"Must Be An Orphan"

When I set out a year and a half ago to produce a newsletter that would help the banker who wears many hats keep up to date on the many areas of banking, I was optimistic that it would be a part time diversion that would be interesting and challenging. As it turns out, it is more full time than part time, and it certainly is no longer a diversion-it is a quest! Interesting and challenging are still good descriptions, but I have added the words "frustrating" and "sometimes overwhelming."

Bank Secrecy Act changes, Bank Protection Act changes, Community Reinvestment Act examinations, Reg E, Reg D, Reg Z changes, an increase in crime and fraud, insider abuse, more lawsuits clamoring for attention, consumer advocate groups, media abuse-and, if you don't mind, be courteous to the customer and cross-sell, and cut your staff and your budget!

It's difficult to stay on top of all the areas in which you need to be knowledgeable. I have 56 (at last count) subscriptions of magazines, newspapers, periodicals, etc. coming into this office. My briefcase is always jammed with current issues of some publication that I need to read in order to keep up. And I'm doing this full time (not counting the hours on the weekends and at night) in order to stay up to date.

How, then, is the Security/Compliance/Loan/Banking Officer who handles customers, loans, tellers, customer service reps, community appearances, and the ever-present "meetings" keeping up to date? What kind of Whiz Kid would the financial institution have to hire to handle all this? The ad would have to read in part: "Needed-an individual skilled in management and sales, with a legal and accounting background. People skills, pleasant personality and speed reading a must." You get the feeling that pretty soon the ad will read, as the Pony Express ads used to, "Must be an orphan", as home and family life disappear into the sunset.

We'll keep plugging at it here at BANKERS' HOTLINE. You folks on the firing line have our sympathy-and you'll continue to get our help. We don't want you to become orphans!

Copyright © 1991 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 2, No. 5, 6/91