Digital Banking Podcast

The third annual CU Build event was held in Dallas July 28-30, 2023. CU Build is a buildathon (sometimes called a hackathon ) for credit unions running Jack Henry’s Symitar core processing platform, as well as invited vendor partners. The event is 100% credit union organized. Prior to the event, Digital Banking Podcast host Josh DeTar had the opportunity to chat with Brad Hickey about the then upc...

Every organization on the planet is intent on creating a great user experience – the best possible combination of clicks and swipes to make the task at hand as frictionless as possible. However, as technologies like ChatGPT continue to develop, “clicks and swipes” will end up at some fintech museum right next to a 1200-baud modem. Instead, consumers will converse in natural language with virtually...

To remain competitive in today’s digital world, community FIs must be nimble. But being nimble isn’t enough if a legacy technology stack creates more obstacles than opportunities. Modernization is imperative, but many FIs lack the tools and the in-house expertise to move the FI forward on the best possible course. In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, Tim Hamilton, the founder, and CEO o...

More and more organizations are committing to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and practices to build a more diverse and just workplace. This is even more important for financial institutions in their outreach to the communities they serve. In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, Shannan Herbert, the EVP of Inclusive Credit at Stratyfy, explained what DEI means and how to im...

Digital transformation is a cultural shift more than it is a technological shift. It’s not about the tools; it’s about how the people within your organization use those tools. It’s about creating a culture of constant change and improvement.  In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, Jay Tkachuk, Chief Digital Officer at Golden 1 Credit Union, explained the digital transformation process. He...

It seems so simple. Follow a budget. Don’t run up your credit cards. Keep an eye on your credit score. Most importantly, consider the long-term consequences of every financial decision. It’s a recipe for financial success. And yet, most Americans struggle with their finances. In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Sid Ratkiewicz, a behavioral researcher at the Cen...

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar and Austin Adams, retired CIO at JP Morgan Chase, discussed why empathy is more important than feature functionality when community FIs try to take on the megabanks. Adams also shared a little of his knowledge and expertise in driving innovation and superior customer experience in a complex and ever-changing environment.

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Ashish Garg, the founder and CEO of Eltropy. They talked about the importance of community financial institutions in underserved communities, how community FIs can find their niche, and why technology is a powerful ally for financial institutions.

In this crowded marketplace, how can a community financial institution possibly differentiate itself? Better technology is table stakes, because as soon as you add the latest shiny object to your tech stack, every other FI in town will add it, too. In the end, differentiation can only come from better i deas . In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, our Josh DeTar welcomed Aaron Wollner, t...

Community financial institutions are no longer competing with just each other. In an increasingly all-digital world, they’re competing with every other app and service that facilitates some sort of financial transaction. If these institutions don’t innovate to stay ahead of the curve, they risk losing relevance – especially with younger generations. In this episode of the The Digital Banking Podca...

Many new fintechs started out focused on a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model. They’re not accustomed to many of the technological constraints of the banking industry and, just as important, they’re unfamiliar with the language of the industry. This can lead to break-downs in communication between fintechs and FIs, even though they very much need each other right now. In this episode of The Digital Ba...

Collaboration and cooperation in the face of competition. It’s a concept that both financial institutions and fintechs must embrace to survive. In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar was joined by Danny Payne of Jack Henry. The two discussed how competing fintechs can share a common forum and learn from each other to meet their users' specific needs. Payne and DeTar a...

It’s easy to think of banking as a numbers industry. After all, that’s what a dollar is: a numerical representation of buying power. However, as our guest in this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast made clear, banking is really a people industry. It’s people working at financial institutions helping the people who bank there to better their financial lives. In this episode of The Digital Banki...

The reason it’s so hard to define digital transformation is because it means – or should mean – something different to every financial institution. In other words, the finish line may be the same for everyone, but the starting line will always be different. Sometimes simply adding a new layer of technology will work. Other times, you’ll need to step back and consider completely reengineering a pro...

There are many ways for financial institutions to communicate with their accountholders in the digital age. With so many options, it’s easy mistake quantity for quality. Effective communication is still a matter of listening mindfully to the people you serve and intelligently providing them with the information that’s pertinent to them. The only thing that’s changed is how that’s accomplished. In...

During his 30+ years marketing technology of all sorts, Don MacDonald worked for Intel, Qualcomm, Fiserv, and MX. As a result, the insights he shared on this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast are beyond valuable as they help banking professionals mitigate fear and embrace change.  MacDonald shared Andy Grove's philosophy and how it shaped his thinking, the lessons he learned from bees an...

Do financial institutions still need branches? Is digital transformation more of a cultural shift than a technological shift? According to one industry insider, the answer to both questions is no . In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Ron Shevlin, the Chief Research Officer at Cornerstone Advisors. Shevlin and DeTar explored the world of fintech and tech trends...

In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Brett Wooden, the SVP of Innovation at FTSI. They talked about the benefits of integrating AI into banking technology, the importance of thinking outside the box, and why you need to create a seamless and convenient digital experience for your accountholders. 

Fintechs are no longer the enemy. They’re gradually moving into the role of trusted technology partner. The sooner you recognize and accept that, the better off your financial institution will be. In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, ASA founder Landon Glenn and host Josh DeTar discussed digital transformation and the vast number of fintech launches in recent years. They discuss the dan...

Opinions are like … well, you know the saying. And that’s all customer feedback is – opinions. Some feedback is downright transformative, other feed back not so much. However, because it comes from your customers, you must respond to all of it in some measure. The trick is determining the appropriate response for any given feedback. You can’t overreact, but you can’t underreact, either. In this ep...

Traditionally, it’s always been your employees who are responsible for the “front line.” In the wake of digital transformation, has technology taken over responsibility for the front line? The short answer is no. Technology is just a new tool that can help your employees better serve your accountholders. Thus, your employees must be well-versed in the use of that technology.   In this episode of T...

Each new voice on The Digital Banking Podcast brings with it a fresh perspective that adds to the conversation, and this installment is no different.    In this episode of The Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Dan Black, Strategic Partnerships and Accounts at Boost.ai. The two discussed open banking and the age of conversational AI. They also covered the conversion to digital banki...

Are fintechs your financial institution’s enemy or its savior. Or something in between. The correct answer is, all of the above.    In this episode of the Digital Banking Podcast, host Josh DeTar welcomed Don Shafer, the co-founder and chief evangelist at Quilo. Among other things, the two discussed how fintechs generally fall into one of three different “buckets.” They also looked at people'...

Think you understand cryptocurrency? More important, do you understand what it means to your community financial institution? Probably not as well as this episode’s guest, Lou Grilli, Sr. Innovation Specialist at PSCU. Host Josh DeTar dug deep as Grilli explained crypto and shared how it will revolutionize financial services. 

The core philosophy of credit unions is people helping people and enabling underbanked communities that don't have access to traditional financial institutions. While technology can play an important role in effectively reaching those communities, there will inevitably be some members of the community that don’t have access to modern technology. Therein lies the rub.  In this episode of Digit...