Banking Transformed with Jim Marous

Finance is quickly moving from digital platforms into an era of hyper-personalization, where every user will have ultimate control over their data, their devices, and the value propositions created. This will have a profound effect on the entire banking ecosystem ... and society. Financial institutions are at risk if this transformation is not understood. With democratized finance, anyone can pers...

Traditional banks and credit unions continue to face competition from challenger and online-only banks willing to offer higher yields for savings and deposits. However, now may be the perfect time to use market instability to build new banking relationships with innovative deposit and lending products. In addition, banks can leverage an understanding of consumer behaviors to detect deposit-pricing...

Chase, the digital banking app launched by JPMorgan, has reached one million UK customers after launching in September of last year with a 1% cashback deal and fee-free overseas card use. This growth exceeds the growth of both Monzo and Starling … two other UK neobanks. 10x Banking, the UK-based cloud-native banking technology business, created the platform that powered Chase’s entry into the UK r...

Americans’ total credit card balance reached $887 billion in the second quarter of 2022, with close to a $50B jump since the first quarter of 2022. The 13% increase since 2021 is the largest year-over-year jump in more than 20 years. Unfortunately, most people with an active credit card account aren't able to pay their bills in full. At the same time, the average APR for all current credit card ac...

Banks are making significant investments in their data and analytics initiatives. Unfortunately, most organizations struggle moving from the data preparation and analytics process to the “last mile” of data utilization, where insights are translated into process changes and customer outcomes that drive value. The last mile is where the focus moves from great reports to exceptional results. At this...

Launched shortly after the 2008 financial crash, Betterment pioneered robo-advisory services and opened the door for individuals to manage their money without the engagement of traditional financial advisors. Despite tremendous growth, a valuation of $1.3 billion in 2021, and a customer base of more than 700,000 customers, limited market potential and increased competition impacted the potential f...

The demand for fast, humanized digital engagement has reached new heights, and is changing the financial services landscape. More than ever, customers have switched from wanting to visit a branch to connecting with a human representative via digital channel. Financial Institutions that aren’t prepared to adapt to this new paradigm are at greater risk of losing both market share and the growth that...

In the past, consumers relied almost exclusively on legacy banking institutions for their financial interactions. Today, businesses across all industries have access to embedded banking products enabled by Open Banking policies and powered by Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) providers. Embedded financial services within the user journey makes the experience seamless for the user and unlocks revenue str...

An Aberdeen Research report shows that improving operational efficiencies is now taking a back seat to customer experience in back-office operations. This should not be a surprise, especially in financial services. Companies that create greater synergies between service and back-office are more successful at transforming their back-office into a strategic differentiator supporting their CX objecti...

Utah-based open finance solution provider MX Technologies has named several PayPal veterans to lead the firm’s next phase of growth. This growth will include the continuation of using data to deliver intelligent and personalized money experiences, while connecting technology partners to financial institutions with modern solutions that improve results. MX powers 85% of digital banking providers, a...

Banks and credit unions are challenged to satisfy consumers with the traditional services they have used for decades, while also delivering the latest offerings that a growing portion of consumers desire. More than ever, consumers are willing to take their business to other financial institutions to find innovative products and services, with more consumers than ever willing to diversify their fin...

Nearly two-thirds of consumers indicate they manage their financial relationships predominantly online or via their mobile device. In addition, nearly 70% of consumers feel faster payment capabilities from their current financial institution is an important driver of satisfaction. To address these expectations, the Federal Reserve Banks are developing FedNow to enable financial institutions of eve...

While the fintech industry is growing rapidly, it is still rare to see women as fintech founders or women holding leadership roles. More concerning is the fact that women fintech founders are lower in North America than other regions of the world. In August, a collaboration between BMO Harris Bank and 1871, a #1-ranked private business incubator, provided women entrepreneurs the opportunity to bri...

As new players continue to expand market share with data and customer-centric business models, incumbent banks face an urgent need to modernize systems to remain competitive in the payments landscape. By investing in emerging digital technologies, banks can address evolving customer preferences, mitigate risk, and achieve regulatory compliance. My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Nick B...

Despite the benefits of easy information access, the amount of information each human needs to process is overwhelming, creating a reduction in comprehension and decision quality. The question most leaders have is, “How do I keep on top of so much information?” Those who can absorb and convert the vast amount of available information into insights, action, and a view of the future will generate su...

Trust in banking hinges on the ability of financial institutions to safeguard identities and keep consumer and business data private, particularly during online account opening and onboarding. Unfortunately, traditional Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) verifications is often synonymous with tedious and manual processes, friction, and onboarding delays. The longer these process...

The banking sector has always been data intensive. Today, AI technology has the capability to improve efficiency, increase innovation, boost differentiation, manage risk and regulatory needs, and positively impact the customer experience. While more than 80% of financial services AI adopters say that AI will be very or critically important to their business’s success in the next two years, it’s ti...

More than ever, financial marketers can trigger automatic action by applying behavioral science principles in marketing strategy and creative execution. If you have a behavioral understanding of your customer, they will find you, refer business, and share insights that will help your efforts succeed. At a time when both print and digital marketing involve as much art as science, behavioral science...

Customer expectations are changing faster than ever. Unfortunately, most banks and credit unions are playing catch-up, with siloed data, back-office technology that was built decades ago, and processes that move too slow. Continuous Product Design, supported by real-time data, can help organizations deliver digital solutions that are personalized, empathetic, and delivered with speed and scale. My...

More than ever, creating an organization that responds to customer’s needs, cares for and inspires employees, embraces purpose, emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion, and helps a firm become future-ready — all boil down to one thing: leadership. While conversations about the importance of a disruptive mindset started well before the pandemic, the crisis accelerated the need for strong leader...

Most mortgage experiences are overwhelming and full of friction, with outdated processes that includes a stack of paper forms and multiple in-person meetings. And, while many financial institutions would like to provide a better experience, resources are scarce. New mortgage-as-a-service (MaaS) solutions allow smaller financial institutions to utilize best-in-class technology, while still retainin...

Small businesses are the foundation of the American economy, with 30.2 million small businesses making up 99.9% of American businesses and employing 47.5% of American employees. Despite the size of this segment, small businesses have unique challenges such as funding, payment processing, money transfer and more. In addition, most traditional small business bank processes are antiquated and time-co...

Embedded finance integrates financial services, such as payments, lending, insurance, etc. within a non-financial business’ infrastructure. This provides a seamless bridge between a brand, the consumer, and a financial solutions provider. The expansion of embedded finance solutions on the B2C side have skyrocketed, while B2B solutions have seen much more tepid growth. Innovation of both forms of s...

Becoming adept at digital banking is not simply about technology. It’s about the way banking leaders adapt to the pace of change and continually rethink how they can create and deliver value in a digital economy. Most importantly, it is understanding that the digital banking transformation process is a never-ending journey … with no end point. My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Liz Wol...

Consumers expect their financial institution to use data and insights collected over time to deliver personalized recommendations based on transactions and behavior in the past. Fortunately, banks and credit unions have access to solutions that can drive insight discovery, outcome predictions, and task automation. The challenge is to implement these capabilities at the speed and scale that custome...