The ever-shifting mix of cash, checks, ACH and electronic payments methods are now top-of-mind when people discuss today’s in banking—especially as consumers increasingly adopt electronic payments methods in their daily routines. And while demand for cash and cash-like payments instruments remains strong—cash in circulation was estimated at $1.6 trillion in 2016 and continues to grow—so too is Read More
When the fintech companies burst onto the U.S. scene around the time of the financial crisis in 2007-’08, the image was one of young Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley techbros ready to put aging, creaky necktie-wearing bankers and their businesses out to pasture. But here’s what happened instead: Global fintech centers rose to challenge the supremacy of Read More
Our torrid affair with Groupon has always been a love-hate thing: The more consumers embraced it, the more businesses discovered it was just another form of pay-to-play. That, and outflanking by copycat discount sites, explains in large part why Groupon stock eventually tanked and CEO Andrew Mason was forced out of the company he created. But where Read More
Lately there’s been quite a lot of talk about artificial intelligence (AI). Publications are quickly assembling perspectives, ideas, suggestions and conclusions on how AI can and will be used over the next few years. Current AI research has a theoretical arm that tackles broad questions about modeling basic human thought patterns. But a vibrant academic and business Read More
Innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem —Steve Jobs Looking at the macro landscape, it’s clear many traditional financial services organizations have answered a critical call Read More
Just as in the movie “Field of Dreams,” financial service leaders sometimes seem to put the product out there and hope they will come. Maybe a field of daydreams is more accurate. If you asked someone to name three campaigns that moved them to seek out the featured product, it’s unlikely a bank marketing effort would get Read More
We’re well into the age of digital transformation. Within the last half decade, banks have set the pace of innovation within the financial landscape. The result: a new level of technological expectation from customers, and the industry at large. Thus what was once a fascinating hypothesis is now a firm conclusion: Banks that choose not to keep Read More
Nearly half of banking CIOs surveyed in late 2015 are currently leading their organization’s digital transformation. And little wonder: From their cross-organizational vantage point, CIOs are uniquely positioned to foster the strong collaboration and innovation needed across the enterprise—and harness the power of the IT value chain. Many, however, find it necessary to reinvent themselves to succeed Read More
The Fed and interest rates. The presidential election. The Chicago Cubs. The 2016 stories that grabbed readers, viewers and listeners by the lapels are known in media parlance as "breaking news." Yet the Philadelphia Inquirer's Gene Roberts—arguably the greatest newspaper editor of the 20th Century—preached a nuanced gospel of "stories that do not break, but trickle, seep Read More
The past 10 years have seen an increase in the number and breadth of regulations aimed at the financial services industry, many of which stem from the financial crisis of 2007-’08. For example, requirements for capital adequacy, and restrictions on proprietary trading, have profoundly affected the covered institution. Yet beyond rules spawned the financial crisis, other rules Read More
