A modern approach to Enterprise Risk Management: Clarity, Consistency, Confidence

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Enterprise risk management expectations for community banks and financial institutions continue to evolve. Regulators increasingly emphasize risk-based supervision, tailored oversight, and clear documentation of enterprise-wide risk exposure. Consequently, organizations relying on manual or disconnected assessment processes often struggle to maintain a consistent, defensible view of their risk posture. Modern compliance programs require centralized tools that enable organizations to efficiently identify, measure, and monitor risk while demonstrating these processes to auditors and regulators.

Strunk’s Risk Assessor, part of our Risk Manager software suite, provides a structured approach to performing and maintaining enterprise risk assessments. Instead of coordinating assessment activities through multiple files and emails, institutions can conduct evaluations within a centralized platform aligned to regulatory and industry frameworks. This standardization improves consistency, reduces assessment cycle time, and ensures institutions score risks against recognized requirements.

Beyond compliance benefits, Risk Assessor delivers actionable insights to support strategic decision making. Interactive dashboards and heatmaps allow leadership teams to quickly identify areas of elevated exposure, while drill-down reporting provides detailed visibility into individual risk factors and trends. Automated, board-ready reporting simplifies communication with senior management, directors, and examiners. Furthermore, the solution enables teams to collaborate in a controlled environment with managed access and assigned responsibilities.

In today’s dynamic risk environment, enterprise risk management must be a continuous process rather than a periodic exercise. Institutions that can clearly demonstrate their methodology, scoring rationale, and mitigation tracking are better positioned to respond to examinations and meet expanding regulatory expectations. By centralizing assessments, improving visibility, and strengthening reporting capabilities, Strunk’s Risk Assessor helps organizations confidently demonstrate a proactive risk management culture.

For more information, please email info@strunkaccess.com or visit us at https://strunkaccess.com/compliance-software/#risks to schedule a brief demo.

How to Make Commercial Lending More Profitable

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Commercial lending has been a staple for most community banks but is it possible to make lending more profitable for the bank? Are most commercial loans priced too cheaply for small loans and too high for larger loans? The answer to both of these questions is “yes”.

Bank’s lenders need to know which customers are profitable and which ones are not. Does the type and size of the loan matter and how do you factor in the customer’s deposit relationship into the profitability equation? Do your bank’s lenders work for the customer or for the bank when it comes to loan pricing and whether or not to charge a fee? Well, we all know the answer to that question…they are working for the borrower and not for the bank.

A loan and deposit pricing tool will help banks increase net interest income and win more deals when in a competitive situation. Even though getting fees on loans is always a good thing do they really matter to the profitability of the loan? Of course the answer is it depends on the type, size, and term of the loan. Not many banks factor this into the equation.

Relationship profitability many times comes down to does the customer have multiple loans and deposits with the bank? Or, could I get a deposit account if I make a loan to a new customer. All of this is relevant but the type and size of the loans/deposits are critical. Are the deposits interest bearing or in an operating account? Are the customer’s loans small or large and how many loans are there?

Loan pricing tools have been around for decades and most large and regional banks use them. Strunk’s loan, relationship and deposit pricing solution is easy to use, affordable and your lenders will like the tool. Contact Strunk at 800.728.3116 or email me at info@strunkaccess.com to learn about how our loan pricing tool will increase net interest income by at least 25bp.

 

Bankers: 2025 was good and 2026 can be even better!

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As consolidation continues in the banking industry many banks rely on new products and services to compete with the larger regional banks acquiring the smaller ones. Strunk has helped community banks increase income since 1993 and there are several programs that can help increase income in 2026 and beyond.

Strunk is well known for their ODP program that has been one of the best fee income ideas in our industry’s history. Many financial institutions are looking to revitalize their formal ODP program and Strunk can help maximize fee income without raising prices from the daily overdraft payment process.

About 15 years ago we introduced the Secure Checking program which substantially increases fee income while proving consumer customers something other than just a free checking account. Now, in over 1,200 cases nationwide, providing benefits for a small monthly fee is not only something consumers want but they will also use the underlying benefits.

