Inside the Beltway

Americans’ confidence level in banks has not wavered over the past years, according to an annual Gallup poll, which indicates that the percentage of people who have high regard for the institutions that protect their financial assets is the same as it was in last year’s survey.

Respondents were asked whether they have a “great deal,” “quite a lot,” “some” or “very little” confidence in various institutions.

Read on to learn more about the results.

June saw a major uptick in applications flanked by a notable drop in rates across the board, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) in its Weekly Mortgage Application Surveys published throughout the month.

After relatively little movement in May, applications spiked the first week of the month, dipping only slightly the following week.

Find out more details about survey results from June. 

The emphasis on offering digital banking platforms to meet the expectations of younger generations of consumers, as well as tech-savvy Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, is prevalent among financial institutions today.

For companies conscious of the cost associated with providing a mobile customer experience, a new study by J.D. Power has some good news on the subject – simplicity is best.

Learn what consumers care most about when interacting with their banks digitally.

Honesty and transparency appear to be growing more and more important to consumers whose trust in institutions to safeguard their personal information constantly is being tested by news of hackers breaching companies’ data servers.

The fact that many entities wait weeks or even months to inform consumers their data has been exposed only compounds that lack of trust.

Read on to get more insights from the survey results.

Despite positive recent economic trends, the latest Business Roundtable survey indicated that there is less confidence among many of the country’s CEOs about the future economic outlook than in previous quarters. A report on the survey’s findings attributes the dip in confidence to uncertainties about trade policy and overall global growth.

The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index for the second quarter of 2019 showed a drop in the composite measure of CEO projections for sales, capital spending and hiring over the next six months.

Read on to learn more about the findings in the report.

Independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks have seen an upswing in profitability since ending 2018 on a down note.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report this year showed that IMBs saw a net gain of $285 on each loan they originated in the first quarter of 2019, up from a reported $200 loss per loan they saw in the fourth quarter of 2018. 

Read on to learn more.

Reducing the number of Americans who are “unbanked” or “underbanked” has been a recurring topic of discussion among advocates for both financial trade associations and consumer protection groups for several years.

The Federal Reserve’s annual report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households indicated that there is progress being made in that respect.

Learn more about the agency’s findings in this latest report on consumers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced the expansion of its three-year-old “Misadventures in Money Management” financial education tool geared to help active-duty servicemembers.

In a blog post, the CFPB explained that its goal with the expansion was to make the topic of responsible financial management “fun” for its target audience by incorporating the educational elements into a “graphic novel”-style game. 

Learn more about the program’s expansion.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will rename its annual award for members who have demonstrated outstanding state and local association leadership for retiring Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association (OMBA) Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Marianne Collins at year’s end.

Given that she won MBA’s inaugural award for outstanding state and local leadership, MBA said it was fitting that the award will bear her name.

Find out more information about Collins and her career.  

Seventy percent of small-business owners who took part in Wells Fargo/Gallup’s latest quarterly Small Business Index survey indicated that they are optimistic about the economy and credit availability.

The results also offered insight into other perspectives among small-business owners concerning major policy shifts, such as changes in the nation’s tax laws.

Find out more details about the results of the poll.