Digital Banking Podcast

In this insightful episode of Digital Banking Podcast, Josh DeTar sits down with Mike Lawson, host of CUBroadcast, to delve into the evolving landscape of credit unions. Lawson shares his unique perspective on the industry, highlighting the importance of data analytics in shaping personalized services. He emphasizes that understanding members on an individual level is now more achievable and crucial than ever.

The conversation then shifts to the topic of leadership. Lawson discusses the changing dynamics as established CEOs retire, making way for a new generation of leaders with fresh outlooks. He expresses his fascination with how these new leaders are navigating their roles, keeping their credit unions successful and moving forward.

Lastly, Lawson provides his predictions for the year ahead. He identifies key areas of focus such as the economy, artificial intelligence, and liquidity. He also touches on the continued transfer of leadership and its impact on the industry. This episode offers a comprehensive look at the current state and future of credit unions.

The third annual CU Build event was held in Dallas July 28-30, 2023. CU Build is a buildathon (sometimes called a hackathon) for credit unions running Jack Henry’s Symitar core processing platform, as well as invited vendor partners. The event is 100% credit union organized.

Prior to the event, Digital Banking Podcast host Josh DeTar had the opportunity to chat with Brad Hickey about the then upcoming event. Hickey is the founder of CU Build, as well as the Manager of Application Development at American Airlines Federal Credit Union. In that discussion, Hickey discussed the how and the why of CU Build, laying out a blueprint that other credit unions can follow to leverage the cooperative credit union spirit and drive credit union technology forward.

Given Hickey’s passion for innovation, it’s not surprising that the conversation went on to examine a wide range of topics, including artificial intelligence and what it could mean to education, the promises and reality of decentralized finance (DeFi), and the fact that most high-performing technologists are driven by more than just a good paycheck.

Every organization on the planet is intent on creating a great user experience – the best possible combination of clicks and swipes to make the task at hand as frictionless as possible. However, as technologies like ChatGPT continue to develop, “clicks and swipes” will end up at some fintech museum right next to a 1200-baud modem. Instead, consumers will converse in natural language with virtually everything around them. Instead of a bunch of individual user experiences, consumers will be able to enjoy a unified digital life experience.

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, our Josh DeTar welcomed Mason Stone, the Director of National Sales at Paymentus. Stone and DeTar discussed why it's efficient to use technology like a smart home network. They also discussed bill payments and the significance of ChatGPT. 

To remain competitive in today’s digital world, community FIs must be nimble. But being nimble isn’t enough if a legacy technology stack creates more obstacles than opportunities. Modernization is imperative, but many FIs lack the tools and the in-house expertise to move the FI forward on the best possible course.

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, Tim Hamilton, the founder, and CEO of Praxent, explained how community FIs should modernize applications to remain relevant against pure-play digital competitors. Hamilton and host Josh DeTar discussed embedded finance, sponsor banking, and how FIs can decide whether to build, buy, or partner.

More and more organizations are committing to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and practices to build a more diverse and just workplace. This is even more important for financial institutions in their outreach to the communities they serve.

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, Shannan Herbert, the EVP of Inclusive Credit at Stratyfy, explained what DEI means and how to implement it in your organization. She and host Josh DeTar discussed how to improve DEI in an organization, root out bias, and how technology can help with that.

Digital transformation is a cultural shift more than it is a technological shift. It’s not about the tools; it’s about how the people within your organization use those tools. It’s about creating a culture of constant change and improvement. 

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, Jay Tkachuk, Chief Digital Officer at Golden 1 Credit Union, explained the digital transformation process. He and host Josh DeTar discussed why digital transformation should come top-down and from the inside out, how the pandemic profoundly changed our society, and how a community FI can be relevant in a time of need.

It seems so simple. Follow a budget. Don’t run up your credit cards. Keep an eye on your credit score. Most importantly, consider the long-term consequences of every financial decision. It’s a recipe for financial success. And yet, most Americans struggle with their finances.

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Sid Ratkiewicz, a behavioral researcher at the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University, and Matt Iverson-Comelo, CEO and Founder of Moneymap. The three of them discussed the importance of financial education and literacy, the consequences of the lack of financial knowledge, and how community financial institutions can be most helpful. 

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar and Austin Adams, retired CIO at JP Morgan Chase, discussed why empathy is more important than feature functionality when community FIs try to take on the megabanks. Adams also shared a little of his knowledge and expertise in driving innovation and superior customer experience in a complex and ever-changing environment.

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Ashish Garg, the founder and CEO of Eltropy. They talked about the importance of community financial institutions in underserved communities, how community FIs can find their niche, and why technology is a powerful ally for financial institutions.

In this crowded marketplace, how can a community financial institution possibly differentiate itself? Better technology is table stakes, because as soon as you add the latest shiny object to your tech stack, every other FI in town will add it, too. In the end, differentiation can only come from better ideas.

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, our Josh DeTar welcomed Aaron Wollner, the CMO of Quontic Bank, which is the best online bank according to Forbes. Wollner discussed the importance of authenticity for a brand to resonate and explained the concept of non-monogamous banking. The two discussed the importance of digital transformation, how Quontic adapts to macroeconomic changes, and the one question you must constantly ask.