BAI Banking Strategies

BAI's 2020 Global Innovation Awards for are out, and the winners include a Texas-based bank that’s among the first to create its own opportunity zone fund to promote development in low-income areas. Doug Schaeffer and Noelle St. Clair, both from Woodforest National Bank, join us on the podcast to discuss why and how they set up the fund.

With all of the big political shifts in Washington this year, we can expect to see big shifts in financial regulation as well. Jo Ann Barefoot, CEO at the Alliance for Innovative Regulation, discusses three financial regulation changes that could help the industry and the country.

Banks and credit unions want very much to be the go-to source for their customers’ financial services needs. The key to landing that role is establishing a strong and lasting connection. Anson Vuong, managing partner at Gallup, discusses recent research that suggests many financial services organizations are underplaying the emotional side of making that connection.

When a bank or credit union considers where to open a branch, it looks for a good location to connect with customers. The same line of thinking works for digital banking, says Hannes Van Rensburg. chief commercial officer at Clickatell. A good location, he says, is in messaging apps.

Like other financial services providers, mortgage lenders are working to make their staffs as diverse as the different communities in which they operate. Listy Limon, VP of national production at Homespire Mortgage, joins us to discuss the benefits of increasing diversity, equity and inclusion at the companies within her industry.

Financial services organizations have lost many billions of dollars to fraud in recent years, with one of the most lucrative schemes involving identity theft and account takeover. Lance Hood, senior director of authentication services at Neustar, discusses how bank and credit union call centers can fight fraudsters by quickly identifying who’s legitimate and who’s a crook.

COVID-19 has made many small businesses realize that they can benefit from more banking services than just basic checking and savings. Norm DeLuca, general manager for banking solutions at Bottomline Technologies, joins us to talk about the unmet needs of small- and mid-sized businesses, and how banks filling those needs can both profit and protect their relationships from fintechs and other nonbanks.

We’re all counting on COVID vaccines creating a brighter 2021, and that includes the banking industry. On this week’s podcast, prominent bank analyst Tom Brown, CEO at Second Curve Capital, says he sees a weak beginning for banks giving way to a strong second half as the economy picks up momentum.

The big spending of the holiday season is over and now it’s time to pay the bills. Some of those bills will be taken care of using bank bill-pay services. Our guest on the first BAI Banking Strategies podcast of 2021 is Dan Holt, CEO at BillGO. He’s here to talk about the current state of bank bill pay, and to offer his thoughts on how and why it should get a makeover.

We’re just a couple of weeks from flipping the calendar to 2021, so naturally many are wondering what the new year may bring — though perhaps with a little more eagerness than usual after the many challenges of 2020. Karl Dahlgren, managing director for research at BAI, discusses a number of trends heading into the new year, including shifts in consumer trust, the prioritization of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and the most important financial services needs by generation.