Recent Posts by John Mateker

Myth #4: Industry Benchmarks Yield No Meaningful Insights
Myth #4: Industry Benchmarks Yield No Meaningful Insights
Posted by John Mateker on Sep 17, 2020
Everyone wants an apples-to-apples comparison when thinking about their financial institution’s productivity compared to others, but most think benchmark metrics are like comparing apples to oranges. How could you compare a $5 billion financial ...
Myth #3: Staffing Reduction Promotes Greater Efficiency
Posted by John Mateker on Sep 3, 2020
There are many ways to improve overall operational efficiency and increase your efficiency ratio, but many banks and credit unions immediately jump to the idea that the best way to increase the efficiency ratio is by reducing their staff. However, ...
Key Takeaways from Money 20/20
Posted by John Mateker on Nov 25, 2019
Like any conference, Money 20/20 had ample educational opportunities through speaker sessions, vendor demonstrations, and open discussions with vendors on the exhibit hall floor. Through vendor meetings and attending sessions, I did learn a number ...
Do We Really Need Staff in Branches?
Posted by John Mateker on Jul 2, 2019
As technology continues to advance in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), machine learning, chat bots, and robotics, there’s a question that needs to be asked: are employees required to staff branches at all? There are ...
How CECL Impacts the Financial Industry
Posted by John Mateker on Aug 21, 2018
Financial Institutions (FIs) have accounted for loan losses the same way for 40 years by using the “incurred loss” model. In the near future (2019 or 2020), FIs will change their loan loss accounting methodology to an “expected loss” model. The ...
Five Tools to Help Improve Operational Efficiency
Posted by John Mateker on Aug 7, 2018
The Introduction to Operational Efficiency blog introduced the Efficiency Ratio and its importance to financial institutions (FIs). However, there are several other tools that an organization can use to help improve their overall operational ...
How to Figure Out Your Efficiency Ratio
Posted by John Mateker on Jul 31, 2018
Financial Institutions (FIs) seek to operate at peak efficiency levels. For FIs, a fundamental ratio exists that helps define what operational efficiency should be, the Efficiency Ratio, which measures cost to revenue. It tells FIs how much money it ...
Loan Origination Processes and Challenges Part 3 – Commercial Loans
Posted by John Mateker on May 22, 2018
For many financial institutions and, in particular, community banks, commercial loans represent the life blood of the organization. Commercial loans provide a key ingredient in determining organizational profitability. The loan origination process ...
Real-Time Payments are Coming to America
Posted by John Mateker on Apr 17, 2018
In November of last year, The Clearinghouse (TCH) demonstrated the first Real-Time Payment, or RTP as their product is known within the U.S. While the payment was only for $3.50 and the accounts at the two counter party banks belonged to the same ...
Loan Origination Processes and Challenges Part 2 – Mortgage Loans
Posted by John Mateker on Mar 20, 2018
  In Part 1 of Loan Origination Processes and Challenges, I tackled consumer loans. In this blog I will address mortgage loans.  The regulatory environment has been a huge influence on how mortgages are processed today. TRID (TILA RESPA Integrated ...
Loan Origination Processes and Challenges Part 1 – Consumer Loans
Posted by John Mateker on Sep 15, 2017
Note: The loan origination process is often a complex process requiring numerous handoffs between front and back office processes. The process also differs somewhat by loan type. Rather than provide a broader generalization of the end-to-end value ...
Importance of Employing Diagnostics in Uncovering Potential Issues
Posted by John Mateker on Feb 2, 2017
As humans, we rely on medical diagnostic tests to help uncover potential health issues. Through annual physicals we can uncover issues related to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other medical issues. In my own case, blood tests performed during ...