Core providers are large and have significant market power, but bankers are not without options when it comes to working with them. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by Agri-Access — Steve Lewis of Thomaston Savings Bank discusses how to proactively manage relationships with core providers.

A member of ABA's Core Platforms Committee, Lewis specifically recommends reviewing and reconciling bills, monitoring for service-level agreements and meeting regularly at the executive level with one's core provider to understand its strategic roadmap and how it corresponds to the bank's roadmap.

"Technology isn't your strategy," says Lewis. "Think about your strategy and what you're trying to deliver to your clients, and then integrate the technology you need to do that."

• Access resources from the ABA Core Platforms Committee.

Agriculture has never been for the faint of heart — but in an environment where global trade policy is changing rapidly, how can ag bankers help position their producers to weather the changes? The latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by Agri-Access — features features Nate Franzén, head of ag banking for First Dakota National Bank and the 2026 winner of ABA's Bruning Award.

On the podcast, Franzén discusses how ag bankers can support farmers and ranchers during turbulent times. He also how the bank is helping family farms stay viable. Its Keep Farmers Farming initiative combines ag lending with estate planning and advice to facilitate effective transitions, and its program for emerging farmers helps new producers position themselves to succeed.

Franzén also discusses his role in advocating on the Clarity Act and supporting a level regulatory playing field for digital assets that preserves community banks' role in lending to their communities.

The latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by Agri-Access — features historian Andrew David Edwards, author of Money and the Making of the American Revolution. Edwards discusses:

• How the American colonies developed monetary systems based on temporary "bills of credit" in the absence of hard-money currency.
• Why British leaders rejected this form of money and attempted to bring the colonies into their global imperial financial order.
• The role of monetary pressures in driving dissatisfaction with British rule and uniting the colonies.
• The challenges the Continental Congress faced in financing the American Revolution, and how the establishment of America's first bank helped turn the tide of the war.