Banking Transformed with Jim Marous
346 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 days ago - ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsAre you prepared to embrace change, take risks and disrupt yourself in response to the digital disruption in banking? If not, this podcast is for you. Hosted by top 5 banking and fintech influencer, Jim Marous, Banking Transformed highlights the leadership and cultural challenges facing the banking industry. Featuring interviews with some of the top minds in business, this podcast explores how financial institutions can prepare for the future of banking.
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Episodes
Innovation in Digital Account Opening and Onboarding
April 01, 2021 09:00 - 38 minutesConsumers are shopping for products and services, opening accounts, and building relationships using the channels they prefer. More than ever before, this is done on a mobile phone or online. The only way to support new account opening and deepen existing relationships is by seamlessly aligning your branches, call centers, and digital channels with a modern account opening and onboarding process. The guests for today’s show are Tami Ferguson, SVP and Director of Client Experience, for Washi...
Digital Banking Transformation During Uncertain Times
March 30, 2021 09:00 - 47 minutesCompanies that use disruption as an opportunity for innovation emerge from it stronger, while companies that merely attempt to 'weather the storm' until things go back to normal miss an opportunity to thrive. Transformation is not a project or a destination, but a continuous process of adapting to a volatile and uncertain environment. But where does a financial institution begin? On this episode, we are joined for a second time by Jerry Kane from Boston College. Jerry is one of the 4 author...
Rethinking the Future of Distribution
March 25, 2021 09:00 - 37 minutesBanks and credit unions are rethinking their distribution strategies as more people than ever are using digital channels. Despite this shift, closing all branches is not the best alternative. Neither is keeping them all open. Forward-thinking banks are adopting alternative models, including self-service banking that is complimented with new technology in a lean branch format. Organizations are realizing that optimal distribution begins by making all channels more efficient and effective. Th...
Speed, Simplicity and Empathy Drive CX in Banking
March 23, 2021 09:00 - 45 minutesThe majority of financial institutions rank improving customer experience as their top mission, but few organizations get rave reviews. In fact, since the pandemic, it could be argued that the banking industry is doing a worse job in meeting consumer expectations. On this episode, we discuss how financial institutions need to reset their strategies around improving CX in a digital world. The competition has expanded, and consumers understand what is possible. The question is whether financia...
The Business Case for Sustainability and Doing Good
March 16, 2021 09:00 - 42 minutesDoing good for the community, employees and customers goes well beyond philanthropy. Organizations need to look within to embed sustainability and social responsibility strategies into their business model, their culture and the people and organizations they interact with. Now more than ever, businesses need to think beyond profits and look at their entire value creation process to the world as a whole. What organizations will find is that there isn’t just a moral imperative for businesses a...
How to Compete for Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Customers
March 09, 2021 10:00 - 34 minutesBuy now, pay later (BNPL) solutions have grown in prominence as new players and payments incumbents are battling for market share. This includes firms like Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, QuadPay, Sezzle, and Splitit, as well as legacy payment firms like Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, and Amex. How will these providers will impact traditional POS card volume or damage the appeal of retailers’ private-label cards? And, who will win the battle for the younger consumer who is drawn to this payment option?...
The Rise of Big Tech Platforms in Banking
March 02, 2021 10:00 - 27 minutesThe pandemic has served to accelerate the relevance and importance of open banking as consumers become more willing to try alternative banking providers to get their digital banking needs met. At the same time, there has been a rise in contactless payments, as consumers replace cash at the point of sale. These dual market forces have provided an opportunity for big tech players, such as Apple, Amazon and Google to increasingly expand their platforms into financial services. We are joined by...
The Product Expansion Strategy of Marcus by Goldman Sachs
February 23, 2021 10:00 - 34 minutesOver the past year, Marcus by Goldman Sachs has continued to expand offerings, including teaming up with Amazon and Walmart to offer loans to sellers on their marketplaces, buying the General Motors credit card business, launching Marcus Insights smart tools and trackers, and most recently, announcing the offering of a digital investing platform. All of this is before the long-anticipated addition of a digital checking account.. We are very fortunate to be joined by Sonali Divilek, head o...
