American Banker Podcast

Many people had "this crazy idea that regulation is really boring and as a result, it's been passed over by a lot of the innovation in fintech," says Jo Ann Barefoot in this week's episode. Consultants Barefoot and Henri Arslanian share with hosts Brett King and JP Nichols why they think that's changing.

Former banker John Best, now CEO of Best Innovation Group and author of the new book "Breaking Digital Gridlock," outlines the top obstacles to bank innovation and offers suggestions on how to overcome them.

Brett King queries science fiction writers Kevin J. Anderson and Harry "Doc" Kloor about the practical future for emerging technologies like avatars and voice recognition.

Student loan debt now totals $1.5 trillion, second only to mortgage debt, and it's a crushing burden for many. J.P. Nichols hosts alongside Jean Donnelly, executive director of FinTech Sandbox. Guests FutureFuel.io CEO Laurel Taylor and Edmit.me CEO Nick Ducoff join to discuss their approaches to helping students repay their loans and make good debt decisions.

Dek: Zach Gipson, chief innovation officer at USAA, acknowledges that chatbot technology today lacks the intelligence to have natural conversations about money. But he doesn't understand some companies' hesitancy to try the technology. "Why would you want to wait to start learning from your customers?" he said.

Women with low credit scores tend to work long hours at low pay, care for parents as well as children, and tend to have trouble making ends meet. Jonathan Walker, executive director of the Center for the New Middle Class, and Mark Schwanhausser, director of digital banking at Javelin Strategy & Research, kick around ideas for how banks and fintechs could help women who are caught in a subprime trap.

The last mile of any distribution network is always the least efficient, and it is no different for financial services. This week JP Nicols and Jason Henrichs talk about the ways that fintech can help make apps and branches more productive, with guests Michelle Tinsley, founder of Tinsley Retail Insights, and Mike Laven, CEO of Currencycloud.

Ellen Zimiles, global head of investigations and compliance at Navigant Consulting, shares what she's learned about testing and implementing AI in compliance departments, filing defensive SARs, and hiring the right people to maintain an AI system.

Guest hosts Jason Henrichs and JP Nicols interview Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, about blockchain trends and challenges. Brett King talks with Derek Corcoran, chief experience officer at Avoka, about the onboarding vendor's new Digital Onboarding Trends report.

To be future-proof, banks need data scientists, behavioral psychologists, experienced designers, and community advocates, King says.