http://profitdesk.com/content Retail Banking in the 21st Century Fri, 02 May 2008 17:26:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A stable banking system is the bedrock of the US and global economies. While airlines have operated at a net loss over their entire history, banks have always been out for profits. And while there’s an occasional rough patch - like the current subprime mess - over time, we’re solidly ... http://profitdesk.com/content/2008/04/28/how-banks-went-crazy/ Ever notice prices so strange, you couldn't believe your eyes? When I was a kid, Crazy Eddie advertised how insane his prices were. Today, it's the "fiscally conservative" banking industry instead. While the subprime mess has captured all the recent headlines, the distortions in retail deposit pricing are just ... http://profitdesk.com/content/2008/04/28/crazy-eddie-comes-to-banking/ Another important freebie that falls out of deposit pricing is deposit valuation. Banks often pay hefty fees to value CDI (core deposit intangibles, also called "unrealized gain"). CDI (the value to the bank beyond book value) is important because regulators demand it, but also is the major driver ... http://profitdesk.com/content/2008/01/11/hiding-software-complexity-economic-value/ There are many features in deposit pricing software beyond price optimization. For example, check out profitability. Under Funds Transfer Pricing (FTP), profits are the difference between wholesale cost of funds and all-in rate (interest paid to depositors and servicing costs). This makes logical sense, but does not ... http://profitdesk.com/content/2008/01/09/hiding-software-complexity-profitability/ Hidden complexity is an important part of good software design. We often push some functionality towards the background in order to focus on the primary benefits. This makes software easier to use, but runs the risk of appearing incomplete. In the worst case, users will look outside to complete ... http://profitdesk.com/content/2008/01/08/hiding-software-complexity/ It was a tough demo. But after the stress of the demo is gone, there's time to debrief and polish up any aspects that went awry.  Demo in haste, repent in leisure.  And this is how software gets good. I worked with Ivan and Sergey and realized that our numbers ... http://profitdesk.com/content/2007/12/27/when-gremlins-attack-part-ii/ In real life, you never get a do-over.   But software inhabits a cartoon world  where stressing the system and watching for mistakes makes the product better and better.  Do it enough times and you get something really smooth. I often demo with a version that has not gone through the ... http://profitdesk.com/content/2007/12/27/when-gremlins-attack-part-i/ My buddy Mark measures physical properties like outer diameter, durometer, and Young's modulus when he builds custom rubber parts for F500 companies. He's constantly improving quality along whatever dimensions his customers need. That's life in the ISO-9001 world. Business took a page from the manufacturing book with an adage ... http://profitdesk.com/content/2007/06/05/demings-curse-employee-metrics/ I needed a car for a few days in Denver earlier this week. I heard Chrysler is becoming American again, so I wanted to tool around in a Dodge Charger. The car only had 5,000 miles and looked pretty sharp, but when I got to the checkout booth, I ... http://profitdesk.com/content/2007/05/19/weak-user-interface-bad-results/ Banks across the country are waking up to the importance of deposits and creating a new position: Chief Deposit Officer. From today's Wall Street Journal ($): Banks' Cry: Give Us Your Cash Total deposits as a percentage of assets on hand at the end of September at the country's more than 8,700 ... http://profitdesk.com/content/2007/01/12/help-wanted-chief-deposit-officer/