Executive Q&A:
Innovative Trends in Banking
As technology evolves, there are new trends in banking, from predictive banking to the expansion of open banking and consumer engagement, to name a few. We asked three local banking executives, what is one trend consumers need to know about?
Brian W. Jones
President and CEO, The First National Bank of Elmer
“As banking continues to evolve, the degree of personalization and real-time solutions will need to match consumer expectations. The key to being able to gain success in this endeavor will be to ‘create’ a value the customer will be willing to pay for. Banks will need to implement payment systems, look to blockchain technology to enhance delivery channels, to advance mobile applications and to continue to target new demographic markets contingent on values, lifestyle, needs and socially directed solutions. Open APIs (application programming interface) will provide consumers with more freedom and control with their personal data when interacting with their financial institutions. Banks will have to perform at a high level if the customer controls the sharing of their own data.”
Kimberly A. Cruz
Vice president, marketing coordinator, Franklin Bank
“One trend that consumers should be aware of is credit and debit card activity monitoring apps. The electronic age of banking comes with many conveniences, but it also brings more fraud than our industry has ever seen. Most credit card companies and banks—of all sizes—offer card activity monitoring. Consumers can get real-time activity alerts through our CardValet app and immediately know if their card has been compromised. They can also shut down a card temporarily or permanently with one touch.”
William E. Brown
EVP, chief retail banking officer, Investors Bank
“Consumer engagement is a key component of modern relationship banking. Today, there are any number of ways that our consumers can conduct their banking transactions and our business model not only enables, but encourages our branch staff to spend more time deepening relationships with our clients and with the communities we serve. A large part of this effort has been focused on exploring the role technology plays within the branch—specifically, the role of online and mobile banking-enabled devices such as WiFi, tablets, smartphones, etc. Additionally, we have found that actively partnering with FinTech companies to remove friction on the customer journey and drive ease of access helps deliver clients solutions that support deeper and more meaningful banking relationships delivered on our clients’ terms.”
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Published (and copyrighted) in South Jersey Biz, Volume 9, Issue 10 (October 2019).
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