Karen Epper Hoffman

Karen Epper Hoffman has been writing about banking and technology issues for nearly a quarter of a century for publications including American Banker, Bloomberg Businessweek and Financial Times’ The Banker. She has also spoken and moderated panels at industry conferences.

Article

Pandemic-related fraud: A crisis within a crisis

Jul 29, 2021

By Karen Epper Hoffman
Community banks are struggling to stay ahead of the crooks as COVID-19 scams hit both the institution and its customers.
Compliance, Regulation & Risk / Technology

Article

Promoting inclusion in performance reviews

Jul 7, 2021

By Karen Epper Hoffman
A growing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion has some banks and credit unions building more mentoring and career-pathing into the employee assessment process.
Talent & Workforce Management
Small Business

Article

2020’s PPP chaos gives way to smoother encore in 2021

Apr 22, 2021

By Karen Epper Hoffman
Financial services leaders recall last year's glitch-filled frenzy and the ways the process has improved the second time around.
Consumer Banking
Diversity, equity and inclusion

Article

Why do talented women and minorities leave financial services?

Mar 28, 2021

By Karen Epper Hoffman
Banks and service providers are more focused on recruiting women and people of color, but these employee groups still experience the greatest attrition.
Consumer Banking / Talent & Workforce Management

Article

Brand, spanking new

Mar 3, 2021

By Karen Epper Hoffman
In the wake of COVID-19, banks must revisit how customers view their brand and what the organization can do to boost its reputation at this critical time.
Marketing & Sales
Woman looking at her phone

Article

Flipping the CX script in 2021 to accommodate the ‘new normal’

Dec 18, 2020

By Karen Epper Hoffman
The pandemic, social justice movement and resulting changes to the financial industry will impact on how customers experience banking this year.
Consumer Banking
Woman working from home for her small business

Article

Lenders start to place more emphasis on inclusion

Dec 2, 2020

By Karen Epper Hoffman
The legacies of long-outlawed discriminatory lending practices still affect minority borrowers today. Here's how today's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are starting to turn the tide.
Consumer Banking
customer data digital

Article

Rethinking the finer points of rewards

Oct 14, 2020

By Karen Epper Hoffman
In the wake of the pandemic, banks are retooling their loyalty programs to fit the "new normal."
Consumer Banking

Article

Building relationships rooted in customer needs

Jul 13, 2020

By Karen Epper Hoffman
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how account teams acquire and engage with customers.
Consumer Banking
artificial intelligence customer service

Article

The ‘tipping point’ for digital advisory services

Jun 24, 2020

By Karen Epper Hoffman
The trend toward online financial advice and planning predates COVID-19, but the pandemic has kicked up the pace of adoption.
Digital Banking

Article

COVID-19 is raising the risk of insider bank jobs

May 11, 2020

By Karen Epper Hoffman
No financial institution is exempt from the occasional ‘malicious insider’, who, acting alone or with outside help, can do more damage than virtually any outside fraudster. In addition to knowing where a bank’s most vital and […]
Consumer Banking / Fraud Prevention / Technology

Article

Bank leaders set the tone for cultural transformation

Apr 20, 2020

By Karen Epper Hoffman
For banks to fully embrace their digital destiny, top executives and board members need to set the tone with a cultural transformation that underlies the increasing move to electronic channels. Traditional banks are often seen as […]
Consumer Banking / Digital Banking / Talent & Workforce Management
Hacker

Article

COVID-19 puts scams on the rise at financial institutions

Mar 25, 2020

By Karen Epper Hoffman
It’s no secret that fraudsters use weakness and vulnerability to their greatest advantage, and they move fast. From the earliest days of the coronavirus outbreak, scam artists have worked to leverage the societal disruption – quarantines, […]
Compliance, Regulation & Risk / Fraud Prevention
shutterstock_142515592-(1)

Article

Branches hold key to deposit growth, customer service

Jan 29, 2018

By Karen Epper Hoffman
So, then: Was 2017 a triumph or a trash fire? In at least one sector, it was a literal fire sale—as the precipitous (if long-predicted) demise of the retail store made headlines, even as e-commerce titans such as Amazon...
Consumer Banking
shutterstock_256649989-(1)

Article

In Africa, payment advances pay off—big

Nov 21, 2017

By Karen Epper Hoffman
The stereotypes that surround Africa’s track record of innovations—or as some would argue, the lack of them—may well outnumber those dismissive people who still call it “the third world.” What with all the breathless foreign correspondents […]
Payments / Technology
Device Chart2

Article

How FinTechs finally found allure in community banks

Sep 21, 2017

By Karen Epper Hoffman
The stereotype is that FinTechs play big. Really big. Only big. Big-dreamin’ entrepreneurs cruise Silicon Valley’s Sand Hill Road in big-money sports cars, looking for big-time venture capital so that they can finally, finally play ball with the big dogs...
Consumer Banking / Technology
shutterstock_25667818

Article

For consumers, piqued interest on rising deposit rates

Sep 13, 2017

By Karen Epper Hoffman
Thus far in 2017, interest rates haven’t risen as quickly or high as many industry prognosticators anticipated. And with interest rates stagnant for so long, you couldn’t blame some bankers for consulting a ouija board as opposed to fearless Fed...
Compliance, Regulation & Risk / Consumer Banking / Technology
shutterstock_134890157-(1)

Article

The ATM turns 50—and hits a digital crossroads

Jul 24, 2017

By Karen Epper Hoffman
In 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Middle East fighting flared with the Six Day War and The Beatles released “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” In fact, less than 30 […]
Consumer Banking / Payments
shutterstock_177915332-(1)

Article

Alternative music for millennials: New payment options to win them over

Apr 7, 2017

By Karen Epper Hoffman
Millennials have fashioned the smartphone into a ubiquitous tool to socialize via Twitter or Instagram or Snapchat; collaborate on projects with Slack; or find and review restaurants on Yelp. So it seems natural that this group […]
Consumer Banking / Marketing & Sales / Payments
shutterstock_279232433-(1)

Article

Nothing regular about RegTech

Mar 14, 2017

By Karen Epper Hoffman
If necessity is the mother of invention, then there’s a new child in financial services that reconciles compliance and regulation with a seeming opposite: efficiency. RegTech—or regulatory technology—arguably represents the fastest growing segment in the scorching-hot […]
Compliance, Regulation & Risk / Fraud Prevention / Technology
shutterstock_308931104

Article

Branching out, reaching out

Mar 1, 2017

By Karen Epper Hoffman
By now it’s a fact of financial life, or perhaps even life immortal: Like a cat with nine lives, or mythical, money-green beast, bank branches simply won’t die. In fact, the most technologically nimble retail banks […]
Consumer Banking / Technology