Embracing a Culture of Continuous Innovation at Scale

In today's rapidly evolving financial landscape, marketing has become a crucial driver of success for banks and credit unions. As consumer expectations shift and digital disruption accelerates, the role of the Chief Marketing Officer has never been more critical – or more complex. Recorded live at the Financial Brand Forum, I am joined on the Banking Transformed podcast by Melissa Stevens, CMO of Fifth Third Bank. We explore the art and science of modern marketing in the banking industry. Melissa also shares her insights on how Fifth Third is reimagining customer engagement, leveraging data analytics to drive personalization, and aligning marketing strategies with broader organizational objectives. Finally, she discusses the challenges of stemming 'silent attrition' in the face of increasing competition from fintechs and digital neobanks.

As digital technologies rapidly transform the financial services landscape, banks and credit unions face the challenge of adapting to evolving consumer behaviors and expectations. In this episode of the Banking Transformed podcast, recorded at the Financial Brand Forum, we're thrilled to welcome back Derek White, CEO of Galileo and a true pioneer in digital banking and financial technologies. With his extensive experience at the forefront of innovation, including launching the world's first online bank and driving customer experience at leading institutions like U.S. Bank, BBVA, Barclays, and Google Cloud, Derek brings a unique perspective on the future of banking in the digital age. In our discussion, we explore emerging trends, the principles of human-centered design, and strategies for building trust and loyalty in an increasingly digital world. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Microsoft: Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. More at Microsoft.com/financialservices

Delivering a seamless digital lending experience in banking requires a delicate balance between streamlining processes, leveraging data for personalization, and maintaining robust fraud prevention measures. In this episode of the Banking Transformed podcast, I sit down with Amber Isaku, VP of Lending at A+ Federal Credit Union, at the MeridianLink LIVE event in Nashville, Tennessee. The conversation delves into the credit union's journey to digitize and personalize the lending experience for its members while maintaining a human touch in an increasingly digital landscape. Amber also highlights the credit union's efforts to democratize data access across various departments enabling employees across the organization to make data-driven decisions and deliver tailored experiences. This episode of Banking Transformed Solutions is sponsored by MeridianLink MeridianLink® (NYSE: MLNK) powers digital lending and account opening for financial institutions and provides data verification solutions for consumer reporting agencies. MeridianLink’s scalable, cloud-based platforms help customers build deeper relationships with consumers through data-driven, personalized experiences across the entire lending life cycle. MeridianLink enables customers to accelerate revenue growth, reduce risk, and exceed consumer expectations through seamless digital experiences. Its partner marketplace supports hundreds of integrations for tailored innovation. For more than 20 years, MeridianLink has prioritized the democratization of lending for consumers, businesses, and communities. Learn more at meridianlink.com.

In today's fast-paced digital world, customers expect their banks to provide personalized, seamless experiences that cater to their unique needs and preferences. To meet these expectations, banks must embrace innovative technologies that enable real-time, event-driven engagement. In this episode of Banking Transformed, we're excited to welcome Maria Echeverria, VP of Business Development at Latinia, a leading provider of real-time engagement solutions for the banking industry. We explore the challenges and opportunities banks face in delivering hyper-personalized experiences, the role of event-driven architectures in enabling this transformation, and the future of customer engagement in banking. We also discuss where organizations must start in this personalization journey. This episode of Banking Transformed Solutions is sponsored by Latinia Latinia stands out as a trailblazer in software solutions for the banking sector, emphasizing its expertise with core technologies such as “Critical Gateway” and “Next Best Action (NBA)” systems. These products empower financial institutions to convert every event into meaningful communication, enhancing customer experiences through real-time personalization and efficiency. With over two decades of experience, Latinia excels in providing real-time transaction analysis, ensuring contextual, personalized, timely, and relevant communication. This supports banks in customer experience and retention, while expanding new business opportunities. For more information: https://latinia.com/en/

In this episode of the Banking Transformed podcast, we're thrilled to have Matt Harris, a leading investor and thought leader in the fintech space, and a partner at Bain Capital Ventures. As traditional banks, neobanks, and fintechs continue to navigate an increasingly complex and competitive landscape, Matt's unique perspective and deep industry knowledge offer invaluable insights into the future of the financial ecosystem. With his finger on the pulse of the most disruptive technologies and innovative business models, Matt is the perfect guest to help us understand the current state of fintech and what lies ahead for the industry. Matt also shows that success in this space requires a combination of innovation, adaptability, and a deep understanding of customer needs.

