I recently attended a conference where one manager, in a discussion of her bank’s Information Technology (IT) strategy and operations, expressed the commonly held belief that “IT doesn’t speak the language of business.” She added Read More
It’s become conventional wisdom in the banking industry to say that the “branch of the future” must evolve from a place where customers primarily conduct transactions to one in which they can seek advice, guidance Read More
The cloud. It seems like everyone from technology pundits to mothers in TV commercials is talking about how computing is moving to the cloud – the delivery of applications to distributed users from a central Read More
Making life easier for customers – that’s the key principle underlining the innovative products and services that emerged as winners in the 2011 BAI-Finacle Global Banking Innovation Awards. Spain-based “la Caixa,” Australia’s UBank, New Zealand-based Read More
It wasn’t too many years ago that banking could be considered a local industry, particularly in the U.S. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the advent of interstate banking created first regional and then national Read More
One result of the recent and continuing rash of government regulations is a renewed desire on the part of banks and credit unions to drive new sources of revenue and profitability. Yet, where can these Read More
Bankers in any one country may be excused for thinking the challenges they face are unique but the fact is that retail financial institutions across the globe are struggling with common problems in the wake Read More
If the crisis of 2008-2009 exposed woeful lapses in the banking industry’s risk management practices, the years since have also revealed a strong need for innovation. Squeezed between declining revenues and excessive overhead, banks around Read More
Life is not easy for community banks these days. Like the rest of the industry, they struggle with increased regulatory burdens and costs while dealing with the added disadvantage of competing with larger national and Read More
The recent financial crisis and continuing impact of a slow growth economy and increased regulation has focused financial institutions on the need to be more agile and innovative. This requires greater flexibility from the technology Read More
Innovation is something that comes and goes in banking like chief executives and heads of risk … as in it appears and disappears pretty often.
During the build up to the financial crisis, innovation was everywhere. Then Read More
I am no fan of needless regulation. The industry has enough to deal with right now with Dodd-Frank, a new (and leaderless) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, derivative regulations and the like. But I question the Read More
The first time we were asked to map the Information Technology (IT) infrastructure of a large financial institution, the picture we drew could have been titled “Rootbound.” On the surface, the technology appeared to be Read More
Over the last year, almost every strategic technology planning discussion or project in which I participated focused in large part on alternative delivery planning. Most banks are asking a variant of two questions: How do we Read More
Let’s face it, consumers are not rational in their purchase and use of checking accounts. Instead, they make decisions affected by their emotional needs, particularly concerning simplicity, acceptance and immediate gratification.
While some of us Read More
I’ll admit it: in law school, I thought arbitration was b-o-r-i-n-g. And while in private law practice, I thought arbitration was generally worthless; I usually only added arbitration provisions to a contract when Read More
When mergers fail, as often as not, somewhere in the blame line will be a technology issue undiscovered or neglected in the pre-transaction dealing. By knowing when to add well-timed Information Technology (IT) checkpoints to Read More
Occam’s Razor: Assumptions introduced to explain that a thing must not be multiplied beyond necessity. (Sometimes construed as, “The right answer is usually the simplest answer.”)
It is a growing headache for the conscientious chief Read More
Customer experience is much talked about in retail banking organizations today. The common wisdom holds that in an industry characterized by a high degree of commoditization (and perhaps overcapacity), the customer experience matters far more Read More
Recently overheard: “Banks and credit unions are going to cede the underbanked market to other players.” I disagree. Banks and credit unions of all sizes are well positioned to serve underbanked, low-income consumers. However, in Read More