The Purposeful Banker

Fraud leaders at banks and credit unions aren't asking whether AI belongs in the fraud stack. They're asking whom they can trust to build with. Jeff Scott, Q2's managing director, Fraud Intelligence, joins the podcast to discuss what it takes to move from alert-chasing to running a full fraud intelligence operation, and why—amid all the AI momentum—human trust is more important than ever. Related...

Budget planning shapes what actually gets done. Melissa Haire, senior vice president of Customer Success at Q2, talks through how financial institutions can move from a project-by-project mindset to a connected strategy where every dollar ties back to desired outcomes. From digital engagement and commercial growth to fraud prevention and AI investment, Melissa shares what the best-performing insti...

Fraud teams rarely struggle with the obvious cases. It's the in-between moments that are hardest: a suspicious login here, a profile change there, a third-party signal that something might be off. The problem is that most account takeover defenses still force a binary choice. Lock the user out or let them through. In this episode, Q2 Product Manager Kristina Wingers joins host Jim Young to talk ab...

In this episode of The Purposeful Banker, Nicholas Koutouras, VP of Product Management for Q2's Relationship Pricing and Profitability business, discusses why repeated late saves can signal deeper drift inside a bank and how disciplined banks create consistency to help teams spot issues earlier and make steadier decisions. Related Links [Playbook] Beyond Pricing. Disciplined Performance. Real Impa...

In this episode of The Purposeful Banker, we're sharing a conversation that goes deeper than the usual AI headlines. In a replay of Q2's new AI-focused podcast, Cut to Context, Adam Blue and Hima Mukkamala explore where AI really sits in the hype cycle, what it is changing in software development, and why human judgment, validation, and systems thinking still matter. For bankers, it's a useful loo...

I n this episode, Nick Koutouras explores what it takes to build a repeatable operating rhythm that strengthens pricing discipline, portfolio oversight, and relationship decision-making. The conversation looks at how governance drift begins, what signals leaders should watch for, and how banks can maintain consistency even when business conditions are strong. Related Links [Blog] Designing the Ope...

As bank M&A activity picks up, the real challenge is no longer just getting the deal done. This episode explores why technology readiness, integration strategy, and customer experience now play a bigger role in determining whether a merger creates value or creates risk. Related Links [Webinar] The M&A Tech Conversion Playbook: Steps and Considerations to Shape Long-term Value [Report] 2026 State o...

As stablecoins move from industry debate to practical planning, Alex Treece of Stablecore joins the podcast to explore what banks should be doing now to prepare responsibly and what strategic, operational, and compliance questions matter most as digital assets evolve as a payment rail. Related Links [Blog] The Value of Digital Assets in Commercial Banking [LinkedIn] Alex Treece [Website] Stablecor...

Nick Koutouras, leader of Q2's Relationship Pricing and Profitability team, explains why bank silos persist even with aligned teams: because the "shared math" arrives too late. Learn how relationship-level economics, the four seasons of banking, and delivery-to-promise reviews help leaders prevent drift and make better decisions. Related Links [LinkedIn] Nicholas Koutouras [Blog] Q2.com   [Podcast...

Todd Klapprodt joins the podcast to provide a practical primer on stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and other digital assets—what they are, why commercial banking is paying attention, and how financial institutions can explore use cases safely. Related Link [LinkedIn] Todd Klapprodt https://www.linkedin.com/in/tklapprodt/  

Digital banking in 2026 is shaping up to be an efficiency race driven by ERP connectivity, instant payments, and the shift toward small business "hub" experiences. In this episode, Debbie Smart previews what the 2026 State of Commercial Banking reveals about where AI is becoming practical, why integration is the real battleground, and what banks need to deliver to stay primary in the relationship....

 In this episode of The Purposeful Banker, Jim Young sits down with Anna-Fay Lohn for a quick preview of the State of Commercial Banking analysis based on 2025 Q2 PrecisionLender data. They unpack the liquidity rebound, shifting deposit dynamics, accelerating pricing activity, spread compression, and what fixed-rate roll-offs mean for margins heading into 2026. Related Links [Webinar Registration]...

