Bankadelic: The colorful side of finance

Love is in the air. It's everywhere. Bankers care ... and fintechs dare. Here it is, the Third Annual Bankadelic Valentine's Day Lovefest, with seven guests discussing what they love about financial services in 2023, and why they adore what they do. An episode not to be missed, sweetheart.

Our V-Day A-Team:

Douglas Brown, President, Digital Banking, NCR

Lee Farabaugh, President, Core10

Ronald Herman, CEO, Sionic

Preetha Pulusani, CEO, Deep Target

Brad Tompkins,  CIO, Vergent

Nina Vellayan, CEO, Engageware

Amy Winkelman, Product Specialist and Counsel at Compliance Systems

It's Bankadelic's resident wise guy, Johnny Da Big, crashing Lou's podcast to sing his heart-rending version of "Yesterday." Animals (the ones who heard it) were indeed harmed in the making of this track. But hey, this is Da Big's turf. Ya got a problem wit dat?

This episode of Bankadelic is a first, as we feature a case study involving a community bank and the company that filled a key position there. When Shane Smith of Bankerhire placed Miriam Siegel in Human Resources at Country Bank, it was just the beginning of a successful business relationship. Siegel, who is today Country Banks’s Chief Culture & Development Officer, discusses with Smith how the two have teamed up in an ongoing effort to take the institution’s culture to the next level.

Active or passive strategy? Cryptos or stocks? No matter the choice, digital investing through a trusted community bank or credit union is now a reality and is changing how these financial institutions serve their customers. Ben Soppitt, Co-Founder and CEO of Unifimoney, discusses how his company developed its approach of “get rich slowly” in an effort to bring clarity and common sense to the exploding sector of digital wealth management.

While many politicians, pundits and otherwise savvy bankers would pin inflation to one cause, or domestic phenomena, it’s far from that. Russia’s war on Ukraine, supply chain issues, the COVID hangover in the US, and continued COVID problems in China are just a few of the covering forces that have contributed to the worst bout of domestic inflation in a generation. Mark Hamrick, Washington Bureau Chief and Senior Economic Analyst for Bankrate.com, helps us get to the bottom of what’s really behind the inflation spike, the Fed’s many interest rate hikes, and what we can expect if the data points and trends hold fast in 2023.

As 2023 kicks off, credit unions need every advantage to keep their technology not just up to date, but at the leading edge of what customers expect. Denny Howell, the co-founder and COO at Mahalo Banking, discusses his approach to credit union tech -- and shares the unusual story behind Mahalo's recent capital raise.

We've got a boom box for your favorite holiday songs, a bonfire for the ones that get played to death, lots of hot toddy -- and seven fabulous financial services guests talking about the gifts 2022 gave us, the unexpected surprises, and what banking and fintech could look like by this time next year. Happy holidays!!!

Our guests:

Chris Aliotta, CEO, Quantalytix

Amy Berger, VP, Solutions Specialist, Teslar Software

Alex Franks, Director, Verification Services, Equifax

Joseariel Gomez Ortigoza, CEO, Shastic

Denny Howell, COO, Maollow

Mike Meeks, SVP of Software Development, BHMI

Mac Thompson, Founder and President, White Clay

In November, the Mambu Meet-up took place in San Francisco, where open banking was on the table. In this conference exclusive, fintech luminary Robb Gaynor joins Mambu’s Robin Smith for a stimulating conversation about the ins and outs of open banking, with an eye towards what’s to come in 2023. How did we get the audio? Listen in as we eavesdrop on a couple of confused Grateful Dead bootleggers.

Even with the remarkable strides fintech made during the pandemic, many financial institutions have failed to achieve higher levels of personalization or capitalize on their rich storehouses of customer data. On this episode, Curinos CEO Craig Woodward talks about how personalization and customer engagement drive an often elusive goal — superior customer experience — and how the smart use of data can fuel the journey.

Back for the third consecutive year, Bankadelic's Banksgiving is a feats of smart observations and lively repartee as five fintech superstars share what they're thankful for, the annoying side dishes of anxiousness they could do without, and how thy've tried to make a difference in 2022.

Our dinner guests:

Rick Delisi, Lead Research Analyst, Glia

Brian Kaas, President and Managing Director, CMFG Ventures

Rob Strickland, CRO, VeriFast

Brad Tompkins, CIO, Vergent LMS

Will Tumulty, CEO Rapid Finance