Craig Guillot

Article

Moving the back office to the front seat

May 5, 2021

By Craig Guillot
Consumer-facing digitalization efforts steal the spotlight, but momentum is growing for operational-side automation.
Consumer Banking / Technology

Article

Everyday insights fall short in exceptional times

Jan 20, 2021

By Craig Guillot
A different approach to data and benchmarking can fill gaps in the standard metrics and help banks and credit unions navigate COVID’s economic uncertainties.
Consumer Banking
meeting 2

Article

How customer experience benefits from operational efficiency

Feb 20, 2020

By Craig Guillot
As the banking industry faces tighter margins and increasing competition for customers, many financial executives find themselves looking to cost reductions and department downsizing to better their bottom lines. Yet, those who take a balanced approach […]
Consumer Banking / Customer Experience / Talent & Workforce Management
Mobile Wallet

Article

Climb well spent: Getting to the top of the mobile wallet

Jan 29, 2020

By Craig Guillot
We’ve heard the hype about mobile wallets for almost a decade. And heard it. And heard it. And yet … the road to adoption has been slow. Passenger-pigeon slow. Tin-can-and-string slow. Ugly-beige-rotary-phone slow. The stats tell […]
Payments
digital convergence

Article

Beyond gadgets and widgets, an outstanding ‘phygital’ experience

Sep 20, 2019

By Craig Guillot
Banks have talked for years about bridging the yawning gap between physical and digital channels—first via multichannel, then omnichannel. The progress, if slow at times, still promised something revolutionary. Something novel. And, for the puckish, something with a funny-but-catchy name. Welcome...
Consumer Banking / Digital Banking
Customer Service

Article

Branch formats, bright future: Rethinking brick-and-mortar for modern markets

Sep 16, 2019

By Craig Guillot
Back when people visited banks as their sole way to deposit paychecks, make large cash withdrawals and move money between accounts, branches were built to portray security and stability. An armed guard, few windows, and tellers […]
Consumer Banking
digital convergence

Article

Life in the really fast lane: How banks can prepare for the 5G revolution

Aug 15, 2019

By Craig Guillot
What an unfortunate name, that 5G. It sounds an awful lot like a ho-hum version of 4G-plus, much as new iPhone models improve in tiny increments these days. But as this new wireless technology commences its […]
Technology
digital convergence

Article

Digital machines, flesh-and-blood digits: Putting the human touch in mobile and online banking

Jul 12, 2019

By Craig Guillot
As banks rush to digital in an effort to please their customers, many leave behind one of the most important elements consumers want: the human touch. To be sure, automation and machine learning can drive efficiencies. […]
Consumer Banking / Technology
stethoscope

Article

Beating the CECL clock and crowded field: The competitive edge in regulation

Jun 17, 2019

By Craig Guillot
With a sound not unlike this—“CECL, CECL, CECL”—the clock is ticking for banks to comply with the Current Expected Credit Loss standard. Waiting until the last minute is no option at all, given the unprecedented changes afoot. CECL represents one of...
Compliance, Regulation & Risk
compliance_regulations

Article

Closing the gap on vendor vulnerabilities

May 22, 2019

By Craig Guillot
While banks remain on guard for robbers, unscrupulous employees and hackers—keeping the proverbial vault sealed shut—trusted third party vendors could leave the wide door open to cybercriminals.  Outsourcing, connectivity and cloud-based solutions have delivered tremendous benefits […]
Compliance, Regulation & Risk
relationship

Article

Five ways to make social media a strong arm of your marketing plan

Apr 5, 2019

By Craig Guillot
While social media has become an important marketing channel in the financial services industry, many banks maintain a presence simply for the sake of it. And those platforms—whether on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat—are just too crowded to embrace the...
Marketing & Sales
Balazs-Conny Award stage

Article

Innovation and the finalist destination

Aug 24, 2018

By Craig Guillot
More than 1.7 billion people across the globe remain unbanked, according to the latest data from the World Bank’s Global Financial Inclusion database. And it’s a growing problem in countries such as Sri...
Technology
Award for Pepper_top2

Article

Welcome to the U.S. of I: American banks and the unstoppable state of innovation

Jul 30, 2018

By Craig Guillot
As U.S. banks and financial services companies seek new innovations to enhance their products and services, many are looking to the global market for inspiration. The 2018 BAI Global Innovation Awards recognize industry leaders and showcase how...
Technology
Topper Image - 2017 GIA

Article

From ideation to innovation—and invention

Jul 18, 2018

By Craig Guillot
The financial services industry in the 21st century has reached a crossroads: Innovation no longer serves as a nice option to obtain a competitive advantage. Now, survival depends on it. As banks across the globe strive to bring new products and...
Technology
shutterstock_25667818

Article

The CECL home stretch: Compliance as a competitive advantage

May 24, 2018

By Craig Guillot
One way to look at banking, data, silos and credit loss is to consider the image offered by Peter Cherpak, Executive Vice President and Partner at Ardmore Banking Advisors in west suburban...
Compliance, Regulation & Risk
shutterstock_316222244

Article

Spot and stop email phishing before your bank becomes bait

May 17, 2018

By Craig Guillot
Back in the 1990s, phishing criminals masqueraded as Nigerian prices, lottery directors and attorneys for deceased tycoons, toting the email equivalent of a suitcase full of millions. All you needed to do was provide your bank […]
Fraud Prevention
shutterstock_289113524

Article

Raising voices: Can chatbots help your community bank?

Apr 26, 2018

By Craig Guillot
Few customers enjoy speaking with a bank’s interactive voice response system—and when you think about it, why should they? For starters, the systems have limited communication abilities and it can take multiple rounds of queries and responses for customers to...
Consumer Banking / Digital Banking / Technology
shutterstock_256912987-(1)

Article

How wise wealth managers can attract skeptical millennials

Mar 29, 2018

By Craig Guillot
Millennials are too often written off as a generation of overeducated slackers who live at home into their 30s. And while few cynics will laugh over the coming years, millennials will laugh all the way to the bank. Here’s why:...
Consumer Banking / Marketing & Sales
shutterstock_279232433-(1)

Article

Marijuana, banks and the perils of a growing business

Mar 13, 2018

By Craig Guillot
Todd Kleperis heads an organization that uses unmarked armored vehicles and heavily-armed men (including veterans) to shuttle bundles of marijuana and bags of cash throughout southern California. He doesn’t like to talk about the details of […]
Compliance, Regulation & Risk / Technology