Financial Futures

Game-changing ideas don't come along very often. But when they do, organizations need to develop them fast or risk missing out on the opportunity they present. But, very often, fintechs and other financial institutions don't have the time or resources to develop innovations when they present themselves, meaning opportunities go unrealized. So if organizations really want to bring in new capabilities they can't just leave it to chance and hope that someone else will develop breakthrough services or products for them - they need to do it themselves.

In this episode of Financial Futures, we'll learn about the inorganic business-building method fintechs and financial institutions are using to fold in new capabilities to their service offering. We'll discover how the venture studio technique is de-risking the startup model, allowing institutions to create new products and solutions and bring them to market while protecting their own resources and investment capital.

Join us, along with CEO of Shipyard Innovation, Ash Bhatia, and VP of Venture Studio Investments at FIS, James Clayton, as we find out why the venture studio model is a recipe for building successful businesses. And we'll learn about a real example of a startup currently going through the inorganic business-building method to find out what the process looks like from the inside

We'll also ask:

• Why is creating businesses with the venture studio model less risky than investing in a startup?
• What is the recipe for building better businesses?
• How do you choose the right partner to build a business with?
• What are the challenges associated with the venture studio model?
• Who is using the venture studio model to create startups?
• How do you choose an executive team to lead a new business? 

Great innovations don't come along every day. And, usually, these ideas can't be fully realized unless the right conditions are met. Funding needs to be available, key players need to have free time, and resources need to be ready to go if any new solution or technology is to have a chance of getting off the ground. And, traditionally, chance is precisely what it came down to.

But now there's a new way to innovate. A method that doesn't rely on Goldilocks conditions for any hope of success. It's innovation for the 21st century. It's innovation as a service.

In this episode of Financial Futures, we explore innovation as a service (IaaS) and learn how this structured and methodical approach to innovation is helping financial institutions accelerate their GTM strategies for new solutions and making innovation equitable. We'll discuss how IaaS works, plus we'll learn where the need for rapid innovation has come from and why the traditional approach to innovating is no longer enough when it comes to ideating and creating new offerings.

Join us as we learn about the innovations that are already helping institutions to remain competitive with a little help from vice presidents of Impact Ventures at FIS, Adrian Sturley, and Jason Williams.

We'll also ask:

• How is IaaS bridging the gap between fiat and cryptocurrency?
• Why is speed critical when it comes to delivering innovation?
• How does innovation work in an "as a service" model?
• What does the future of innovation look like?
• How do organizations identify when to stop, implement and abandon innovation?
• What does the IaaS process look like?

Getting any business off the ground isn't without its challenges. And while investment can be a big hurdle to overcome, it isn't the only one. Securing industry expertise, acquiring customers, gaining access to the right tech - these are just a few of a whole host of challenges startups need to solve in order to bring their innovations to life. But rarely can startups find all of these resources from one source, unless they look to accelerator programs.

In this season of Financial Futures, we'll be finding out how financial institutions and their partners are stepping up their innovation efforts to shepherd in the next generation of fintech. And in this episode, we'll learn how accelerator programs are helping to fuel this new age of ingenuity.

Join us as we find out what separates accelerator programs from other investment models with a little help from innovation product manager at FIS, Chris Barry, and senior vice president of Impact Ventures at FIS, Elaine Duff.  We'll ask what it is that makes accelerator programs so unique (and so effective), and we'll find out how ESG goals are driving innovation between accelerators and their partners.

We'll also ask:

• What are the benefits for fintechs who partner with accelerators?
• How do fintechs choose the right accelerator?
• Why is it important for fintechs and accelerators to share the same values?
• How are minorty-owned businesses leading the charge on ESG standards?
• What benefits, other than investment, do accelerators bring to startups?

And for more information on the FIS Fintech Accelerator Program, head over to https://www.fisglobal.com/en/fis-fintech-accelerator

Growing a customer base is one of the toughest challenges any business will face - and regional banks are no exception to that rule. 

For many organizations, a good marketing campaign or the opening of a new brick-and-mortar location might encourage the kind of expansion they're looking for but results aren't guaranteed. However, banks don't have to rely solely on flashy ads or opening new branches because there's another solution to their growth ambitions - banking as a service.

