American Banker Podcast

This podcast explores the potential impact of generative AI on the financial services industry in 2024, including its effect on job roles, the concept of AI as a co-pilot tool in banking, the transformation of banking systems, and the importance of up-to-date data in enhancing AI insights.

The fintech revolution has been more successful at working with banks than at trying to replace them, points out Gene Ludwig, former Comptroller of the Currency, chair of the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, and co-founder of Canapi Ventures. Those with “must have” products will fare far better in 2024 than those with “nice to have” tools, he says.

It's been a rough year for fintechs and for the venture capital firms that fund them. Venture capital flows into financial technology companies dropped by 36% year over year to $6 billion in the third quarter of 2023. But Amy Nauiokas, founder and CEO of Anthemis Group, is optimistic about 2024.

The podcast discusses the criticisms of national bank regulators and their oversight failures. It explores the collapse of Silvergate Capital and the role of the Federal Reserve in preventing bank failures. The effects of the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy on banks' balance sheets are explored. The closure of Signature Bank and its involvement with crypto-related firms is discussed. The importance of keeping politics out of bank regulation is emphasized.

Penny Lee, president and CEO of the Financial Technology Association and Steve Boms, executive director of FDATA NA, explain what their members like about the proposed regulation and what they would change.

Community banks sometimes feel that they lack the budget and staff to compete with larger banks and fintechs on things like mobile and online banking, virtual assistants and most recently generative AI. Jim Perry, senior strategist at Market Insights, suggests steps they can and should take to stay relevant technology wise.

The case is not really about cryptocurrency but about fraud, points out Seoyoung Kim, department chair and associate professor of finance and business analytics at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. But regulators and lawmakers are watching and the outcome of the trial will have repercussions throughout finance.

Johnson, chief experience officer at Citizens Financial Group, shares some of her concerns about advanced AI and plans to use it for purposes including contact center support and coding.

Bell, an attorney, founded Ready Life to help reduce the racial wealth and homeownership gaps by showing lenders that credit-score-less consumers have been responsible with their money, based on their daily transactions. Now he and Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, are buying a community bank just outside of Salt Lake City.

What are the best options out there for people living on the edge financially who have an emergency expense? The Global Black Economic Forum and the Center for Business and Economic Research recently completed a study called the 2023 Cash Poor Report that dives into this question.