The Power of a Data-Driven Culture at TD Bank
February 16, 2021 10:00 - 45 minutesOne of the biggest problems facing legacy banking organizations today is leveraging data and advanced analytics to drive digital transformation, creating hyper-personalized experiences, supporting an innovative culture, and solving consumer challenges with appropriate technology. One organization that has emerged as a data-centric leader is TD Bank. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, TD Bank is a top 10 bank with 85,000 employees and more than 26 million customers. Branding itself as America’...
Digital Transformation Success at a $60 Billion Bank
February 09, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutesAccording to the Digital Banking Report, the top priority of the majority of financial institutions is to advance digital transformation. But what is the best way to proceed? And, where should organizations start? People’s United Bank, a regional bank based in Connecticut started by forming a “business transformation office” to focus on digitization and technology development. The team is responsible for optimizing and automating back office processes as well as setting up partnerships with ...
Google: Friend or Foe to Legacy Banks?
February 02, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutesLate last year, it was announced that Google Pay will partner with legacy financial institutions in the development and distribution of checking accounts through a new service called Google Plex. In addition, Google announced a partnership with Deutsch Bank for cloud implementation and co-innovation of new products and services. For the banks, these partnership can be a way to quickly grow customer relationships and expand market coverage. These partnerships could also threaten banks that fa...
Personalized Videos: The Future of Customer Engagement
January 26, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutesAs a result of the pandemic, people were forced to adopt digital alternatives to their traditional way of doing banking. This shift was not always smooth for the customer or the financial institution. Many consumers still wanted personalized interaction to learn about services. Financial institutions that want to improve engagement, interactions, and brand loyalty are responding with new forms of personalization, such as rich media like video. Our guest for the show is Jim Dicso, CEO of Sun...
How to Win in the Experience Economy
January 19, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutesHow can organizations compete for customers, time, attention and money in an increasingly digital world where time is limited, attention is scarce and the ability to genuinely engage with consumers has become more difficult than ever? One of the few brand differentiators available today is to build memorable and repeatable experiences. Unlike in the past, when many of these experiences could be built in a one-to-one tactile world, digital delivery changes the game. To better understand the ...
What's Next: 2021 Banking and Fintech Trends to Watch
January 12, 2021 10:00 - 49 minutesThe pandemic changed the business landscape for all industries … possibly none more dramatically than financial services. Already being impacted by non-traditional players, financial institutions needed to shift in an instant to satisfy customers no longer able to conduct business in traditional ways. What will 2021 look like? What major shifts will occur that will last into the future? What could surprise us in an ecosystem where change is one of the only constants? To get a perspective on...
How to Build the Best Mobile Banking App
January 05, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutesMobile banking usage is rising quicker than ever as a result of the pandemic. With close to 50% of consumers stating that mobile is a top-three factor that determines their choice of financial institutions (after fees), it is imperative that banks offer mobile features that consumers value most. However, it is not enough to just enable mobile banking capabilities. Banks must also remove friction and provide the user experience that consumers desire as well. The guest for the show is Mark Do...
Keys to Successful Leadership in the Future
December 29, 2020 10:00 - 42 minutesResearch from the Digital Banking Report has found that the biggest barrier to successful digital transformation is legacy leadership and culture that is unable to embrace the skills and mindsets needed for the future of banking. The future of banking and the future of work has made it clear that a different type of leader is required to guide people and organizations to success in the next decade. The question is whether financial industry leaders at all levels can embrace change, take risk...
Digital Banking Transformation Never Stops at Chase
December 22, 2020 10:00 - 42 minutesAs the largest U.S. bank, Chase is committed to a strong multichannel strategy, building new branches while also being a leader in digital banking innovation. With 55 million digitally active customers, representing close to 70% of the Chase customer base, Chase continues to provide consumers with the banking options they desire—whether it be physical to digital. With the pandemic making consumers more aware of the need for digital banking solutions, as well as more demanding of their digita...
