Middle market businesses don’t get the attention of the Fortune 500 or the love that small businesses get from policymakers, but these firms are still critical to the economy — accounting for a third of private-sector GDP and employing up to 50 million Americans.  On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Agri-Access — KeyBank commercial bank president Ken Gavrity discusses the outlook for the middle market, defined as businesses with annual revenues of $10 million to $1 billion. Among other topics, Gavrity discusses:

• Why middle market business leaders have grown more positive this fall about the outlook.
• How middle market firms’ cost control and resilience-building during the inflationary period position them well as rates begin to come down.
• The improvement in the talent outlook for middle market firms.
• How middle market businesses are prepared to capitalize on the efficiencies, including automation and AI, that they instilled in the past few years.
• How KeyBank integrates its commercial payments business with its middle market services.

This episode is presented by Agri-Access.

The Republican sweep of the presidency and Congress, with extremely narrow control of the House, sets up tax policy as a major issue in 2025. With many provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expiring at the end of next year and tax policy changes able to be passed on a simple-majority basis through budget reconciliation, bankers can expect to see tax policy front and center. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Agri-Access — ABA VP Joey Connor discusses what to expect from the tax policy debate in 2025, including:

• The priority of extending Section 199(a) provisions for Subchapter S banks.
• Potential approaches to paying for a multi-trillion-dollar tax package.
• Issues related to credit union taxation and the base erosion that accompanies CU purchases of community banks.
• A range of complex technical tax issues, including GILTI, BEAT and Pillar 2 changes.

With commodity prices falling and producer expenses rising, it’s a difficult moment for America’s agricultural economy. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Agri-Access — Dakota Mac loan production officer Caleb Hopkins discusses strategies ag lenders are using to support their clients through this cycle. As chair of ABA’s Agricultural and Rural Bankers Committee, Hopkins also provides a preview of the upcoming ABA Agricultural Bankers Conference.

This episode is presented by Agri-Access.

John Asbury didn’t need a new job in 2016, but when he saw an opportunity build something lost in the 1990s — what he calls “the great Virginia regional bank” — he took it. Eight years later, Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bank has more than tripled in size and is on track to reach nearly $40 billion in assets after completion of an announced acquisition of Sandy Spring Bank. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Alkami — AUB CEO Asbury talks about the transformation of the bank. He also discusses his agenda as the newly elected chair of the American Bankers Association, including advocating to remove arbitrary asset thresholds that distort banks’ strategic growth plans, his approach to leadership development at the bank and his commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

Crypto investment scams cost Americans billions of dollars. The scammers start small with confidence or romance scams and gradually work their way up to demanding ever larger “investments.” On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Alkami — officials from the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission break down how these scams work, typologies and red flags bankers should look out for and how banks can build proactive partnerships with law enforcement. They also discuss a new educational infographic on these scams produced jointly by the ABA Foundation and several government agencies.

How do community banks balance the need for cutting-edge technology and the human touch? On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Alkami — Pamela Montpelier of Ballston Spa National Bank talks about how a laser-like focus on customer experience can help drive growth. Among other topics, Montpelier discusses the use of AI-based tools to improve decision-making and help bank employees replace manual processes with time spent engaging clients. She also talks about her experience working with a variety of banks as a service provider executive, prior to which she was the youngest female bank CEO in Massachusetts.

As president and CEO of $50 billion-plus BOK Financial, Stacy Kymes spends time thinking about the role of regional banks in the U.S. economy. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Alkami — Kymes talks about how BOK Financial finds unique niches and meets the credit and capital market needs in its core mid-America markets. Among other topics, Kymes discusses:

• BOK Financial’s diversified business model that balances lending with fee businesses like an EFT network and treasury and wealth management.
• The role of Tulsa, Oklahoma-based BOK Financial in financing the energy economy.
• BOK Financial’s tribal banking programs in Oklahoma and New Mexico, including a unique mortgage loan product for tribal lands.
• The bank’s plans to grow share in core markets of Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas and Houston.
• BOK’s approach to talent management, recruitment and acquisition.
• The importance of having banks headquartered in “flyover states” that can meet the capital markets needs of large and middle-market firms.

Miami is often described as the northernmost city in Latin America, or sometimes as Latin America’s business capital. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Alkami — Banesco USA President and CEO Cali Garcia-Velez discusses how he and his team are growing a Latin American banking franchise in South Florida and Puerto Rico. Among other topics, Garcia-Velez discusses:

• The origins of Banesco USA, which is an independent U.S.-chartered bank that is part of a franchise of other Banesco banks across the Americas.
• Banesco USA’s growth plans in the turbocharged South Florida market, including its pivot into C&I lending and residential mortgages to balance its commercial real estate portfolio.
• How Banesco USA’s loan growth was fueled by a capital award from the Treasury Department’s Emergency Capital Investment Program for minority depository institutions.
• His own journey as a banker, which included turnaround assignments at troubled banks in Puerto Rico.

Most bankers dread the thought of a core conversion, but once that decision is made, the process can open up new opportunities for strategic growth. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Alkami — Webster Five CIO Kate Megraw discusses her bank’s conversion and what she learned. Among other topics, Megraw explains:

• How a new core met the business strategy needs of Massachusetts-based Webster Five.
• The process of developing an RFP, exploring models and working with a core selection consultant.
• The role of commercial client growth in driving the need for a new core platform.
• Challenges and successes experienced in the conversion process.

Megraw will join fellow Core Platforms Committee members to discuss conversions at the ABA Annual Convention, Oct. 27-29 in New York City.

As chief corporate responsibility officer for Webster Bank, Marissa Weidner works across the bank’s footprints and business lines to help advance the bank’s goals of financial empowerment. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Alkami — Weidner discusses the many dimensions of how this takes shape at the northeastern regional bank. Among other topics, she explores:

• Webster’s focus on access to capital for small businesses, including those owned by minorities and women.
• How Webster designed its special-purpose credit program focused on homeownership.
• Webster’s innovative “finance labs,” built in partnership with local schools and nonprofit partners, to provide hands-on financial experience for young people from low-to-moderate-income areas.
• The role of Bank On accounts in Webster’s financial inclusion strategy.

Weidner also discusses her career journey — including experience in economic development, bank human resources and bank merger integration — that led her to her current role.

This episode is presented by Alkami.

Fraud is front and center for America’s banks, and on the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — sponsored by Alkami — ABA’s Paul Benda and Peter Cook discuss several recent initiatives taken by ABA to help banks tackle fraud from a variety of fronts.

• Benda discusses ABA’s recently expanded Fraud Contact Directory, which is free to all banks and now encompasses other forms of fraud to facilitate prompt claims.
• He also explores new tools banks are using to tackle rising fraud numbers.
• Meanwhile, Cook discusses the latest incarnation of ABA’s award-winning #BanksNeverAskThat anti-phishing campaign — returning for a fourth year in October and also free to all banks — and previews a new companion initiative, Practice Safe Checks, that educates consumers about how to avoid becoming unwitting victims of check fraud.