Building Better Banks Retools U.S. Community Lenders

U.S. community banks face structural pressure from narrowing net interest margins, elevated commercial real estate exposure and rising regulatory costs, with institutions holding less than $5 billion in assets often lacking resources for a comprehensive overhaul. Gada Elkenani, founder of Building Better Banks and Xeper Strategic Partners LLC, argues that branch closures and quick cost cuts cannot repair deeper weaknesses across balance sheets, credit, staffing, compliance and technology.

In an interview published by The Fintech Times on June 11, 2026, BBB said median commercial real estate concentration among its target banks stood at 195%. Its “Bridge. Build. Offload.” model starts with forensic financial and regulatory reviews, followed by phased capital draws tied to remediation goals. Once AML, KYC and consent-order issues are stabilized, BBB refines credit, develops deposit products and deploys NestQuest and PocketPilot, while retaining human review to meet fair-lending and Community Reinvestment Act requirements.