Tinkoff: Russia’s Challenger Bank of the Future
December 15, 2020 10:00 - 47 minutesFounded in 2006, Tinkoff is Russia’s largest online challenger bank offering a huge range of services, including mobile personal and business accounts, investment and insurance products, as well as being Russia’s second-largest issuer of credit cards. Tinkoff has also diversified into non-financial services, including travel, ticketing and bookings services — all available through its lifestyle super app. This expansive array of services has led to profits of over $500 million in 2019, with ...
Starling: Not Your Typical Challenger Bank
December 08, 2020 10:00 - 40 minutesWe have had the opportunity to interview many fintech start-ups and challenger banks on the Banking Transformed podcast. None are like Starling Bank. First of all, Starling was founded by a woman with a legacy banking background. Not just any woman, but an extraordinarily tenacious, middle-aged, short-statured woman who doesn’t fit the traditional mode of a fintech founder. Anne Boden had a view of what banking should look like in the future far before many of her challenger bank peers. Wh...
How Will Banking Evolve as We Enter 2021?
December 01, 2020 10:00 - 36 minutesWhen COVID-19 hit, the banking industry was caught off-guard, needing to provide financial services without physical structures, deliver relief to consumers and small businesses in ways never imagined, accelerate digital transformation and innovation efforts, and perform all of these in a remote work environment. With the pandemic crisis mode mostly in the rearview mirror, financial institutions are determining the next best action – placing their bets for the future. Some are doubling down ...
Closing the Gender Gap in Banking and Fintech
November 24, 2020 10:00 - 31 minutesBanking has historically been an industry founded by men, run by men, with products created for men. Recently, progress has been made, but the gender bias in banking still runs deep. Surprisingly, this same bias exists in fintech, where there are far too few female fintech founders and too few women working at these new start-ups. The question is, is this a supply issue or a demand issue? More importantly, how do we address these imbalances that continue to impact the funding mechanism, the ...
Delighting Customers by Removing Friction from Banking
November 17, 2020 10:00 - 40 minutesThe best way to increase sales, loyalty and customer satisfaction is to reduce the effort needed to proceed along the customer journey. Jeff Bezos said, “When you reduce friction – make something easy – people do more of it.” Customers have been trained by companies like Amazon, Google, Uber, Netflix, Rocket Mortgage and others that processes can be simplified in a digital world. The key is to be able to identify roadblocks and change them for the benefit of both your company and the custome...
Building a Culture of Innovation in Times of Crisis
November 10, 2020 10:00 - 34 minutesThe outbreak of the COVID-19 posed great challenges to the global economy and people’s daily lives, and has had far-reaching consequences beyond the spread of the disease. It has changed the way consumers perform transactions and engage with friends, family and organizations. At the same time, the pandemic was the foundation for increased creativity and innovation. In the banking industry, we have seen new products developed, new ways of engaging emerge and traditional services transformed f...
Banking Can't Ignore The GenZ Potential
November 03, 2020 10:00 - 49 minutesWhile almost every financial institutions wants to market to, and build relationships with, the Gen Z consumer, few organizations understand who the Gen Z consumer is, what they want from a brand, how to market to them, or how to make them loyal customers. Just as importantly, few organizations understand how to recruit and retain them as loyal employees. Bottom line, the Gen Z consumer is often misunderstood or categorized only by their digital channel inclinations. Financial institutions n...
The Future of Banking Starts Now
October 27, 2020 09:00 - 41 minutesBefore the pandemic, digital transformation was optional for many organizations. When COVID-19 took hold, necessity dictated that all organizations ‘become digital’. Remote work became the norm, and the agenda for technology investment changed as consumers and businesses expected experiences similar to what they received from Amazon, Netflix, Zoom and Uber. But the future of banking is far from clear. There are optimists who believe the industry will transform itself through modern technolog...
