Sponsor banking, or banking as a service, is a unique opportunity for banks — but it requires strategy, discipline and a laser focus on risk. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Amanda Swoverland, president of Hatch Bank, discusses her bank's strategy in BaaS. Among other topics, Swoverland talks about:

• Hatch Bank's evolution as a sponsor bank focused on embedded lending and card issuance.
• How boards of directors and bank management teams can evaluate strategy for sponsor banking.
• The importance and scope of due diligence with fintech partners.
• A recently announced partnership with a fintech firm that provides private student loans focused on upperclassmen and grad students who are approaching completion of their degrees.
• Her career journey from enterprise risk management in banking through leading compliance for a fintech startup to president of a bank.
• The experiences she brought from fintech into her newest banking role.

• Register for ABA's Risk and Compliance Conference.

On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Rob Nichols offers his top takeaways from the ABA Washington Summit — including industry unity on stablecoin regulation, credit card policy challenges, federal preemption, and bipartisan legislation on fraud. Nichols also previews his upcoming travel to Vienna for the United Nations' Global Fraud Summit.

• Catch sessions from the 2026 Summit.

Major tech platforms make billions of dollars from scammers who advertise on their sites, according to reporting from Reuters, and there's not much incentive for them to change their practices — yet. Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) have introduced the SCAM Act, which would take steps to tackle these scams. ABA strongly supports the SCAM Act, and on this crossover episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast and ABA Fraudcast, Paul Benda discusses:

• How the SCAM Act would introduce new know-your-customer and takedown requirements for tech platforms.
• Why there aren't sufficient existing incentives for platforms to deal with the deluge of scam ads.
• Enforcement mechanisms that give teeth to the SCAM Act's requirements.
• How ABA's advocacy on this issue fits into the association's overall anti-fraud agenda

From one location in Wilmington, North Carolina, Live Oak Bank is the nation's largest Small Business Administration lender and a leading partner in developing technology for community banks. With an uncertain economic and business environment, two top executives from Live Oak Bank joined the ABA Banking Journal Podcast to discuss:

• How Live Oak delivers personalized banking services to a nationwide footprint.
• Where small business owners are looking to grow and build in the coming months.
• The need for liquidity in small business acquisitions and succession planning.
• The role of technology, including AI, in helping to improve the ability of banks to serve small business clients.
• How SBA loans fit into the Live Oak business model.
• Tips for community banks looking to deepen their SBA-guaranteed lending, including outsourcing back-office functions to ensure compliance with guarantee requirements.

If Texas were an independent country, its economy would rank as the world's eighth-largest. "France is the seventh largest economy in the world and I don't think it'll take as much time at all to catch them," laughs Texas Bankers Association Chairman Ron Butler. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Butler — who is also vice chairman and chief administrative officer of $14 billion-asset, Abilene-based First Financial Bank — talks about:

• What makes the Lone Star State a compelling economic story and an attractive market for investment (and out-of-state bank acquisitions).
• First Financial's approach to balancing organic growth and M&A.
• The urgency of accelerating de novo bank activity.
• How he and Texas bankers are approaching questions of deposit insurance reform.
• How Texas bankers have been engaging the global economy.

The discontinuation of penny production in 2025 caused operational challenges for banks when the regional Federal Reserve banks said they would stop accepting pennies for deposit at coin terminals -- accelerating the circulation shortage that's posing challenges for retailers. Today, the Fed reversed that decision, resuming deposits effective Jan. 14. On the latest episode of the podcast, ABA payments expert Steve Kenneally walks through the Fed's decision, the operational challenges the penny phaseout poses to retailers and banks, ABA's regulatory and legislative advocacy for improvements to the handling of coinage reform and ABA resources for banks, frontline staff and consumers.

• View ABA resources on the penny phaseout.

The Philippines is a fast-growing economy, but it lags its peers in the unbanked rate, with more than four in 10 Filipinos unbanked, according to McKinsey. Many Filipinos use nonbank-provided ewallets, but bank penetration is on the rise since 2020, when the central bank approved a new license type for digital banking, helping the Philippines' traditional banks meet the mobile-first needs of Filipinos. In this episode, Russell Hernandez of UnionDigital Bank provides a unique look into the Philippine banking sector. He also discusses how his mobile-first digital bank tackles account takeover attempts and other frauds through layers of mobile-based and biometric authentication.

The bank consolidation logjam broke in 2025, with several banks, including large regionals, inking major deals amid an accelerated pace for approvals. While that may reflect both pent-up deal flow and a rush to get transactions done in a favorable environment, on the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Paul Davis notes that the rush is forcing everyone in the market to pay attention and be ready. Davis discusses how these factors, as well as the underlying forces driving consolidation, the capital markets environment and credit conditions will shape the mergers and acquisitions outlook throughout 2026.