Digital Banking Podcast

A successful product is unique, or at least arguably better than its competitors. However, that in itself is not enough to guarantee success.  And a seamless, frictionless, transparent user experience is table stakes today. To win big, you need to humanize the experience and introduce human elements into your product.

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Sarah Sprague Gerber, the Director of Product at MoneyLion. They talked about building trust through an error-free experience, why product gamification works, and the importance of vulnerability and transparency.

Tom Shen boasts a long and fabled career in financial technology spanning some 40 years. Some of the companies he’s been associated with, like Software Dynamics and S1, are long forgotten. Others like Digital Insight and Maluzai Software are still fresh in our memories. Today Shen is on the board of two financial technology rising stars: Sensibill and Zsuite Technologies. In short, he can back up his opinions with plenty of experience. 

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, Shen discussed his personal and professional journey, as well as his perceptions of the market and digital banking with host Josh DeTar. The two also addressed the importance of humanizing the banking experience and hyper-personalization in FIs. They also tackled digital platforms' shiny objects and the importance of understanding customers' needs.

It’s no secret that tech giants like Amazon and Apple are driving consumer expectations for all digital interactions – including digital interactions with your financial institution. The problem is that many systems still in use at community FIs are still based on what one might call “legacy technology.” Simply stated, they were architected before Amazon was even a glimmer in Jeff Bezos’ eye. This problem is not insurmountable, but it does need to be aggressively addressed. 

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Chris Sachse, CEO of Think|Stack, and Brian Murphy, Partner Strategist, Nonprofit Organizations at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Brian talked about AWS and its initiatives for building up and supporting innovation within the community banking ecosystem. Chris went on to discuss how important he feels it is for community FIs to take advantage of such initiatives. 

Digital transformation isn’t a project – it’s a never-ending pursuit. What’s more, digital transformation is cultural as much as it is technological. There are no easy answers and there are no shortcuts. 

In this episode of Digital Banking Podcast, Jeff Keltner, the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Upstart, joined host Josh DeTar to discuss the impact of digital transformation on the growth of community FIs. He also explained why failures are as critical as successes and how achieving a balance between people and technology is the key to providing an exceptional user experience. 

Digital transformation is more than deploying some new technology. Effective digital transformation requires financial institutions to think differently and act differently. This fundamental shift begins at the brand level. While some institutions may see their brand as chiseled in stone, a brand must constantly evolve. That’s truer now more than ever.

In this episode of the Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Amy Herbig, founder and CEO of The BA Group. DeTar and Herbig discussed the importance of preparing credit unions for change, explained why credit unions need to think like they are "running a business," and discussed author, inspirational speaker and marketing expert Simon Sinek's business analysis technique.

By now it should be clear to all community financial institutions that digital transformation is both imperative and a never-ending endeavor. Technology keeps changing, which means that consumer expectations keep changing, which means that FIs must keep changing just to keep up. It’s not easy.

In this episode of the Digital Banking Podcast, Josh DeTar welcomed Jenn Markus, the Director of Technology Partnerships at Glia. two discussed how companies can engage consumers and lead them to successful service outcomes, how companies should interact with consumers in the digital environment, and why communication is so important. Markus also explained the intricacies of payment processing.

It’s impossible to ignore the constant beating of the digital transformation drum. Where many financial institution executives struggle is trying to figure out exactly what digital transformation means and where to start. Our guest on this episode of the Digital Banking Podcast broker digital transformation down to four manageable components: people, technology, data, and processes.

In this episode of Digital Banking Podcast, we hear this and more from Mark Sievewright, the founder and CEO of Sievewright & Associates, as well as the co-author of Digital Life. 

Other topics that Sievewright covers with host Josh DeTar include the importance of company culture, successful tactics and strategies for leveraging technology, how even small FIs can differentiate themselves, and what FIs can learn from giants like Apple and Amazon. 

There’s general agreement that digital transformation is an imperative for forward-thinking financial institutions. Where there’s not always agreement is in what “digital transformation” actually means. Unfortunately, some FI executives conflate digital transformation with simply buying and deploying new tech products on top of their old tech products. To be clear, digital transformation is not about buying technology; it’s about a paradigm shift in how FIs view themselves and what they do.

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Craig McLaughlin, the CEO of Finalytics.ai, for a discussion of digital transformation and hopw FIs can grow faster by improving their digital strategy. Finalytics.ai offers a platform that applies real-time big data and machine learning in a way that can address the unique needs of prospective and current accountholders. Its “segment-of-one” experience is based on individuals’ unique identities, orchestrating their financial journeys using dynamic segmentation and content to address their needs. This allows institutions to compete more effectively, drive consumer acquisition, and improve retention.

Community financial institutions are unique in that they have high-touch relationships and services built into their culture. But if they want to keep pace with – or even outpace – the mega banks, they must be willing to use that uniqueness to their benefit and take some risks, too.

That was the message from Bryce Deeney, the co-founder and CEO of equipifi. In this episode of the Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar talked to Deeney about the importance of providing an exceptional user experience, keeping pace with the digitization of money movement, and why fintech companies and credit unions should collaborate more.

Credit unions nationwide have joined forces to help raise money for kids in hospitals, and their results have been significant. Of course, this is a need that never goes away.

In this special episode of the Digital Banking Podcast, Josh DeTar welcomed Nick Coleman, the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Children's Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals). They discussed Credit Unions for Kids (CU4Kids), the way this mission brings credit unions together, and how CU4Kids became the fifth largest donor for CMN Hospitals.