WeBank: The Most Advanced Digital Bank in the World
October 20, 2020 09:00 - 36 minutesWhen you think of global leaders in digital banking, the conversation must start with Tencent-backed WeBank, the first digital-only bank in China. Launched at the end of 2014, WeBank has experienced astounding growth, with digital technology that is considered an industry best. Today, WeBank has over 200 million customers and is the leader in assets, loans, net profits, return on equity in the Chinese digital banking space. WeBank was founded with the mission of providing ‘“affordable, acces...
The Role of Banking in the Future of Digital Identity
October 13, 2020 09:00 - 36 minutesAccording to a recent survey by Deloitte, nearly two-thirds of respondents said that global digital identity will be very important in the future despite the fact that digital IDs are still largely underused in the world today. Newer digital identity verification methods, like biometrics, could provide far superior authentication protocols and offer customers more seamless experiences while protecting against fraudsters. Digital IDs could also greatly enhance the gig economy, where the ident...
Can Two Legacy Banks Become a Digital Banking Leader?
October 07, 2020 09:00 - 31 minutesIn late 2019, BB&T and SunTrust combined to become the 6th largest bank in the country, serving 10 million households. Looking at the strategic and financial benefits of the merger, the mission was to preserve the strong cultures of the legacy organizations, while using the combined scale and cost savings to build best of breed systems, processes and digital capabilities. At the time of the merger, the question was whether two legacy banking organizations could reinvent themselves for the fu...
OCC Provides Path For Banking Revolution
October 06, 2020 09:00 - 49 minutesIn May of this year, Brian Brooks took office as Acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). During his short tenure, Brooks has already made statements regarding the role of banking organizations in supporting communities, approved the first national charter to a fintech organization and suggested a federal payments charter. He has even asked for public input on how banks store and manage crypto. It is clear that Brooks has a significantly updated perspective on the role of the OCC than his p...
Jumpstarting Your Career During a Pandemic
September 29, 2020 09:00 - 38 minutesThere has never been a more important time for executives to evaluate their position in the marketplace and to determine their future path to personal and professional success. No matter what your position in an organization, you can’t be successful without loving what you do and being recognized for who you are. Now more than ever it is time to embrace change, take risks and transform yourself. Or, as my guest today would say, “Be Bold, Be Brilliant, Be You”. I am joined today by Katrina M...
Most Digital Lending Not Ready for Prime Time
September 25, 2020 09:00 - 33 minutesIn a post-COVID world, financial institutions must deliver innovative credit options, on-demand, in an almost instantaneous manner. To accomplish this feat – which had previously only been offered by fintech firms – traditional financial institutions will need to rethink back-office processes that currently hinder the speed to deliver digital credit. This will require the rethinking of everything from an organization’s origination process, to credit checks, to the operation of approvals, foc...
How to Build a Digital Banking Lifestyle ‘Super App’
September 22, 2020 09:00 - 38 minutesDubai-headquartered Emirates NBD has the distinction of being a legacy bank fully committed to innovation, digital transformation and customer-centricity. Rather than moving in baby steps, Emirates has made major efforts to build unique digital solutions for select segments. In 2017, Emirates NBD introduced Liv, a digital lifestyle banking platform geared to the needs of Millennials and Gen Z customers. The most recent iteration of the digital app was introduced this summer, integrating seve...
Dave: A Digital Banking Platform for the Underserved
September 15, 2020 09:00 - 26 minutesEven before the pandemic, there was a financial crisis where many consumers had difficulty making ends meet, causing missed monthly payments or overdrafts with fees that quickly added up. Initially created as a budgeting tool to help consumers avoid overdraft fees, the Mark Cuban-backed fintech named Dave has morphed into a digital banking platform that provides free paycheck advances of up to $100, helps gig workers find jobs, plants trees and offers an alternative to the big Goliath banks...
