Main Street Ledger: From Main Street to Washington: Inside CBA’s 2026 Committee Summit

Last week, nearly 300 bankers from across the country gathered at Capital One’s headquarters for two days of discussion and collaboration across all 16 of CBA’s committees, representing nearly every line of business across our member banks – from branch banking, risk, small business banking, digital channels, and more. 

At the summit, these bankers come together to discuss how their institution is tackling some of the most pressing issues facing the industry today, including the rapid development of AI, workforce development, the evolution of payment platforms, combatting fraud, and how the changing regulatory environment may affect their business strategies. They also had the opportunity to offer their front-line perspective with officials from government agencies here in Washington, including the CFPB, FBI, FDIC, and OCC.

By sharing what they are seeing on the ground in communities across the nation, committee members play a pivotal role in helping to shape CBA’s advocacy work over the next year and beyond. 

Banks Are Preparing for What’s Next

Outside of the committee meetings, bankers gathered for several General Session programs and panels to hear from leading experts on:

• Affordability and credit access: Morning Consult’s Matt Monday, Director of Research Solutions, examined how Americans are feeling about the economy and their financial lives, including how affordability pressures are influencing consumer confidence and behavior. Lauren Taylor and Bharat Podar of BCG also shared insights from their consumer survey. Terry O’Neil, Chief Commercial Officer at Pagaya, explored what consumer-credit demand and underwriting trends are telling banks about affordability pressures and how the industry can respond across lending, risk, payments, fraud and customer experience.

• Fraud and Scams: Through the leadership of CBA’s Fraud Management Committee, and in conversations across all committees, bank leaders focused on the growing and pervasive issue of fraud and scam threats. Leaders discussed how the rapid advancement of AI is creating new opportunities for fraudsters and making scams increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect. Across committees, participants shared perspectives on how the industry can work together to stay ahead of these evolving threats and better protect consumers.

• The future of financial regulation: With new leadership taking shape at the CFPB, Elena Grigera Babinecz, a Baker Donelson shareholder and former CFPB Deputy Assistant Director, and Mike G. Silver, a Spencer Fane partner and former CFPB official, discussed what could change as the Bureau enters its next chapter and which existing legal and compliance requirements are likely to remain. 

• Artificial intelligence: AI is moving quickly from a tool that assists human decision-making toward systems that can increasingly reason, act and interact with other systems. Christine Graham, who leads Regulatory Affairs for AI and Data and Policy at JPMorganChase, and Brian Peters, Head of North America Government Affairs at Anthropic, discussed the policy questions surrounding these technologies and what their continued evolution could mean for financial institutions, their customers and the broader economy. 

• The changing financial services landscape: Grovetta Gardineer, Senior Advisor at FS Vector, and Kiah Haslett, a journalist with Fintech Takes Banking, examined the longstanding distinction between banking and commerce and what new charters, access to bank systems and Section 1033 could mean for the future role of banks. 

• The Political Landscape: With the midterm elections approaching, Charlie Cook, founder and contributor to the Cook Political Report, offered an inside look at the electoral landscape and the political currents that could shape the next Congress, with a specific focus on the issues and races that matter most to banks. 

Looking Ahead

CBA’s 16 committees will take the ideas and conversations from last week and put them into action plans for the year ahead, helping shape the industry's work both in Washington and on Main Streets across America.

A special thank you to Capital One for once again hosting the Summit, and to the speakers and bankers who shared their expertise and perspective throughout the two-day gathering.

The next in-person committee gathering will take place at CBA LIVE 2027 in Orlando.

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How a Price War Creates a Path to Pause the AI Frontier

What’s Happening: Experts say the AI frontier’s shift to more powerful, lower-cost models could pave the way to safely slowing development. 

Why It Matters: Without a financially viable path to slow development, AI startups have continued to develop their technology at a breakneck pace to deliver on their value proposition – slowing this level of spending and growth will also help these companies generate better returns. 

Between the Lines: Several AI companies unveiled new models this week – all with one thing in common – they are cheaper than ever without foregoing top intelligence.

• These cost cuts go beyond safety: Falling per-token costs are helping build a new user-base as more customers spend on AI. 

What They’re Saying: According to economists and AI experts, a slowdown in spending won’t threaten the spending on computing, data centers, and infrastructure – those investments will still be needed to service demand for AI usage that continues to grow. 

Looking Back: Top AI executives recently called for the a slow in the pace of model development due to outstanding safety concerns – now, the race to cut AI costs could help companies enable the slowdown they’re seeking. 

Dive Deeper: To read more, click HERE. 

Crypto Weighs Revenge Against Democrats — and the Risks That Come With It

What Happened: This month, Senate Democrats voted unanimously against the Clarity Act – a bill that would create a new regulatory framework for digital assets – leaving the crypto industry at a political crossroads. 

Why It Matters: According to new reporting last week from POLITICO, crypto companies must now decide how scorched-earth they will go against Democrats, a political strategy that might have long-term blowback for the industry if Democrats reclaim power on Capitol Hill after the midterms. 

Between the Lines: Crypto-backed PAC Fairshake says it will maintain a bipartisan approach – instead of something more punitive against Democrats – but has yet to share what that will look like. 

• Despite that, Fairshake recently announced its plan to spend at least $30 million to block Democrat Sherrod Brown from recapturing his former Ohio Senate seat.

What They’re Saying: Some in the crypto industry highlight the importance of bipartisanship:

• Kara Calvert, Coinbase’s vice president of U.S. policy, said in an interview that bipartisanship has been crypto’s “superpower.” “Nobody is eager to erode that,” she said.

Yes, but: Some Republicans are pressing the industry to recalibrate its approach and ditch the Democrats:

• “To reward people who voted against the motion to proceed on Clarity after the Democrats got 126 amendments in the bill would be a huge mistake,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), the crypto bill’s leading champion in the Senate.

Looking Ahead: Despite the push from crypto, Democrats are feeling confident about their chances in November, Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) says it’s “been the goal of Republican colleagues all along to try to get folks to invest in races, versus them trying to get a piece of legislation done, and someone needs to call the Republicans out on their bullshit,” adding, “Sherrod’s gonna win.”

Dive Deeper: To read more, click HERE.

Fed's Barr: 'Further Policy Adjustments are Likely'

What Happened: Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr discussed the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) interest rate increase, in addition to sharing his outlook on affordability in the American housing market. 

Why It Matters: Gov. Barr called the interest rate change a “needed” recalibration of policy to address high inflation – a sentiment shared by other FOMC members, some who believe the benchmark rate will be moved higher still. 

Between the Lines: The FOMC voted unanimously to move the target range on the federal funds rate to 3.75 percent to four percent last week, with committee members expecting anywhere between one to two more hikes by the end of the year.

What They’re Saying: In his speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s affordable housing summit, Gov. Barr highlighted the necessary correction of interest rates:

• “In my view, given changes to the economy, we were out of position, and we made an adjustment in the right direction […] in my base case, further policy adjustments are likely to be needed to ensure inflation comes down to target in a timely fashion.”

He also discussed the issue of housing affordability, where home prices and rents have grown more than household incomes due to land-use restrictions, low productivity in construction, amid other roadblocks:

• “Many families benefited from very low mortgage rates before 2022; these households are now less likely to move given the high rates they would face […] this lock-in effect reduces both demand and supply and thus housing market dynamism.”

Dive Deeper: To read more, click HERE.