American Banker Podcast

Thousands of customers have called OceanFirst Bank with a new set of technical questions: How do you download an app? Make a mobile deposit? Load a debit card into Apple Pay? CEO Chris Maher explains how the New Jersey company is handling the shift to digital banking.

Hood Qaim-Maqami , divisional CIO at the Bank of New York Mellon, has ideas about how technology can be used to make people feel connected.

Cold, hard cash is inevitably going away. Banks have a responsibility to help consumers who don't have smartphones or even email addresses be prepared, says Shawn Rose , chief digital officer of Scotiabank.

Others, like JPMorgan Chase, have shut down their mobile-only brands. But Rising Bank, Midwest BankCentre's three-year-old neobank, is meeting its deposit goals, adding new products and avoiding cannibalization, says Dale Oberkfell , the bank's president.

Olaf Carlson-Wee , founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency hedge fund Polychain Capital, discusses which digital currencies and blockchain technologies are reshaping payments and which are "nonsense projects."

Todder Moning and Valerie Lancelle , who work in the bank's innovation group, said they were especially impressed by demos of immersive technology, 5G and ambient computing.

Venture capitalists will shift their focus to fintechs that support financial inclusion, according to Emmalyn Shaw , managing partner of the VC firm Flourish. Meanwhile, challenger banks will continue to grow, she says.

Brian Hamilton , CEO of the challenger bank One, says some have as their spending has slowed during months of economic lockdown. And the rest can be coached to make smarter choices, he argues.

Shawn Rose , chief digital officer, and Holly Pontisso , vice president of customer experience at Scotiabank at Toronto, share how they have adapted their digital offerings for people over 50, including making sure ageist attitudes don't creep into digital channels or messaging.

Most fintechs entertain the idea of getting a commercial banking license from time to time, but Current is content partnering with banks, says founder and CEO Stuart Sopp .

Ludwig , an ex-banking regulator and CEO of Promontory Financial Group, describes how economic conditions for middle- and low-income Americans have declined and advocates a living wage, investment in infrastructure, smart regulation and other solutions.

The unit as of September had 20% more clients than a year earlier. Liu , who is head of North America for Citi Private Bank, explains the changes she's made to help her group attract and serve millennials, Gen Z, Asian Americans and families.

Kabbage co-founder Kathryn Petralia , whose company is being sold to American Express, discusses government and financial-sector lifelines she says could help businesses that have been hit hardest by the pandemic.

Fraud of all kinds has been spiking during the pandemic. Krista Tedder , head of payments, Javelin Strategy & Research, says there are many steps banks could be taking to detect and deter it.

Caitlin Long , a former Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse managing director, is starting a special-purpose depository institution that will provide payment and custody services to institutional investors and corporate treasurers.

Anu Rames of BNP Paribas Asset Management talks with Chip Barnett about "digital inequality" and the financing mechanisms available to investors to help close this "have and have not" gap in a post-pandemic world. (14 minutes)

Vanessa Colella, innovation chief at Citi, says remote working has had a democratizing effect. She also touches on the types of technology Citi has been incubating, the startups it's investing in and her efforts at fostering a culture of generosity.

How is this fintech managing to improve as others struggle? Christine Pierson, president and CEO of the national specialty finance firm Tresl, explains how it has been able to turn challenges into opportunities.

Jamie Warder, head of digital banking at KeyBank, says alliances with companies like HelloWallet have helped him and his team adapt to changing conditions during the coronavirus crisis.

A sneak peek of a new podcast launching on American Banker in our Leaders forum. Arizent CEO Gemma Postlethwaite talks about lessons in leadership with Michal Katz, Head of Investment and Corporate Banking in the Americas at Mizuho.

Wei Ke, partner at Simon-Kucher & Partners, shares research and analysis from a recent consumer survey on branch versus digital banking behaviors after the coronavirus lockdowns are over.

Rather than funnel mortgage and rent payments through consumers, the federal government should instead deal directly with landlords, utilities and banks, suggests Howard Newman, managing partner of Pine Brook Partners.

Sells, American Banker's Digital Banker of the Year, explains how he encouraged his team to take risks on projects like a three-minute account opening process and a system that analyzes core data in real time to help set deposit prices.

The acting Comptroller of the Currency weighs in on social unrest, the reformed Community Reinvestment Act, fintech charters and how he believes technology can make finance more inclusive.

Competition over virtual currency could alter politics and global power structures, potentially to the detriment of the U.S., the author of "The Currency Cold War" argues.