American Banker Podcast

Distributed ledger projects in banking are few and far between — many have stalled and others remain experiments. Robert Townsend, who has worked with banks around the world and written a book about blockchain technology, explains some of the ways financial institutions could be using it, for instance in small-business lending and supply chain finance.

The average American’s financial picture is bleaker than government data suggests, according to the former comptroller of the currency. Research from his new organization, the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, has found that unemployment is higher and household wages are lower than reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Vanessa Colella taught earth science and biology to middle schoolers through Teach for America before becoming Citigroup's new chief innovation officer. Her experience in the classroom still sticks with her today.

Many big companies have made pledges to diversify their workforces, treat minority communities more fairly and clean up the environment to burnish their images, says Meredith Benton, CEO of the consultancy Whistle Stop Capital. But few are willing to share data to prove it's all more than a PR campaign, she says.

Like many banks, TD had to move swiftly to spin up new self-service tools tied to chat channels, e-signatures and PPP lending. Innovation chief Michael Rhodes will continue the faster financial approval and development cycles that COVID necessitated.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican, leads a new congressional caucus aimed at educating members about fintech issues. She believes her state could serve as a model for regulating digital assets.

The Providence, R.I., bank partners with tech companies like Apple and Microsoft, it has 25 fintech partnerships and it rewards employees for new ideas, says CEO Bruce Van Saun.

Thousands of customers have called OceanFirst Bank with a new set of technical questions: How do you download an app? Make a mobile deposit? Load a debit card into Apple Pay? CEO Chris Maher explains how the New Jersey company is handling the shift to digital banking.

Hood Qaim-Maqami, divisional CIO at the Bank of New York Mellon, has ideas about how technology can be used to make people feel connected.

Cold, hard cash is inevitably going away. Banks have a responsibility to help consumers who don’t have smartphones or even email addresses be prepared, says Shawn Rose, chief digital officer of Scotiabank.