Loan pricing tools were popular in the late 2000’s when banks were loaned up so much they were borrowing money from the FHLB to fund the loans. Today, Strunk’s loan pricing tool will help you meet your bank’s profitability target for loans and relationships and to win more deals that will increase interest income.

Now is the time to look at income producing programs that you might have been putting off until the “new year”. Contact Strunk at info@strunkaccess.com or call us at 800-728-3116.

Choosing the Right Cybersecurity Assessment Tool in a Post-FFIEC CAT World

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Since the announcement of the FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool’s sunset, many financial institutions have taken meaningful steps to identify what comes next for their cyber risk management. The question is no longer whether to move on from the CAT, but how to do so in a way that remains practical, regulator-ready, and right-sized for your institution.
Strunk’s Cyber Risk Assessments feature was built with that exact challenge in mind. Our solution gives organizations the freedom to choose the best approach; designed specifically to align with two leading frameworks recommended by the FFIEC: NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and the Cyber Risk Institute (CRI) Profile. Both frameworks offer a structured, defensible approach to evaluating cybersecurity risk without adding unnecessary complexity.
For institutions seeking flexibility, NIST CSF offers a high-level, outcome-based structure across six core functions (Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover). Our tool translates those outcomes into clear scoring, progress tracking, and the documentation that examiners expect, supporting strategic planning and board-level reporting.
For institutions looking for greater financial-sector specificity, the CRI Profile builds on NIST with more granular diagnostic statements, nuanced response options, and a dedicated focus on supply chain risk via its Extend function. Strunk’s tool streamlines CRI assessments by automating tiering and highlighting gaps most important to regulators and stakeholders.
Whether you’re transitioning from the FFIEC CAT or looking to modernize an existing program, Strunk’s cyber risk assessment solution helps transform complex frameworks into valuable, actionable results. We are committed to making cybersecurity assessments efficient and repeatable, ensuring your institution can move forward with clarity and confidence.
Contact Strunk at 800.728.3116 or info@strunkaccess.com to learn more.

Accept Regulation E Elections Online

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Consumers are required to opt in to have ATM and everyday debit card transactions considered for authorization using the overdraft limit. The request can be submitted, in person, through the mail, over the phone, or electronically.

If institutions do not already offer an electronic Reg E opt in or opt out option, ODP Manager can be set up to allow customers to submit their request online. In the hosted software, the Reg E Opt In Form and Reg E Opt Form will be created to match the content on the ODP Manager letter templates. Links to the forms will then be added to an institution’s website to direct customers to submit their Reg E election. Email confirmations are generated and sent to the customer and to the ODP Manager user who will retrieve the submissions and update the accounts accordingly.

In ODP Manager, users will link the request to the customer’s account and the customer’s electronic submission will be retained in the Account Inquiry Attachments for the account. Users can download a list of the submitted requests to perform the maintenance to the account’s Reg E election in the core processing system. The account should be updated in the core to be opted in or opted out of the ATM and everyday debit card transactions according to the customer’s request. By default, new responses will show in the list in the hosted software. Prior responses are also retained and can still be viewed after they have been downloaded.

If you have any questions about setting up the online Reg E Opt In or Reg E Opt Out forms in ODP Manager, please contact Strunk Support at support@strunkaccess.com for more details.

The Growing Risk of Manual Issue Tracking

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In the highly regulated banking industry managing compliance issues often means juggling spreadsheets, shared drives, email threads, and PDFs. Whether it’s a customer complaint, an audit or exam finding, an internal incident, or a vendor-related exception, tracking such issues manually leaves room for human error, version confusion, lost documents or data, delayed follow-ups, and a lack of accountability and transparency.

That’s why Strunk provides a reliable solution to manage all incidents, issues, and compliance concerns. Issues Manager helps ensure problems are not just logged but they are resolved, documented, and prevented from recurring – all in one secure system.

