghji sits down with Tim Maurer, Senior Counselor for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Together, they discuss what banks must do to defend themselves and how should they plan for recovering from these attacks should they occur?

Risk is all around us. The FDIC recently published its latest comprehensive summary of emerging risks in the U.S. banking system.  FDIC researchers Krishna Patel and Kathy Kalser sit down for a conversation focusing on the risks facing our nation’s banks.

Today, our nation’s banks are confronting a number of emerging threats.  FDIC Chief Innovation Officer Sultan Meghji sits down with former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to address resilience in the banking system.  What is resilience?  As Sec. Chertoff put it, “the ability to take a punch and get back up on your feet.”

Everyone is talking about innovation in banking these days, but what is being done to engineer innovation into our banking sector? FDIC’s Chief Innovation Officer Sultan Meghji sits down with Jimmie Lenz of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering to discuss how to build the banking system of the future.

Most of us have at least one bank or credit union account to help manage our money but millions of people are ‘unbanked,’ forced to rely on a patchwork of higher cost financial products and services outside of the regulated banking space. The FDIC’s Leonard Chanin and Jonathan Mintz of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund discuss why it is so important to bring unbanked families into our financial system.

Three words are increasingly becoming part of our national conversation —diversity, equity and inclusion.  FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams and Nikita Pearson, Director of the FDIC’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, discuss how to turn these aspirational words into something tangible to benefit those historically disconnected from our banking system.

Today, it's no longer a question of whether to innovate —Innovation is a fact of life. In the first episode of a special series of the FDIC Podcast, FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams and Chief Innovation Officer Sultan Mehgji discuss how innovation can drive a safer, resilient and more inclusive financial system. 

The agricultural sector is a big piece of our nation’s economy and the fortunes of farmers are also tied closely to the health of the global economy. FDIC Researchers John Anderlik and Rich Cofer take us down on the farm to understand the ups and downs of farming and the farm banks that serve this sector.

Last year was a year most of us would gladly forget. The global pandemic turned our personal and economic lives upside down —but how did our banks fare and how did our banking system hold up?  Pat Mitchell and Meg Hanrahan, two senior FDIC financial analysts, look back on 2020 and how our nation’s banks navigated the storm.

Technology is transforming the banking landscape, offering both opportunities and challenges for banks, regulators and consumers. FDIC’s first-ever Chief Innovation Officer Sultan Meghji looks at how artificial intelligence and quantum computing are fundamentally reshaping our banking ecosystem.

There are more than 5,000 banks in the U.S. and while some may be household names, most are smaller institutions offering capital and financial services within their communities. The FDIC’s Diane Ellis and Shayna Olesiuk explore the just-released 2020 Community Banking Study which looks at the state of the nation’s community banks and the critical role they play in our broader economy.

During the current global pandemic, how are the nation’s community banks performing in extending credit to struggling small businesses through the Small Business Administration’s  Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)? The FDIC’s Diane Ellis and Angela Hinton discuss new evidence that reveals the deep roots community banks have into the nation’s small business sector.

We bank very differently than we used to. Rather than visiting a bank teller, most U.S. households are banking online or using their personal electronic devices. In this episode of the FDIC Podcast, economist Karyen Chu discusses the results of the FDIC’s 2019 ‘How America Banks’ Survey.

There is a technological wave sweeping over our banking system, changing how banks operate and even how we bank.  In this episode, Brandon Milhorn discusses an FDIC effort to promote the adoption of new technology as a means to ensure everyone can participate in the financial life of this country.

What's in a number? When it comes to your credit score, a lot! The FDIC's Leonard Chanin examines what goes into your credit score and why it matters so much in your financial life.

Alden McDonald, President and CEO of Liberty Bank, an African American owned and managed bank, joins us to talk about the critical role of Minority Depository Institutions in our nation’s banking system and how they serve the financial needs of communities of color.

Against the backdrop of the global public health emergency, Chairman Jelena McWilliams discusses the state of banking in the United States, and the efforts of the FDIC and other regulators to ensure banks are best positioned to aid in the nation’s economic recovery.

By speaking with thought leaders and experts in finance, the FDIC Podcast aspires to untangle the myths and mystery of the banking world, and to shed light on how every family can become part of the financial fabric of this country.