This episode features a replay of a Q2 webinar exploring how financial institutions can turn fraud strategy into a competitive edge by using connected fraud intelligence to spot risk earlier, move faster than attackers, protect account holders in real time, and actually improve the digital experience along the way. [LinkedIn] Jeff Scott [LinkedIn] Ben Cash [On-Demand Webinar] Building Trust, Not F...

This replay of a recent panel discussion focuses on what separates top-performing banks from the rest. Hear how leading institutions are driving durable growth in commercial banking, elevating treasury management as a strategic engine, using real customer research to redesign small business offerings, and building cultures that attract top talent while accelerating digital innovation. Related Link...

At Q2's Dev Days 2025, CTO Adam Blue challenged attendees to see AI as art, not automation. In this episode, he joins The Purposeful Banker to explore creativity, orchestration, and how financial institutions, developers, and communities can harness AI to build the future together. Related links: [Blog] Smarter Support Starts With AI https://www.q2.com/blog/smarter-support-starts-with-ai   [Blog]...

Gen Z is redefining loyalty, purpose, and primacy in banking, and fintechs are leading the charge in creating experiences that resonate with the Gen Z audience. In this episode, Spiral CEO Shawn Melamed joins The Purposeful Banker to share a fintech playbook that helps banks and credit unions attract and engage Gen Z through gamified, purpose-driven experiences that grow deposits, deepen relations...

Fraud is evolving fast, and so must the ways financial institutions fight it. In this episode of The Purposeful Banker, Jeff Scott, Q2's VP of Fraudtech Solutions, discusses "Fraud Intelligence," a smarter, trust-first approach to fraud prevention. We explore how financial institutions can build trust without adding friction, the "See It, Stop It, Solve It" framework, and how AI fits into the futu...

How financial institutions can best serve Gen Z accountholders is a popular topic in the industry. In this episode of The Purposeful Banker, we look past the buzz to unpack the data about this segment and talk about the gaps between expectations and behavior. Related Links [Podcast] Inside Gen Z: Lessons in Loyalty https://hub.q2.com/resources/col/pf/inside-gen-z-lessons-in-loyalty [Survey] q2.com...

This episode of The Purposeful Banker podcast is one in a series of episodes focused on better understanding Gen Z consumers and business owners. In this replay of our "Lessons in Loyalty" panel discussion, three Gen Z consumers unpack the multibank mindset, the importance of personalization, the digital-branch balance, incentives, and the role of education in trust. Related Links: [On-Demand Pane...

Commercial banking runs on relationships, but too often, "gut feel" drives decisions and muddies results. In this episode, Q2's new VP of Product Management, Nick Koutouras, shares how to take the emotion out of relationship management without losing the human touch. We dig into a simple, repeatable operating rhythm—account planning, pricing, measurement, and stakeholder readouts—that builds consi...

Small business owners rely on digital tools to run their businesses, but how does their banking experience measure up? In this episode, hear real-world stories from business owners with diverse needs as they describe their experiences and challenges, and hear from financial institutions that are taking these needs to heart. Related Links [Blog] Small Business Tools, Tactics, and Transformation htt...

In this episode of The Purposeful Banker, Corey Gross from Q2 and Louann Habenicht from Susser Bank discuss how AI is being used to battle the ongoing check fraud problem. They walk through how positive pay has evolved, how machine learning fits into the process, and what it takes to build not just a tool, but a broader fraud prevention strategy that actually works in the real world. Related Links...

Most banks know they should revisit their treasury pricing annually—but few actually do. Why? Because the process is so complex, manual, and error-prone that it often gets pushed aside. In this episode of The Purposeful Banker, we talk with Todd Klapprodt from Q2 about the real cost of doing nothing, why annual repricing is more strategic than you think, and how automation can unlock both efficien...

What if we could digitize the end-to-end journey for small businesses? What would that look like, and what would we need to take into consideration? This panel discussion from the CONNECT 25 customer conference tackled that question and revealed some big opportunities to serve this segment better. Related links: [Blog] https://hub.q2.com/blog/serving-small-businesses-starts-with-listening-to-them...