What Issues Manager Does and Why It Matters

Issues Manager transforms issue tracking into a structured and manageable process:

  • Centralized issue database: Maintain a unified repository for all issues. Each incident is logged in one place organized by type and source. Read and edit access can be controlled at the user and group level.
  • Clear ownership and accountability: Define who is responsible for each issue. Assign owners, set priorities and due dates, and track progress towards resolution. That way nothing slips through the cracks.
  • Accessible attachments and documentation: Supporting documents – e.g. audit findings, incident reports, customer complaint files – can be attached directly to issues. That means when auditors, regulators, or internal reviewers ask for these, everything is already organized and linked.
  • Automated alerts and status tracking: Issues Manager supports automated email alerts when issue statuses change or when due dates approach. This helps confirm issues are addressed promptly, corrective actions are implemented, and closure is documented.
  • Reporting for internal and external needs: Generate reports tailored for auditors, regulators, or internal management, offering a clean, consolidated view of all issues, their status, history, and remediation progress.

Collectively, these features provide greater efficiency, improve compliance, and support risk reduction. If you are interested in leveraging these capabilities to upgrade your process, please email info@strunkaccess.com or visit us at https://strunkaccess.com/compliance-software to schedule a brief demo.

Is it Time to Reevaluate your Overdraft Payment Process?

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Strunk’s Overdraft Privilege program has been around for over 30 years and many banks still take advantage of the strategy that turned out to be one of the best fee income programs in our industry’s history. Other financial institutions decided to go back to the old “ad hoc” program. Now is the time to rethink that decision.

Consumers want a choice when handing their finances and ODP gives that choice to them. Do customers want their debit card transactions to be authorized at point of sale or do they want the transaction denied? Virtually all consumers want their paper checks paid rather than returned to the merchant. Strunk’s formal ODP program allows financial institutions to make this happen in a simple and compliant fashion.

Non-sufficient fund and overdraft fees have dropped dramatically over the past decade and today they are about a third of what they were in 2010. Electronic transactions make up about 95% of all debits that a bank processes which is considerably more than what it was at the turn of the century.

Running a compliant, efficient, automated daily overdraft program is good for both the customer and the bank. Consumer complaints regarding paying overdrafts and charging a published fee are very small. After over three decades of helping financial institutions enhance customer service and fee income at the same time we have learned a lot about consumer banking.

Contact Strunk at 800.728.3116 or email at info@strunkaccess.com to learn how we can help you make more money efficiently.

How a Pricing Solution Empowers Lenders at a Community Bank

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Lenders often tell us they determine loan pricing by “pulling a number out of the air” or simply reacting to the competition. This approach puts your bank at a disadvantage.

A loan pricing tool gives your lenders a crucial resource to ensure every deal they work on is consistent relative to other deals the bank makes. Utilizing a tool makes the daily process of pricing a loan much easier and equips your lending team with the power to make better, more profitable decisions.

Winning Business with Options and Transparency

People love options. A pricing solution provides a straightforward way for lenders to create optional scenarios for the borrower, which can help win more business. Even if a borrower chooses the original option, offering alternatives leaves them with the impression that the bank was working hard to earn their business.

It also sends a powerful message: there is a detailed methodology behind your pricing decisions, meaning the initial price is not just a number that should be negotiated.

By arming lenders with the data and drivers of profitability, they can develop multiple scenarios that work for their customer. For example, if a customer is rate-sensitive, the tool will show what other factors affect profitability, allowing the lender to still structure a deal that works for the bank.

Strunk’s Proven Approach for Lender Buy-In

At Strunk, we place lender buy-in at the center of our tried-and-true training process. Having trained lenders at over 400 financial institutions over the years, we know what works.

Our training starts by asking for specific examples of live loans—typically deals we know will produce a profitable result. This helps the audience see that the results make sense. It often reveals opportunities where the bank could have won a deal they lost or passed on because they thought a competitor’s pricing was too low. It’s easy for lenders to see that the approach is sound and could help them win more deals.

Once lenders are onboard with the profitable opportunities, we dig into areas where current pricing is producing less-than-optimal results. At that point, it’s hard for the audience to discredit the approach because they’ve already concluded that it makes sense for the more profitable deals.

Designed for Lenders

Strunk’s Pricing Manager is designed with the user experience in mind. The goal is to provide quick, accurate, and consistent pricing results.

  • Lenders can model a loan in minutes. We are routinely told how easy our tools are to use.
  • We display the results—calculation by calculation—for every month throughout the life of the loan.
  • This means users can see exactly how the solution arrives at the calculated result. This transparency is a huge benefit for achieving full lender buy-in. Lenders know they aren’t just inputting a few variables and pressing “Save” with no idea how the result was reached.

