American Banker Podcast (American Banker)

Penny Lee, president and CEO of the Financial Technology Association, is pushing back on some claims banks and their trade groups have recently made about financial technology companies, for instance that fintechs don’t meet consumer financial protection standards.

Undercover cops recently arrested a Miami Beach man for trying to sell bitcoin for dollars, accusing him of money laundering. Carlton Fields attorney Matthew Kohen explains the case and what it means to banks.

Todder Moning and Valerie Lancelle, who work in the bank’s innovation group, said they were especially impressed by demos of immersive technology, 5G and ambient computing.

Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, explains why consumer protection is so important as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the economy.

Bank of America took heat recently for deciding to charge $12 a month for an e-banking account that had been free. But there are ways to add revenue without ruffling feathers, behavioral economist Wei Ke explains.

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.

A new survey finds that 14% of small and medium-size businesses switched banks last year and 18% are considering switching this year. Having an appealing mobile app is critical to keeping small business owners happy, according to Doug Brown, senior vice president of FIS. He explains why, and also shares some of the study's observations about millennials.

Financial institutions struggle to make their websites and apps a destination rather than a utility. Jacob Jegher at Javelin offers some ideas for building digital relationships.

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.

The acquisition of the small-business lending marketplace Boefly and partnerships with the loan software company nCino and the construction lending fintech Built are among the efforts helping the New Jersey bank compete with fintechs that have gotten good at serving niche markets, says Frank Sorrentino, its CEO.

The bank, which is headquartered in Pasadena, had to quickly switch to remote work for many employees and come up with relief programs for customers whose homes and businesses were destroyed by fire.

Bill Barhydt, founder of startup Abra, explains how his company's mobile app uses bitcoin as a payment rail for cross-border remittances while solving the foreign exchange risk and last-mile problem that have hampered adoption of the cryptocurrency.

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 online lender’s president, Steve Alloca, shares how the company weathered scandal and how it plans to grow its product set.

American Banker is pleased to bring you Breaking Banks, hosted by Brett King, and featuring the editors of American Banker.

This week's show is a remix of Brett King's interview with Bruce Cahan, Stanford professor and creator of GoodBank and Manu Saadia, author of Trekonomics, a book about the economics of Star Trek. In the second half, Sam Maule, director and senior practice lead at NTT Data Americas, and Marc Hochstein, editor in chief of American Banker, speak with John Hope Bryant, American Banker Innovator of the Year and creator of the "Silver Rights Movement."

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.

Divine, a rapper from Brooklyn, shares how he forged a friendship with billionaire venture capitalist Ben Horowitz and went on to create financial technology company BLAK. Also in this episode: Ramy Serageldin explains how his Honeyfi app helps couples collaborate on their finances and Paul Walker at Q2 shares his company’s work with fintech startups.

Bryce VanDiver and Daniela Hawkins at Capco make the case that offering easy-to-use payment rewards is the way to win the loyalty of digital-only customers.

Dek: Breaking Banks producer Rachel Morrissey visits the Mastercard Innovation Lab in Nairobi and reports on ideas under development there.

Pressure is mounting on banks to rein in overdraft fees. The behavioral psychologist Wei Ke says there are programs they can put in place that would be fairer to account holders and still generate income.

Capco consultants Guido Tamburini and Nic Parmaksizian share ideas for recruiting top developers, designers and other young talent, and how to keep them happy.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, has spent the past six years as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee trying to undo the Dodd-Frank Act. In this episode, he discusses his hard-nosed legislative approach and his more recent willingness to reach across the aisle on regulatory relief and reforming the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

American Banker is pleased to bring you Breaking Banks, hosted by Brett King, and featuring the editors of American Banker.

In this episode, guest host JP Nichols talks to an innovative team at Capital One who are rethinking the very nature of a bank for customers, employees, and entrepreneurs.

Women with low credit scores tend to work long hours at low pay, care for parents as well as children, and tend to have trouble making ends meet. Jonathan Walker, executive director of the Center for the New Middle Class, and Mark Schwanhausser, director of digital banking at Javelin Strategy & Research, kick around ideas for how banks and fintechs could help women who are caught in a subprime trap.

Christine Duhaime, an anti-money-laundering attorney in Toronto, lays out the reasons banks should become early experts in and assist in initial coin offerings. She also lays out the risks, especially in the wake of the SEC’s report suggesting some ICO tokens are really securities.

This week, Brett King interviews Ben Goertzel, chief scientist of robotics firm Hanson Robotics, about the strengths and weaknesses of Hanson’s humanoid Sophia robot. “We’re teaching her to understand what she sees and hears and hold conversations about what happens in her everyday environment,” he said. Goertzel, who is also founder and CEO of SingularityNET, a blockchain-based AI marketplace, shares how he’s trying to build interconnected artificial intelligence engines that can solve problems better than people can, yet also empathize with humans.

Doug Nielsen from U.S. Bank joins Brett King and co-host Jason Henrichs to talk about SXSW 2018 and Jim Marous, publisher of the Digital Banking Report, weighs in on Amazon's plans for a checking account.

Generative AI will remove toil from our day to day jobs, argues Lukic, who is managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group.

American Banker is pleased to bring you Breaking Banks, hosted by Brett King, and featuring the editors of American Banker.

In this episode: American Banker's Innovator of the Year, John Hope Bryant of Operation Hope; Richard Brown and Charley Cooper of the blockchain consortium R3; and Ravi Srinivasan, who describes India's drastic move to stamp out cash.

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.

Brett King queries science fiction writers Kevin J. Anderson and Harry “Doc” Kloor about the practical future for emerging technologies like avatars and voice recognition.

John Asbury, president and CEO Union Bancshares, wants to make Virginia something it hasn't been in decades: Home to a regional bank powerhouse. He discusses how striking the right balance between acquisitions and strategic hiring works toward that goal.