In this season finale of Financial Futures, we'll be putting BaaS under the microscope to find out how regional banks are using this unique facility to drive expansion and create mutually beneficial relationships between themselves and other businesses. We'll hear from director of product management for banking as a service at FIS, Barbara Negron, and business unit manager for APIs and integrations services at FIS, Eric Guion, about how BaaS is helping banks to acquire new customers beyond their usual reach. We'll also discover what differentiates BaaS from embedded finance and learn about the relationships and ecosystems that facilitate banking as a service.

We'll also ask:

• What is the difference between 'for benefit' and 'on-core' BaaS?
• Why is BaaS one of the best distribution tools available to regional banks?
• How does BaaS reduce the cost of acquiring new customers?
• Why does risk need to be top of mind for banks considering BaaS?
• How can BaaS help regional banks to use other businesses' brand loyalty to grow their own customer base?

It's not uncommon for people to bank with more than one provider. Add into the mix mortgages, finance agreements, insurance, or any of the other countless financial products we all purchase, and it doesn't take long to get overwhelmed by the incredible number of services we need to keep on top of. Because with every product comes a new platform, a new username, and a new login - making it almost impossible to get a snapshot of what your daily finances actually look like.

But there is a solution - one that's been in the making for nearly thirty years. And it's called open banking.

In today's episode of Financial Futures, we find out how open banking is helping regional banks to innovate and evolve and how it's giving customers visibility of, and control over, all their financial products. We'll discover how open banking has evolved since its first iteration in the 90s and we'll find out why giving customers exposure to competing products is actually a good thing for regional banks. So join us as we speak with FIS's business unit manager for APIs and integration services, Eric Guion about why open banking adoption has soared in recent months and explore all the possibilities that this cutting-edge tech will afford regional banks.

We'll also ask:

• What do banks need to consider before adopting open banking?
• How is open banking helping regional banks to expand and grow?
• What is the difference between open banking and screen scraping?
• How safe is open banking?
• What has led to the rise of open banking?

Crypto used to be the counterculture currency of choice. Giving participants an alternative to the centralized monetary systems of nations, cryptocurrency allowed those in the know a way to transact and invest without the use of fiat currency. But in recent years, cryptocurrency has emerged from the realm of alternative investments and found its place in the world of mainstream finance. And with so many platforms offering retail and commercial customers a way in, banks of all sizes are seeing an opportunity to tap into this rapidly growing market.

In today's episode of financial futures, we speak with head of new business strategy for America's banking solutions at FIS, Fiaz Sindhu. We examine the past and present of cryptocurrency and ask what opportunities the tech poses for the future of regional banking. We'll find out how this once alternative financial product has made its way into the mainstream, attracting both private and corporate interest. And we'll explore the ways in which regional banks can adopt decentralized finance and discover what they need to do in order to serve their own crypto clientele.

We'll also ask:

• What is happening in the world of cryptocurrency and what does the future look like?
• Who is driving crypto adoption and why are customers so excited about it?
• What are the cultural, technological, and regulatory considerations banks need to make when adopting cryptocurrency?
• How can regional banks determine what their own customers' crypto needs are?
• Who can banks turn to for guidance on how to implement cryptocurrency solutions?

Like many organizations, regional banks are experiencing a time of rapid change. In the wake of a pandemic, and in order to keep up with an increasingly digitized society, these institutions need to augment their services to remain competitive among other banks and appeal to societal shifts. But regional banks don't need to go on this journey of transformation alone, with fintechs and other partners at the ready to help them make sense of the evolving retail banking industry and to help them adopt modern solutions.

In today's episode of Financial Futures, we'll be joined by senior vice president and group executive of regional banking at FIS, Nicole Pienkos, and vice president and business executive at FIS, Mike Gravelle. We'll be exploring the challenges that are facing regional banks and examining some of the solutions and opportunities that are emerging out of this period of innovation. We'll also find out what sets regional banks apart from the community and national banks and take a look at what makes them uniquely suited to address the financial needs of their customers. Plus, we'll hear how having the right tech partners helped regional banks to rapidly adapt to the hurdles presented by the pandemic, and we'll find out how they're carrying those lessons through to serve an increasingly digitized society.