While lenders leverage the tool for each pricing decision, management gains access to up-to-date reports on the full loan portfolio. Our management reports group data based on loan type, lender, loan size, and Return on Equity (ROE).

By giving your lenders the power of accurate, consistent, and transparent pricing, you can empower them to make better decisions and capture more profitable business.

For more information, please email info@strunkaccess.com or visit us at https://strunkaccess.com/pricing-manager/ to schedule a brief demo.

Generate ODP Manager Letters by Account Number

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In the hosted ODP Manager software, there are three letter types: Collection, Custom, and Ad Hoc. Collection letters are sent to accounts that are currently overdrawn. Custom letters are letters that are providing customers with information about their Overdraft Privilege program and options. The third letter type, Ad Hoc letters, allows users to generate specific letter templates as needed.

Ad Hoc letters do not require an account event to trigger the letter to show as due. They also can be used for situations where the file does not contain the necessary data to show a letter as due. In either of these situations, when an ODP Manager user has identified an account or accounts that should receive a letter, they are able to generate the letter by entering the account number(s). Letters can be generated one account at a time, or multiple account numbers at once.

Ad Hoc letters can benefit institutions in two ways. First, generating the Ad Hoc letter in ODP Manager allows users to eliminate the manual process of populating a letter with a customer’s name, address, and other account information – the hosted ODP Manager software can pre-fill this information once the account number is entered. Second, generating the Ad Hoc letter directly in ODP Manager allows users to track and retain the letter in the software – just like the Collection and Custom letters generated. This allows users to have a single location to look for letters that have been generated on an account.

The inherent flexibility of the Ad Hoc letter template feature may allow institutions to accommodate all Overdraft Privilege Program-related letters – not just letters included in the standard Collection and Custom letters. If users need to close and charge off an account before the standard number of days overdrawn, they can use an Ad Hoc letter to generate an Account Closed letter. If there are ODP-related letters that are sent in specific situations other than those covered by the standard letter templates, Strunk can create the letters as Ad Hoc letter templates. Ad Hoc letters can also be used to generate Fresh Start Repayment Plan agreements.

If you have any questions about using Ad Hoc letter templates in ODP Manager, please contact Strunk Support at support@strunkaccess.com for more details.

How Vendor Manager Helps You Streamline Vendor Management and Boost Efficiency

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Financial institutions often face the challenge of managing vendors with limited staff and resources. Strunk’s latest enhancements in Vendor Manager are designed to address these pain points, making thorough compliance and document tracking easier and more efficient than ever. Here’s a summary of the latest available features:

  • A new document status color-coding system provides a quick, visual way to assess the status of each vendor document, meaning less time spent searching for what needs attention.
  • An enhanced request and update workflow allows users to update multiple documents at once and manually send document update requests with a single click. Automated email reminders keep vendors on track, while the option to disable them or send manual requests gives you flexibility. The system auto-populates request dates, helping you stay organized without extra effort.
  • View an auto-generated list of suggested due diligence documents for each vendor, tailored to their assessed risk level. A convenient strike-through appears on the checklist as documents are added, providing an instant visual of completion. All due diligence documents, regardless of where or when they were added, will appear on the Due Diligence Materials tab for a centralized view.
  • The Overdue Items Report is another valuable addition. With this targeted visibility, users can quickly see which vendors require attention and ensure that overdue items are resolved. The report details specific actions needed for each vendor, sortable by risk level, allowing you to prioritize efforts and focus on what is most critical.

These updates make Strunk’s Vendor Manager an even more powerful tool, helping institutions save time, reduce manual work, and keep vendor documentation processes running smoothly. The intuitive interface and automation free up staff to focus on what matters most – building relationships and supporting your community.

If you have any questions about using the new features in Vendor Manager, please contact Strunk Support at support@strunkaccess.com for more details.

 

An independent certified public accountant has examined Strunk’s operations and found them to be in compliance with the AICPA’s Trust Service Principles. It was determined that Strunk meets the Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy criteria for SOC 2 established by the AICPA.