The ABA Banking Journal’s top hits of 2023

From the SVB meltdown to interest rate volatility to Section 1071 litigation, your ABA Banking Journal editorial team has had an incredibly busy year keeping tabs on banking issues. Our team published 1,143 short Newsbytes stories, as well as numerous web and print features, to keep the industry informed. Over the same periods in 2022 and 2023, pageviews on the site were up 48.5% as readers turned to the Banking Journal.

Presented here are the top 10 most-read feature items (not including our short news coverage) published on the Banking Journal website this year. Thank you for reading in 2023 — and feel free to let us know how we can better serve you in 2024 by emailing [email protected]. We wish you a happy new year!

— THE EDITORS

1. Compliance for 2023: What Does the Future Hold? In this ABA Risk and Compliance cover story, compliance expert Carl Pry, CRCM, outlined what to expect in the year ahead, from rulemakings like Section 1071 to broader initiatives like the CFPB’s “junk fees” campaign. It was our most-read feature of the year.
2. Back With a Vengeance: The Challenges of Check Fraud. As old-fashioned check fraud — enabled by new tech tools — continued to soar in 2023, Scott Jones of Adams and Reese outlined the rules around returns. (ABA also launched a free Check Fraud Claims Directory to help banks manage this behind-the-scenes process.)
3. The Dangers of Mobile Remote Deposit Capture Fraud. Jesse Barbour of Q2 raised the alarm about a mRDC fraud, a scam that combines check fraud with social engineering.
4. Maximizing Efficiency and Minimizing Risk in Section 1071 Compliance. Carl Pry returns to this list with an in-depth look at complying with the complex Section 1071 final rule. (Our Newsbytes coverage of the ABA/Texas Bankers Association lawsuit against the rule and the compliance delay it won was also high on our list of most-read Newsbytes stories.)
5. Four Key Bank Marketing Trends for 2023. Marketers are being called upon like never before to assist business lines in achieving their sales objectives, Capital Performance Group consultant and frequent ABA Bank Marketing contributor Mark Gibson wrote.
6. Understanding (and Using) ChatGPT in Banking. In just a couple months this year, ChatGPT went from zero to hundreds of millions of users. ABA VP Ryan Jackson explored the implications of this surge in generative AI for bankers.
7. Will AI Increase the Threat to Banks of Phishing Scams? And speaking of ChatGPT, Elizabeth Judd wrote about how newly plausible AI-generated text content might make obsolete certain longstanding advice about how to spot a phishing scam.
8. Fake People, Real Threat. ABA Banking Journal Senior Editor Walt Williams explores how banks are strengthening their digital identify verification systems.
9. Podcast: A Deep Dive into the Section 1071 Final Rule. This podcast episode with ABA VP Kitty Ryan, a subject-matter expert on Section 1071, helped banks navigate the early stages of compliance and implementation preparation.
10. The Anatomy of a Ransomware Attack. Editor-in-Chief Evan Sparks went inside a real (if anonymous) ransomware hack of a community bank, providing insight on how to respond, who to call and how to prepare for the future.