Banking Transformed with Jim Marous

Financial marketing has become increasingly complex as data and technology provides the opportunity for instant, personalized engagement. As consumer attention spans shorten, and the world becomes cluttered with noise, bank marketing must adjust accordingly. Choice proliferation and the exponential pace of change creates a combustible combination of complexity. Opportunities for simple banking exp...

SoFi is on a mission to move beyond its roots as a direct-to-consumer fintech organization, to become a financial services platform that will enable banks and fintech firms to build best-of-breed financial solutions. The recent acquisition of the Technisys’ platform, combined with their banking-as-a-service division, Galileo, will provide an end-to-end vertically integrated technology stack using...

In a digital world where convenience, time savings and instant access reign supreme, a physical-first banking experience is no longer the preferred option for most consumers. But how can you verify the identity of someone wanting to do business with you? Banks should not have to make compromises between security and a seamless customer experience along their digital journey — but this requires the...

The increasing scale and pace of change has been a constant characteristic of the payments landscape, driven by rapidly changing customer expectations and new technologies. The ability to deliver on these expectations, however, is still very much work in progress. Payments is an important element of a bank’s overall value proposition. More than ever, financial institutions must adapt new partnersh...

Financial institutions have struggled engaging consumers with budgeting and financial health tools. Bank of America's approach has been to address financial wellness by building an omnichannel platform that allows consumers to set goals, track progress, and get answers to financial questions easily. These efforts have resulted in Bank of America being the first financial institution to be certifie...

According to a report by J.P. Morgan, close to 300 banks are planning to roll out Bitcoin trading on mobile apps in the first half of 2022. Another study finds that 44% of regional and global banks will offer crypto support by the end of the year. More than ever, the share of a consumer’s wallet is at risk. The question is how will banks and credit unions respond at a time when differentiation and...

Over the past several years, my team at the Digital Banking Report has asked financial institutions globally what their primary objective was. Overwhelmingly, it has been to create better customer experiences. The problem is that creating a great experience is no longer enough. Consumers are looking for financial advocates and ways to achieve better financial outcomes. They expect their financial...

The banking industry has never been under more pressure to change. The challenge is not whether digital transformation will occur, but whether the right priorities will be set and whether the speed of change will be fast enough. Winning organizations will combine new tech with legacy values and experiences. They will leverage partners to create innovations at the speed and scale of digital and wil...

Situated on the asset spectrum between large national banks and community financial institutions, regional banks face the challenge of scale to make the technology investments needed to modernize legacy operations. To meet changing customer expectations, regional banks need to develop innovative ideas and approaches to reduce expenses, create new products and services, serve unique market segments...

Recently, NCR increased their ability to deliver a complete digital currency solution to its customers, including the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrency, conduct cross-border remittance, and accept digital currency payments across digital and physical channels. Beyond offering financial institutions a secure way to perform digital currency transactions from a mobile banking app, website, or cu...

If there was any doubt about the mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency, you didn’t need to look any further than the ads during this year’s SuperBowl, where three of the top five apps whose ads delivered the strongest download growth were crypto ads. At the same time, the recent NFT boom has seen many individual NFTs sell for upwards of $1M each, with one selling for close to $70 million. There...

Data and advanced analytics lie at the core of every financial institution wanting to build stronger engagement capabilities. Unfortunately, many organizations continue to struggle to apply data that will improve the customer journey. To succeed, banks and credit unions have to understand and take action — in real time — to the consumer opportunities that data reveals. On today’s Banking Transform...

Businesses are becoming big business in banking. Unfortunately, most businesses have trouble getting fast and flexible financing. Founded in 2013, OakNorth is a fintech bank that focuses on making loans to small- to medium-sized businesses in the U.K. Beyond launching a neobank, OakNorth has also created lending technology for other financial institutions that delivers credit decisions up to ten t...

The pandemic represented a tipping point for financial institutions, forcing them to accelerate digital transformation, rethink business models, and illustrate a level of empathy for employees, customers, and communities. Innovation has taken center stage, with an imperative for enhanced customer experiences driven by automation and technology. We are very fortunate to have Michael Abbott, senior...

The need for quick innovation is greater than ever, with advanced, cost-effective solutions needed by legacy banking organizations to keep pace with a fast-moving digital landscape. One option is to deploy white label banking solutions in partnerships with third parties. By using application program interfaces (APIs), banks and credit unions can quickly respond to new challenges, such as Buy Now,...

While government intervention in response to the COVID-19 pandemic helped many people improve their financial situations, most people in the United States continue to struggle with their financial health. The question becomes whether policymakers, financial services providers, employers, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders will take advantage of opportunity to create policies and solution...

Digital payment adoption and use has surged around the world. As a result, prioritizing payments innovation is a critical area of focus for banks, credit unions, merchants and those organizations that provide core systems support. Consumers want to choose how they transact, making it critical for financial institutions of all sizes to provide payment options that are fast, secure and easy to use....

More than one million immigrants arrive in the U.S. every year, and it is predicted that immigration will drive 82% of new population growth by 2050. Yet, the lack of domestic credit history limits access to financial services, housing and even employment. Award-winning fintech Nova Credit helps newcomers and other global citizens apply for financial services using their credit history from countr...

The future of payments includes a world where consumers and businesses can move funds to anywhere in the world, instantaneously, 24/7/365, with full transparency, privacy, and security. While there is agreement on the desired outcome, there are multiple paths to achieve this goal, leveraging varied payment rails, artificial intelligence, blockchain technologies and even digital currencies. We are...

There has never been a more exciting time to leverage customer insight, technology, and an innovation culture to drive improved customer experiences in banking. But how does one of the largest financial institutions in the world combine strategy and execution at a time of massive industry disruption? Chase is at the forefront of emerging technologies in retail banking and the use of these technolo...

During the holidays, we are sharing our most popular podcasts we did in 2021 that set the stage for 2022. In this Banking Transformed podcast from last February, we interviewed Pinar Ozcan. Pinar is the Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University. She is also the academic director of the Oxford Future of Finance and Technology Initiative at Oxford....

As we enter the holidays, we are sharing our most popular podcasts we did in 2021 that do a great job of setting the stage for 2022. In this Banking Transformed podcast from last April, we interviewed Dominic Venturo, senior executive vice president and chief digital officer at U.S. Bank. Dom shares ways that US Bank leverages innovation and modern technologies to improve customer experiences, inc...

The importance of using data, analytics and advanced marketing technologies has never been greater. Consumers expect their financial institutions to know them, look out for them and reward them. Unfortunately, few organizations are adept at using data for contextual engagement. Now, more than ever, banks and credit unions must leverage the insights they have to create better experiences. We are ve...

Over the past 20 months, we have experienced personal and business transformation that has impacted every aspect of our lives. With change happening faster than ever, we are about to experience a radical new future that we have yet to fully understand. In financial services, successful firms will be those that can leverage data, algorithms, and human talent to both sidestep industry boundaries and...

As the competitive marketplace in financial services expands and diversifies globally, it is more critical than ever for organizations to drive innovation and differentiation. But, innovation and differentiation requires an openness to change, a high level of engagement from all levels, and the use of data, applied analytics, new technologies and skillsets that many banks and credit unions lack. W...