BankMobile: From Fintech Bank to TechFin Platform
September 08, 2020 09:00 - 45 minutesIn 2014, BankMobile was launched as a division of Customers Bank. As opposed to relying only on organic growth, BankMobile quickly grew with a B2B2C strategy, acquiring college student checking platform HigherOne. They also used a white-label strategy with telecom disruptor Sprint Mobile. Recently, BankMobile was re-positioned as part of a separate technology platform available to smaller banking organizations hoping to jump-start their digital banking offerings. The digital bank also annou...
Varo: The First Nationally Chartered Fintech Bank
September 01, 2020 09:00 - 31 minutesUntil recently, fintech firms have usually partnered with traditional banks to provide banking services as opposed to going through the lengthy and costly process of getting their own bank charters. Breaking away from that model, Varo Money became the first challenger bank to receive a national bank charter. The national charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) was the first ever granted to a fintech company, allowing Varo to offer credit cards, make loans and genera...
Wealthfront: Transforming From a Robo-Advisor to a Digital Bank
August 25, 2020 09:00 - 44 minutesThe battle to become the primary financial relationship for consumers continues to intensify, with the lines blurring between traditional banks, digital banks, robo-advisors and tech firms offering financial services. With the COVID-19 crisis driving consumers to digital banking options, the desire for new ways to bank became a necessity. Consumers are finding alternatives to the bank that has dozens or hundreds of branches. From low cost options designed to replace check cashing facilities...
Financial Marketing Takes Center Stage
August 18, 2020 09:00 - 31 minutesThe Digital Banking Report has just completed research on the impact of the pandemic on financial marketing. We found that changes in almost every area of financial marketing were more dramatic than in any of the previous 7 years. This is primarily because consumer adoption of digital alternatives advanced a decade in a matter of weeks. We found major changes in marketing spend, solution prioritization, use of data and technology, and even marketing talent deployment that will unlikely rever...
How COVID-19 Redefined Consumer Expectations in Banking
August 11, 2020 09:00 - 37 minutesWhile COVID-19 forced people into a digital-only lifestyle, there was still a desire for humanized experiences. Some banks and credit unions were prepared to deliver these personalized digital engagements, while others fell short of expectations at the worst possible time. More than ever, consumers are looking for assurance and comfort regarding their finances and want their financial institution to know them, understand them and reward them. They are also highly sensitive to efforts that fe...
The Power of Social Media Influencers in Banking
August 04, 2020 09:00 - 33 minutesIn a world impacted by COVID-19, brand recognition and authenticity have never been more important, while the reach of traditional marketing channels continue to erode. This is where influencer marketing can help. With social media becoming more entrenched in people's daily lives, the use of influencer marketing continues to skyrocket. Beyond celebrities, a new breed of niche influencer can provide financial institutions access to a huge following of potential prospects not available with oth...
COVID-19 Provides Wake-Up Call for Cloud Banking
July 28, 2020 09:00 - 43 minutesThe COVID-19 crisis has put a spotlight on the outdated tech infrastructures of many traditional financial services companies. As cloud computing has matured, banks and credit unions have hesitated to embrace the technology, worried about security, unsure of the benefits and unwilling to hand over control of their data. The pandemic is expected to accelerate a shift to the cloud, not only because many of the concerns have been addressed, but also because fintech and bigtech organizations are...
What Makes Navy Federal a Perennial CX Leader?
July 21, 2020 09:00 - 30 minutesWith an immediate shift to a work-at-home reality and increased use of digital channels, organizations need to think beyond immediate operational challenges, anticipating consumer’s need for increased emotional engagements, improved personalization and a new focus on experiences beyond daily transactions. Not to be forgotten is the need to invest in best-in-class digital capabilities and functionality, as consumers are becoming increasingly intolerant of poor digital performance. To underst...
Challenger Bank Grows by Supporting Financial Inclusion
July 14, 2020 09:00 - 29 minutesMost traditional banks were unprepared for the flight to digital that occurred due to COVID-19. Mobile-only challenger bank Current has seen customer growth skyrocket during the pandemic, appealing to lower-wage earners who don’t want to worry about minimum balances or overdraft fees. Serving over 1 million active users and projected to double in size by the end of the year, Current serves a sweet spot of workers who live paycheck to paycheck and previously frequented very expensive check ca...
