Pub. 10 2015-2016 Issue 2

www.nebankers.org 20 Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members. To contact Bert Ely, email bert@ely-co.com , phone (703) 836-4101, fax (703) 836-1403, or send mail to P.O. Box 320700, Alexandria, Va. 22320. If your bank belongs to the American Bankers Association (ABA), you can enjoy a free email subscription to FCW or you can read it monthly online at www.aba.com . To receive FCW by email or to manage your subscription, visit ABA Member Email Bulletins at www.aba.com/Tools/ Ebulletins/Pages/default.aspx. For other inquiries, please contact Barbara McCoy at the ABA at (800) BANKERS or bmccoy@aba.com . www.databusinessequipment.com/branchofthefuture For more information, contact your local DBE Representative or visit: The Future of Branches: Freedom of Availability The Interactive Teller Machine (ITM) is the future of branch technology. Customers will experience the freedom and flexibility of an ATM with the personalized attention of a live teller. Get your branch up-to-date with newest addition to branch technology. DBE_Jul-Aug15_NBA-3_DBE_Jul-Aug15_NBA 6/23/2015 4:00 PM Page 1  Bert Ely — continued from page 19 “act as depositories for and fiscal agents of” the FCS banks, each FCS bank has an ABA routing number and therefore can deal directly with the Fed; they do not need to clear deposits and drafts through a commercial bank. In effect, FCS banks function as if they were a commercial bank, but without providing FDIC insurance to their customers. The investment bonds the two banks sell, which at Agri- Bank are shown on its balance sheet as Member Investment Bonds and at CoBank as Cash Investment Services Payable, provide a not insubstantial amount of funding to the banks. At the end of 2014, CoBank reported a $2.53 billion payable for its cash investment services, up from $1.61 billion at the end of 2012. AgriBank reported $1.10 billion in outstand- ing Member Investment Bonds at the end of 2014, up from $786 million at the end of 2012. One can reasonably wonder when the other two FCS banks—AgFirst and the FarmCredit Bank of Texas—will begin to sell investment bonds through the associations they fund as one element of expanding the payments services their associations can provide to their member/borrowers, in direct competition with taxpaying commercial banks. The Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees might want to examine this uninsured FCS deposit-taking. Report FCS Lending Abuses Bankers are continuing to send Farm Credit Watch reports of FCS lending abuses such as FCS loans for ru- ral estates, weekend getaways, and hunting preserves. Email reports of similar lending abuses in your market to: green-acres@ely-co.com. 