Bank Nerd Corner: Debanking and Reputation Risk: What’s Really on the Line?

Fintech Takes

Welcome to Bank Nerd Corner! This week, we’re making history. Our first-ever returning guest, Julie Hill—now Dean of the University of Wyoming College of Law—is back with Kiah and Alex to tackle a hot topic: reputation risk.

Is it the boogeyman of compliance, or a real force shaping banking decisions?

Here’s the puzzle we’re unknotting:

• When regulators say "reputation risk," do they mean actual threats to a bank's stability—or is it a way of saying, “Don’t do anything dumb”?

• Can bad press really sink a bank, or are customers too sticky to care? (Looking at you, Wells Fargo.)

• And why is the Supreme Court questioning whether this so-called "risk" even exists?

Plus, we explore debanking—the practice where banks cut ties with customers. Is it actually about managing risk or…just controlling the narrative?

Join us as we dig into the data, decode the headlines, and ask the uncomfortable questions regulators and banks wish we wouldn’t 😏

Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/

And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page.

Follow Julie:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-hill-15929821/

Follow Kiah:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett

Follow Alex:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson