Banking Transformed with Jim Marous

Utah-based open finance solution provider MX Technologies has named several PayPal veterans to lead the firm’s next phase of growth. This growth will include the continuation of using data to deliver intelligent and personalized money experiences, while connecting technology partners to financial institutions with modern solutions that improve results. MX powers 85% of digital banking providers, as well as thousands of banks, credit unions, and fintech firms, with a combined reach of over 200 million consumers. Recorded at the MX Money Experience Summit, my guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Jim Magats, the CEO of MX. Jim shares how he and his team see MX moving forward, and the importance of data and insights as the foundation of the entire banking ecosystem. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Microsoft: See how Microsoft can help to unlock new opportunities at speed through innovative business models, deliver differentiated customer experiences across channels, products and servic

Banks and credit unions are challenged to satisfy consumers with the traditional services they have used for decades, while also delivering the latest offerings that a growing portion of consumers desire. More than ever, consumers are willing to take their business to other financial institutions to find innovative products and services, with more consumers than ever willing to diversify their financial services partners to get what they want. We are very fortunate to have Kris Kovacs, president and CEO of Constellation Digital Partners on the Banking Transformed show. He discusses how financial institutions that deliver the innovations that best satisfy demand will reduce the likelihood that business will go to another FI or a FinTech. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Microsoft: See how Microsoft can help to unlock new opportunities at speed through innovative business models, deliver differentiated customer experiences across channels, products and services, and redefine new ways of wor

Nearly two-thirds of consumers indicate they manage their financial relationships predominantly online or via their mobile device. In addition, nearly 70% of consumers feel faster payment capabilities from their current financial institution is an important driver of satisfaction. To address these expectations, the Federal Reserve Banks are developing FedNow to enable financial institutions of every size to provide safe and efficient instant payment services in real time, around the clock, every day of the year. We have Nick Stanescu, FedNow Business Executive, Federal Reserve Financial Services, on the Banking Transformed podcast. Nick provides an update on the future introduction of the FedNow Service and discusses the benefits of the service in the future. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by FedNow The FedNow Service is a new instant payment infrastructure that the Federal Reserve Banks are launching in mid-2023 to enable financial institutions of every size across the U.S. to provide safe

While the fintech industry is growing rapidly, it is still rare to see women as fintech founders or women holding leadership roles. More concerning is the fact that women fintech founders are lower in North America than other regions of the world. In August, a collaboration between BMO Harris Bank and 1871, a #1-ranked private business incubator, provided women entrepreneurs the opportunity to bring their innovative technologies and products forward. My guests on the Banking Transformed podcast are BMO Harris’ Niamh Kristufek, US head of business banking and Andrew Harrison, Head of US Digital Partnerships. They share the results of this year’s incubator program and the importance of greater inclusion in the fintech space. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Microsoft: See how Microsoft can help to unlock new opportunities at speed through innovative business models, deliver differentiated customer experiences across channels, products and services, and redefine new ways of working. More at

As new players continue to expand market share with data and customer-centric business models, incumbent banks face an urgent need to modernize systems to remain competitive in the payments landscape. By investing in emerging digital technologies, banks can address evolving customer preferences, mitigate risk, and achieve regulatory compliance. My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Nick Botha, Business Development Manager at AutoRek. He discusses the importance of an end-to-end platform designed reduce costs, improve efficiency, and streamline your reporting processes. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by AutoRek AutoRek is a trusted vendor of data management solutions by the world’s largest financial institutions with extensive experience across banking and payments. The end-to-end payments reconciliation platform is designed to overcome the most difficult challenges for managing reconciliations, data management and reporting. AutoRek combines cutting edge technology, first class im

Despite the benefits of easy information access, the amount of information each human needs to process is overwhelming, creating a reduction in comprehension and decision quality. The question most leaders have is, “How do I keep on top of so much information?” Those who can absorb and convert the vast amount of available information into insights, action, and a view of the future will generate success and results beyond their peers. My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Ross Dawson, chairman of the Advanced Human Technologies group of companies. He discusses how leaders can not only cope with today’s information overload … but thrive on it. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Microsoft: See how Microsoft can help to unlock new opportunities at speed through innovative business models, deliver differentiated customer experiences across channels, products and services, and redefine new ways of working. More at Microsoft.com/financialservices This Episode of Banking Transformed is s

Trust in banking hinges on the ability of financial institutions to safeguard identities and keep consumer and business data private, particularly during online account opening and onboarding. Unfortunately, traditional Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) verifications is often synonymous with tedious and manual processes, friction, and onboarding delays. The longer these processes take, the greater the negative impact to client acquisition. My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Chris Luttrell, the CEO of IDology. She discusses what can be done to foster trust across the entire customer journey, while improving the customer experience for consumers and businesses. This episode of Banking Transformed Solutions is sponsored by IDology ExpectID® Business is an automated KYB solution that is imperative for any business that wants to remain competitive. With ExpectID® Business, IDology has combined KYB and KYC due diligence with multiple layers of risk detection and fraud intelligenc

The banking sector has always been data intensive. Today, AI technology has the capability to improve efficiency, increase innovation, boost differentiation, manage risk and regulatory needs, and positively impact the customer experience. While more than 80% of financial services AI adopters say that AI will be very or critically important to their business’s success in the next two years, it’s time for banks to move beyond the hype and consider practical applications of AI across the entire organization. On today’s Banking Transformed podcast, we have Imtiaz Adam, global AI influencer and founder of Deep Learn Strategies Ltd. He will share why financial institutions must make adoption of AI technologies across the entire enterprise a strategic imperative.

More than ever, financial marketers can trigger automatic action by applying behavioral science principles in marketing strategy and creative execution. If you have a behavioral understanding of your customer, they will find you, refer business, and share insights that will help your efforts succeed. At a time when both print and digital marketing involve as much art as science, behavioral science is a critical tool for understanding how consumers will react to various tactics and strategies. My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Nancy Harhut, cofounder of HBT Marketing. Nancy shares why marketers cannot afford to ignore behavioral science since it can shed light on why people buy or don’t buy your brand.

Customer expectations are changing faster than ever. Unfortunately, most banks and credit unions are playing catch-up, with siloed data, back-office technology that was built decades ago, and processes that move too slow. Continuous Product Design, supported by real-time data, can help organizations deliver digital solutions that are personalized, empathetic, and delivered with speed and scale. My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Mario Ciabarra, founder and CEO of Quantum Metric. Mario discusses how banks can use data to drive digital product design and deployment that enhances customer experiences and increases engagement. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Quantum Metric As the pioneer in Continuous Product Design, Quantum Metric helps organizations put customers at the heart of everything they do. The platform empowers a customer-centric culture, helping business and technology teams align faster on customer needs and prioritize the opportunities that will drive the most value

More than ever, creating an organization that responds to customer’s needs, cares for and inspires employees, embraces purpose, emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion, and helps a firm become future-ready — all boil down to one thing: leadership. While conversations about the importance of a disruptive mindset started well before the pandemic, the crisis accelerated the need for strong leadership significantly. The question becomes how ready is existing leadership to lead an organization to success during uncertain times? My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Charlene Li – Chief Research Officer, PA Consulting. Charlene shares how leadership can better embrace change, accept risks, and help organizations become future-ready.

Most mortgage experiences are overwhelming and full of friction, with outdated processes that includes a stack of paper forms and multiple in-person meetings. And, while many financial institutions would like to provide a better experience, resources are scarce. New mortgage-as-a-service (MaaS) solutions allow smaller financial institutions to utilize best-in-class technology, while still retaining personalized engagement. This enables local banks to compete with larger financial institutions for the most important household relationship. My guests on the Banking Transformed podcast are Jonathan Price, EVP of Q2 and Sam Schey, EVP of Rocket Mortgage. They are going to explain how a bank can combine an industry-best digital mortgage process with a bank’s existing mobile and online banking platform. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Q2 Today, digital banking is more than a channel—it’s how financial institutions deliver their brand, manage customer relationships, and grow their business. Q2 h

Small businesses are the foundation of the American economy, with 30.2 million small businesses making up 99.9% of American businesses and employing 47.5% of American employees. Despite the size of this segment, small businesses have unique challenges such as funding, payment processing, money transfer and more. In addition, most traditional small business bank processes are antiquated and time-consuming. My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Corey LeBlanc, co-founder of Locality Bank, a digital-first community bank based in Fort Lauderdale. Corey shares the mission of this start-up and how Locality is using financial technology to make processes more efficient, saving money and better serving their customers.

Embedded finance integrates financial services, such as payments, lending, insurance, etc. within a non-financial business’ infrastructure. This provides a seamless bridge between a brand, the consumer, and a financial solutions provider. The expansion of embedded finance solutions on the B2C side have skyrocketed, while B2B solutions have seen much more tepid growth. Innovation of both forms of solutions is expected to continue to be robust in the foreseeable future. We are very fortunate to have Mike Kresse and Taira Hall from FIS Global on the Banking Transformed podcast. They discuss the current embedded banking and Banking as a Service can provide both opportunities and threat in the future. This Episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by FIS When customers need to pay, borrow, or invest, are you at the point of need? The future of financial services delivery is giving customers what they want, whenever and wherever they are. FIS Embedded Finance gives any company or financial institution the tools

Becoming adept at digital banking is not simply about technology. It’s about the way banking leaders adapt to the pace of change and continually rethink how they can create and deliver value in a digital economy. Most importantly, it is understanding that the digital banking transformation process is a never-ending journey … with no end point. My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is Liz Wolverton, Head of Consumer Banking and Brand Experience at Synovus. Liz shares how building the muscles for continuous change at Synovus allows the bank to adapt to future change more rapidly, which makes the bank more resilient. This Episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by FIS From super apps and crypto to embedded finance and financial inclusion, we’re a long way away from the world of cash and checks. That’s why FIS has published The Global Payments Report. The Global Payments Report makes it easy to understand what your consumers want now – and in the future. Read about the trends transforming payments and

Consumers expect their financial institution to use data and insights collected over time to deliver personalized recommendations based on transactions and behavior in the past. Fortunately, banks and credit unions have access to solutions that can drive insight discovery, outcome predictions, and task automation. The challenge is to implement these capabilities at the speed and scale that customers expect. My guests on the Banking Transformed podcast are Greg Gruning from Segmint and Brian Lindenmann from Busey Bank. Greg and Brian discuss how banks are using data and AI to drive digital transformation and grow revenue by optimizing the customer journey across channels. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Segmint Segmint empowers financial institutions and financial technology providers to easily understand and leverage data, interact with customers, and measure results. Derived from billions of transactions, Segmint provides the fastest and most accurate customer insights through advanced

As consumers get exposed to new financial brands every day, it has never been more important to think like a brand and not a bank. Investing in creating a strong brand allows a banking organization to get and keep people’s attention – directly impacting the bottom line. With the right branding, you have the chance to impact how consumers perceive your business and how your employees represent your business. This creates loyalty by building trust. My guests on the Banking Transformed podcast are Allison Netzer and Liz High, the authors of the book, ‘Think Like a Brand, Not a Bank’. Allison and Liz share how good branding can appeal to people’s emotions, allowing a bank or credit union to outperform the competition. This Episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by FIS From super apps and crypto to embedded finance and financial inclusion, we’re a long way away from the world of cash and checks. That’s why FIS has published The Global Payments Report.   The Global Payments Report makes it easy to understa

Embedded payments have become the norm in our personal lives. In fact, a report from IDC predicts that 74% of digital consumer payments globally will be conducted via platforms owned by nonfinancial institutions by 2030. Unfortunately, IDC also found that 73% of financial institutions globally have technology infrastructures for payments that are far from future-ready. Today, we have Bhavin Turakhia, CEO and Co-founder of Zeta on the Banking Transformed podcast. Bhavin discusses how embedded payment technologies are becoming available to organizations of all sizes, allowing legacy banks to keep pace with technology leaders. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Zeta Zeta helps issuers launch next-gen card programs with its cloud-native and fully API-enabled stack that includes processing, issuing, lending, core banking, and many other capabilities. Zeta has 1400+ employees with over 70% in technology roles across locations in the US, UK, Middle East, and Asia. Globally, eight issuers and 30 fin

Competition in banking has expanded in the past twenty years, yet banking and technology giants are increasingly using proprietary technology and data-driven insights to tilt the playing field. When smaller financial firms can’t reach the scale needed to compete effectively, there is potential for economic inequality, reduced social responsiveness, and less innovation. My guest on the Banking Transformed podcast is James Bessen, lecturer at Boston University School of Law and author of the book, ‘The New Goliaths’. Jim shares his perspective that the largest firms have a major competitive advantage, and how democratizing technology, insights and innovation can level the playing field. This Episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by FIS From super apps and crypto to embedded finance and financial inclusion, we’re a long way away from the world of cash and checks. That’s why FIS has published The Global Payments Report. The Global Payments Report makes it easy to understand what your consumerswant now –

Identity fraud is an increasing challenge for financial institutions, impacting consumer trust and costing billions of dollars a year in losses. To combat this threat, financial institutions must streamline the authentication process while improving the overall client experience. When fraud or identity theft does occur, customers want fair, equitable and fast resolution, with pain-free, frictionless access to their impacted accounts. We are happy to have Chad Gluff Sr. Director, Global Identity and Fraud for TransUnion on the Banking Transformed podcast. Chad shares the impact that fraud and identity theft has on banking and the ways to turn your identity fraud solution into a customer experience opportunity. This episode of Banking Transformed is sponsored by Neustar  Neustar sorts users intelligently and reliably into high- and low-risk buckets, allowing you to quickly identify and let through low-risk consumers. Reduce digital identity fraud by 20 percent and better focus valuable fraud-fighting resources