We'll also ask:

• How are data insights driving regional banking innovation?
• Why could digitization be one of the keys to addressing gaps in the workforce?
• What do banks need to consider when adopting new technologies?
• Why is it important to have good fintech partners?
• Why were regional banks instrumental in the payment protection program during the pandemic?

Regional banks find themselves in a unique space within the financial services industry - not as localized as a community bank, but not as ubiquitous as the nationals. Operating in this sector presents these institutions with a host of challenges faced by both larger and smaller institutions alike, but it also opens them up to a myriad of opportunities. And that's exactly what we'll be looking at in this season of Financial Futures.

Simply the mention of automation is enough to strike fear into the heart of a workforce. But while sci-fi movies would have us believe that the machines are here to replace us, in reality, they're actually here to help - taking on the mundane and repetitive tasks so that people can focus on the more meaningful and important work that only they can do.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a powerful tool, bringing efficiencies to regional banks throughout the US. And the benefits this technology brings go far beyond simply eliminating the menial day-to-day processes. 

In this season premiere, we speak with Carl Bahneman, Business Unit Manager at FIS, all about robotic process automation and the value it offers to regional banks. We discuss what kind of tasks can be automated to improve efficiencies, and Carl explains how just thinking about incorporating bots can reveal new opportunities for time-saving.

We’ll also ask:

• Why is it important to write out your organization's processes?
• What are the differences between buying and building bots?
• Why are regional banks looking to RPA?
• What kind of bots are available to regional banks?
• How can financial institutions prepare to integrate RPA into their businesses?

The world has cryptocurrency on the brain. And with new coins being released, seemingly, every day, and mammoth losses and gains occurring among the most popular cryptocurrencies, it’s no wonder why. And where some see danger in those troughs and peaks, others see opportunity - opportunity not just in the financial gains to be had, but in the blockchain technology behind these digital currencies. Indeed, crypto and blockchain might not just have the potential to diversify investors’ asset portfolios, they might actually be poised to completely evolve our financial ecosystem.

In this episode, we’ll be joined by John Avery, senior strategy director at FIS; Patrick Sells, CIO at NYDIG; and Richard Walker, principal at Deloitte. We’ll explore what has caused the surge in popularity of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, and we’ll discuss what the long-term impacts of these could be. We’ll also look at the potential implications of more widely adopting a decentralized finance model and examine whether crypto and blockchain could herald the demise of cash.

We’ll also ask:

• How are financial institutions and the capital markets reacting to crypto and blockchain?
• What are the drawbacks of a centralized financial system?
• How are different generations adopting cryptocurrency?
• Why are everyday savers, as well as high-net-worth investors, attracted to crypto?
• Could the world be moving away from fiat money do de-fi?

In one form or another, most people have debts. It is, in many ways, an everyday part of life. Yet debt carries a considerable amount of stigma with it, which can have a negative impact on people’s willingness to seek out ways to manage it. And it’s not that people don’t want to pay, in fact, in most cases the opposite is true, but outdated procedures, unfit technological solutions, and seemingly unempathetic customer service representatives create significant barriers - barriers that must be removed in order to modernize and humanize enterprise collections.

On today’s show, we’ll be speaking with Dale Williams, CEO of Telrock Systems; Guy Hammon, general manager of enterprise lending at FIS; and Michael Peretz, housing finance practice lead at Capco. Join us as we explore the modern solutions that are reshaping enterprise collections and improving debt recovery for institutions and customers. We’ll discover why poor communication can drastically damage an institution's ability to recover funds, where current enterprise collection solutions currently fall short, and how improved tech solutions can better human interactions and, therefore, debt recovery.

We’ll also ask:

• How has COVID impacted the technologies associated with enterprise collections?
• What, other than technology, is the key to providing a better experience for those in debt?
• How is the landscape in B2B enterprise collections changing?
• Why does empathy need to be at the core of debt recovery?
• What do organizations need to consider when bringing enterprise collections in-house?