David Kerstein

David is a recognized authority on business strategy and change management with over 20 years of senior management experience at “Top 10” banks and leading community banks. He is president of Peak Performance Consulting Group, which helps banks and credit unions achieve superior revenue growth, sales and distribution effectiveness and cost efficiency.

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Article

Right on schedule: New branch tools and strategies to serve your staff

Oct 25, 2019

By David Kerstein
Once upon a time, the old Chicago Stadium was known as the “Madhouse on Madison.” The building, which sat a couple miles west of BAI’s current headquarters, calls to mind a particular madhouse memory of my […]
Consumer Banking
Teller_1

Article

Snare the fair share: Four smart ways to grow your bank

Oct 4, 2019

By David Kerstein
These past several years big banks have gotten bigger, re-allocated assets away from smaller, communities and invested in faster growing urban markets where they can achieve economies of scale in distribution and marketing. That often leaves […]
Business Banking / Consumer Banking
Teller_2

Article

Lose limitations, find the money: a roadmap for growth

Aug 30, 2019

By David Kerstein
Deposit generation has posed a major challenge for financial institutions over the past year. Strong asset growth has resulted in high loan-to deposit ratios—in excess of 100 percent at many banks. And we expect this state […]
Consumer Banking
budget

Article

Your 2020 budget: Budging to maximize results

Aug 1, 2019

By David Kerstein
Believe it: We’re already starting to think about 2020 budgets. Perhaps you are, too. But it’s also that time of the year when we tighten up for the fourth quarter, so we can assume the strongest […]
Consumer Banking
digital convergence

Article

Five smart ways to bridge the physical-digital divide

May 31, 2019

By David Kerstein
As customers continue to move towards digital channels, we see the ongoing, dramatic impact on monetary transactions, “paying and receiving” or teller transactions. But for certain types of activity, branches remain the channel of choice. So how should your digital and...
Consumer Banking / Digital Banking
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Article

A change of pace: Speeding the pace of change in retail banking

May 10, 2019

By David Kerstein
I recently attended two banking conferences and was struck by how much has changed—yet how much has not and needs to. Strolling the exhibit hall, I kept thinking, “Where are the hardware vendors?” In the past, these conferences were dominated with...
Consumer Banking
Teller_1

Article

The branch acquisition quandary: cherry picking profits versus the pits

Mar 1, 2019

By David Kerstein
As banks consolidate further, financial institutions have a chance to cherry pick good branch sites cast off by competitive mergers. The most dramatic example: the recently announced mega merger of BB&T and SunTrust. BB&T expects to […]
Consumer Banking
SWA

Article

What Southwest Airlines’ co-founder taught me about retail banking

Feb 1, 2019

By David Kerstein
I only met Herb Kelleher once but he gave me advice that I’ve never forgotten: worth its weight in frequent flyer perks and then some. Kelleher, co-founder of Southwest Airlines and its long time CEO, passed […]
Consumer Banking
Teller_1

Podcast

Podcast: The big branch trends for 2019

Jan 1, 2019

By Lou Carlozo, David Kerstein
Are branches here to stay or going away? Is more high tech a good thing or an obstacle to human connection? The questions won't go away; smart answers are hard to find. Enter...
Consumer Banking / Marketing & Sales
Customer Service

Article

Five branch strategies for 2019

Jan 1, 2019

By David Kerstein
What will 2019 bring?  We’re moving into the longest economic recovery on record and it looks like there’s plenty of room to run.  Elevated confidence and a tight labor market will continue to power consumer...
Consumer Banking / Technology
Teller_1

Article

A winning election: How to grow your bank branch in a landslide victory

Nov 30, 2018

By David Kerstein
As the old saying goes, “It’s all about being local”—whether in politics or community banking. I was reminded of this when my neighbor John ran for office in our little suburban Austin town of Dripping Springs, […]
Consumer Banking
Teller_2

Article

Universal truths of universal banking: Three success stories

Nov 2, 2018

By David Kerstein
The topic of the universal banker is hot and the need for them is clear: Branch traffic is declining, banks have shrunk staffing to the minimum and as a result, 50-60 percent of all branches are staffed at the minimum...
Consumer Banking / Talent & Workforce Management
small business

Article

Five ways to score big with small businesses

Oct 5, 2018

By David Kerstein
Small businesses represent banks’ best opportunity to grow deposit balances, improve spreads and obtain overall superior relationship profitability. So why do so many small business owners feel a bit like the girl so attractive that she […]
Business Banking / Consumer Banking
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Article

Do this: Five strategies for sustainable revenue growth

Sep 7, 2018

By David Kerstein
The New York Times headline says it all: “What Stress? It’s Good to Be a Bank.” For the industry, 2018 is shaping up as a great year with higher net interest margins, higher operating revenues and...
Consumer Banking / Technology
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Article

What goes on in your branches? The good, the bad, the ugly—and the opportunity

Aug 3, 2018

By David Kerstein
As retail bankers, we spend significant amounts of time, capital and energy focused on maximizing the performance of our distribution network—online, mobile, call centers and branches—so we can fulfill an important goal: to deliver an exceptional, […]
Consumer Banking
Analytics 1

Article

10 steps to successful digital transformation

Jul 6, 2018

By David Kerstein
Technology is redefining financial services delivery, customer experience and money movement. But with so much change, it’s a confusing world. Bank and credit union leaders now ask themselves: “Where should we focus? Should we expand our technology partners beyond our...
Technology
Millennial bankers 1

Article

Six reasons your bank-at-work program is underperforming—and how to fix it

Jun 1, 2018

By David Kerstein
“Bank-at-Work,” or workplace banking, is not a new concept. It’s a logical strategy for community and regional banks that seek a competitive edge. But too often we find banks have tried it with only limited success. We’ve consistently seen six...
Consumer Banking / Marketing & Sales
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Article

Large banks are winning: Here are five strategies to beat them

May 4, 2018

By David Kerstein
The recent Wall Street Journal article about the dominance of the three largest banks struck a visceral reaction among bankers. The key points were not only that the top three (JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America […]
Consumer Banking
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Podcast

Podcast: The bank branch dilemma: Smart answers to vexing questions

Apr 17, 2018

By Lou Carlozo, David Kerstein
The conversation surrounding bank branches, and their future, continues to dominate conversation in financial services. Variables run the gamut from staffing levels to overall customer usage, and how the latter will drive quality and quantity...
Consumer Banking
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Article

The key to killer customer experience: ‘I’ll be interested if you’ll be interesting’

Mar 30, 2018

By David Kerstein
I’m always excited every March when nearly 200,000 people crowd into Austin for South by Southwest, composed of annual interactive/digital, film and music conferences. The interactive portion of the conference has blossomed into a massive tech […]
Consumer Banking / Digital Banking
Analytics 4

Article

Six branch roadblocks to overcome on the way to universal banker success

Mar 2, 2018

By David Kerstein
It’s clear the decline in branch transactions has big implications for branch staffing and organizational roles. Most branches today need only universal bankers, who can perform both sales and service transactions. But many banks are stuck with an old, outdated model...
Consumer Banking