In this episode of Banking Transformed, we're excited to dive into the revolutionary world of generative AI and its potential to transform the banking industry. Our guest is Chris Gufford, Executive Director of Commercial Lending at nCino, who discusses an innovative solution that harnesses the power of generative AI to augment the banker experience, streamline processes, and deliver intelligence at the moments of the customer journey. Chris shares the challenges, surprises and the future of generative AI solutions for the banking industry and the importance of integrating generative AI solutions within banking now as opposed to assuming the role of a 'fast follower'. This episode of Banking Transformed Solutions is sponsored by nCino nCino is the worldwide leader in cloud banking. Through its single software-as-a-service platform, nCino helps financial institutions serving corporate and commercial, small business, consumer, and mortgage customers modernize and more effectively onboard clients, make loans, manage the loan lifecycle, and open accounts. Transforming how financial institutions operate through innovation, reputation and speed, nCino is partnered with more than 1,800 financial services providers globally. Visit www.ncino.com for more information.

In this episode of the Banking Transformed podcast, I’m thrilled to welcome Matt Covi, the CEO and Co-founder of Chimney, a fintech that's revolutionizing the way banks and credit unions engage with their customers with highly personalized product recommendations. Chimney's embedded financial tools, engage more customers digitally, generate core deposits, and fund more loans with intelligent recommendations. This has resulted in significant attention, winning Best of Show awards at both FinovateSpring 2021 and FinovateFall 2023. Join us as we explore how Chimney is helping financial institutions compete for wallet share, using its award-winning financial calculators to capture valuable customer data, and move leads to product sales faster in the digital age.

Today, we have the privilege of interviewing Tim Wheeler, Chief Lending Officer with Tennessee-based Fortera Credit Union for the Banking Transformed podcast. Time shares how Fortera has leveraged technology, challenged traditional thinking, and eliminated unnecessary friction points to create a seamless, efficient, and member-centric lending experience. Wheeler emphasizes the importance of a data, analytics and a digital-first mindset and the role of leadership in driving change within the organization. He also highlights how Fortera's stable and forward-thinking management team has been instrumental in fostering a culture of innovation. By understanding member behavior and anticipating their needs, the credit union aims to provide personalized recommendations and proactive support at key moments in their members' financial lives. This episode of Banking Transformed Solutions is sponsored by MeridianLink MeridianLink® (NYSE: MLNK) powers digital lending and account opening for financial institutions and provides data verification solutions for consumer reporting agencies. MeridianLink’s scalable, cloud-based platforms help customers build deeper relationships with consumers through data-driven, personalized experiences across the entire lending life cycle. MeridianLink enables customers to accelerate revenue growth, reduce risk, and exceed consumer expectations through seamless digital experiences. Its partner marketplace supports hundreds of integrations for tailored innovation. For more than 20 years, MeridianLink has prioritized the democratization of lending for consumers, businesses, and communities. Learn more at meridianlink.com.

In today's episode of Banking Transformed, our guest is Nicole Zimmermann, founder and CEO of ZELOCIN & Partners, a marketing communications consultancy. Nicole will share her insights on how legacy banking organizations can best assess their current branding, marketplace messaging, and marketing execution to move from the past to the future. She will also discuss the importance of leveraging customer data and analytics to provide personalized communication and experiences and the impact on long-term loyalty Finally, Nicole shares her expert insights on assessing current marketing efforts, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing effective strategies to bridge the gap between the past and the future of banking.

In this episode of the Banking Transformed podcast, we're excited to bring you an insightful conversation with three leaders from Meriwest Credit Union, a $2B community financial institution serving the Greater Bay Area of California and Pima County, Arizona. Despite the challenges posed by an uncertain economic environment, Meriwest Credit Union has demonstrated the ability to innovate at speed and scale, largely due to their strategic partnership with Terafina, a leading provider of digital banking solutions. Join us as we explore how this forward-thinking credit union has leveraged digital capabilities to transform their operations, enhance member experiences, and position themselves for long-term success. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Terafina, an NCR VOYIX Company’ Terafina, an NCR VOYIX Company, provides digital onboarding and omnichannel sales solutions that are simple and secure to financial institutions. Terafina’s omnichannel sales platform is a multichannel product suite offering consumer deposits and lending, real estate, small business deposits and lending, commercial deposits, merchant services, and cryptocurrency account opening—across digital, branch, and call center channels. For more information visit https://terafina.com/