WASHINGTON–The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has released a new report that sees the rise of economic uncertainty among consumers, geopolitical risk, sustained higher interest rates, and downward movement in some macroeconomic indicators as potential threats to the banking system.

In its Semiannual Risk Perspective for Spring 2025, the OCC provided details around five key risks it sees for federally regulated banks and thrifts, with the risks in commercial credit, operations, compliance, retail credit and markets.

“Pockets of risk remain for some commercial real estate property types and vary by geographic market and product type,” the OCC report states. “Refinance risk remains high for loans underwritten during a period of lower interest rates.”

Operational Risk Issues

When it comes to operational risk, the OCC report predicts that banks’ failure to upgrade their systems and digitize “may result in loss of market share to competitors offering faster and cheaper payment alternatives.” 

The report further cautions that criminals are exploiting traditional payment systems and fraud schemes are rampant, and said fraud is a risk with checks, wire transfers, peer-to-peer payment platforms, and insiders.