CaixaBank: Innovation Drives Digital Transformation
July 07, 2020 09:00 - 35 minutesAt no time has the importance of innovation and the deployment of advanced technologies in banking been more evident than today. With more consumers embracing digital banking, banks are being challenged to replicate the level of engagement of bigtech and new tech organizations such as Amazon, Google, Netflix, Zoom and Alibaba. One of the perennial global leaders in technological innovation for banking is CaixaBank, Spain's leading digital financial services provider. As a pioneer in digital ...
How Citi Maintains Customer Loyalty During a Pandemic
June 30, 2020 09:00 - 31 minutesCOVID-19 has had an immediate impact on loyalty and reward programs due to the unprecedented period of low travel and entertainment. As people stopped flying, staying in hotels, and eating out, loyalty programs had to respond quickly. Organizations that can identify, communicate, and act upon a brand purpose that overlaps with the values of the consumer will be better positioned to thrive as we enter a new normal. In other words, loyalty that focuses much more closely on consumer preferences...
Marcus by Goldman Sachs: Digital Banking Built for the Consumer
June 23, 2020 09:00 - 33 minutesMany fintech firms struggle to gain scale, funding and brand recognition in an increasingly crowded banking ecosystem. Leveraging the power of digital technology and over a century’s worth of brand expertise, Goldman Sachs introduced its consumer banking platform, Marcus in 2016. Through acquisitions, partnerships with firms like Apple and Amazon, and significant organic growth, Marcus has grown into a multiproduct platform, with $80 billion in deposits across the US and UK, $7 billion in...
Four Seismic Shifts That Are Changing Banking
June 16, 2020 09:00 - 38 minutesThe banking industry had been warned for decades to become more innovative, transform to digital, embrace new technologies and become more aware of consumer and societal needs. Rather than moving forward, many organizations hesitated due to cost, the desire to stay the course, or even ‘intentional blindness’. Unexpectedly, however, the world was disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic that required digital engagement, and more recently a social pandemic centered on racial equality, diversity and i...
Banking Must Move Beyond Rhetoric On Social Issues
June 09, 2020 09:00 - 34 minutesThe world is faced with uncertain times caused by the global pandemic combined with demands for increased equality, diversity and inclusion. Beyond empty posturing, the banking industry must make a meaningful difference locally and globally on important social issues. This includes stronger leadership that looks beyond ethics to also include a moral compass for decisions. It also includes increased sustainable investing, greater employee involvement in social causes, and a change in hirin...
Is There a Fintech Fallout on the Horizon?
June 02, 2020 09:00 - 30 minutesIn the past decade, the marketplace has seen the development of more banking competitors than in the previous hundred years. From solution specific fintech firms like Stripe and Robinhood to digital-first neo banks like Revolut and Monzo, the marketplace has been seen entries of all types and sizes. But, with COVID-19 impacting the funding availability to fintech firms, is there room for new fintech solutions? More importantly, what will happen to those firms that do not yet have scale? ...
Why COVID-19 Will Stimulate Innovation in Banking
May 26, 2020 09:00 - 38 minutesThe COVID-19 crisis has impacted both humanity and business in an instantaneous and dramatic way. But, while each pandemic throughout history has been unique, each has brought about massive changes in the way we live, the priorities we set, how we interact and the businesses that emerge. Survival is a great motivator for change. As a result, pandemics have always led to innovations that have changed our lives. We have already seen the increased reliance on remote working, contactless comm...
Data and Advanced Analytics: A Key to Survival
May 19, 2020 09:00 - 1 hourData and advanced analytics are the foundation of every organization. Beyond improving efficiency and understanding business success, the power of data and predictive modeling can improve the understanding of consumer needs and personalize experiences. Bottom line, the survival of financial organizations in a post COVID-19 world will depend on how insights are collected and how they are used for the consumer’s benefit. In this episode, we are joined by Ryan Caldwell and Brandon Dewitt...