John Nosta, founder of digital health think tank Nostalab, and consultants Faisal Khan and David Gerbino help dissect Apple's new iPhone XS and the Watch Series 4’s new heart-tracking features.

Wei Ke, partner at Simon-Kucher & Partners, shares research and analysis from a recent consumer survey on branch versus digital banking behaviors after the coronavirus lockdowns are over.

Environmental, social and governance issues have become more important to investors and customers. Kathryn Rock, a partner in financial services practice at the consulting firm Guidehouse, has advice on what banks can do to step up their efforts.

Don Cardinal of FDX and Olivier Helleboid of Intuit explain the FDX and OFX standards, how they're turning them into one standard and what that standard will be able to do for banks.

Trust and transparency can be strengthened and like-minded borrowers and banks can be brought together if transactions are "tagged" and investments are explained, argues Bruce Cahan, adjunct professor at Stanford University.

Enlightenment can be found in everyday activities like work, says Thane Lawrie, author of the book, The Buddhist CEO. Lawrie explains some of the Buddhist ideas that, when practiced, can make people better leaders, colleagues and family members.  

Regulators have joined the call for banks to change their approach to overdraft. But simply getting rid of the fees is impractical for many banks, according to Leo D'Acierno and Betty Cowell, senior advisors at the strategy and marketing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners.

Banks shouldn't let the legal and regulatory hurdles deter them, attorney Felix Shipkevich says.

Ian Khan, futurist and author of the forthcoming book "Metaverse for Dummies," shares a vision of virtual workplaces where young developers, designers and other talented staffers will want to meet.

Wei Ke, a partner at consultants Simon-Kucher, discusses the psychology behind customers' choices, including the appeal of metal credit cards, the willingness to pay $450 a year for a card and the paralysis of too many options.

Sumeet Chabria, founder and CEO of advisory firm Thoughtlinks and a former tech executive at Bank of America, explains some of the technology changes every bank should be making to ensure it’s not the next victim of a bank run.

Former banker John Best, now CEO of Best Innovation Group and author of the new book "Breaking Digital Gridlock," outlines the top obstacles to bank innovation and offers suggestions on how to overcome them.

Insights from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: How can AI help consumers spend and save wisely? If friction should be added back into the system, can we put it where it is useful, not frustrating?

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.

Bruce Van Saun, CEO, shares details of the new digital channels the bank is building for consumers and small-business customers.

Banks have started dabbling in virtual reality, such as BNP Paribas' letting French customers tour homes and apartments through VR headsets, says Raja Bose, global retail banking consulting leader at Genpact. Some of the strongest use cases for banks, he says, are in wealth management, trading and mortgages.

Ken Montgomery, who is heading up the Federal Reserve’s faster payments network, says the agency is taking an incremental approach to launching the service.

The neobank doubled its membership to five million consumers and hired 200 people last year. Founder and CEO Renaud Laplanche explains how it fared during a time when many fintechs struggled.

Banks are just as vulnerable to the kind of nation-state cyberattack Yahoo suffered, and can avoid some of the mistakes it made, says Samuel Visner of the consulting firm ICF and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

At the same time as Brett Kavanaugh's explosive confirmation process, the House Financial Services Committee is examining sexual harassment charges against FHFA director Watt and allegations of gender pay disparity at the agency. American Banker reporter Hannah Lang has been following the case closely and offers her take.

Meghji only made it a year as chief innovation officer at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. before leaving in recent weeks. He describes the obstacles to new ideas within federal banking agencies and banking itself.

The forces reshaping small-business lending are also leading to “a moment of reckoning” for small banks, says Karen Mills, a senior fellow at the Harvard Business School who led the SBA during the Obama administration.

Leaders of many of the biggest tech companies recently signed an open letter calling on all AI labs to immediately pause the training of advanced artificial intelligence systems. Seth Dobrin, advisor to the Responsible AI Institute and former chief AI officer at IBM, shares his thoughts on where banks should be careful about using AI.

“Animal welfare scores low in priority at many financial institutions” in the U.S., says Merel van der Mark, animal welfare and finance program manager for Sinergia Animal, an organization based in Brazil that has been maintaining a ranking of how banks around the world perform on several measures of ethics with regard to animals.

Vast Bank in Oklahoma now has an app that allows customers to do their banking and buy and sell eight digital currencies. CEO Brad Scrivner explains his motivations, his comfort level with cryptocurrency volatility and what else the app can do.

Marketplace lenders have been declaring "FICO-free Zones" and playing down the need for the longstanding measure of creditworthiness. FICO CEO Will Lansing explains how the company's score is evolving and why he believes FICO remains the best (not necessarily the only) way to determine ability to repay a loan.

Immersive technologies and automation are also on the list of technologies that are here, employees want them and companies like banks need to deal with them, says Phil Simon, author of a new book called The Nine: The Tectonic Forces Reshaping the Workplace.

Brian Graham, partner and co-founder of advisory and investment firm Klaros Group, breaks down what went wrong with Silvergate Capital, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and what banks can do to avoid the problems that brought these banks down.

It's long been assumed that technology will help the financially underserved access the banking services they need. Christine Duhaime, an attorney and founder of the Digital Financial Institute, a financial technology think-tank, says this assumption is wrong, and that some tech advances are already starting to have unanticipated adverse effects on the financially disadvantaged. Banks will have to think creatively — by teaching people to code and maybe even making house calls — to ensure they provide fair access to services.

Dek: Zach Gipson, chief innovation officer at USAA, acknowledges that chatbot technology today lacks the intelligence to have natural conversations about money. But he doesn’t understand some companies’ hesitancy to try the technology. “Why would you want to wait to start learning from your customers?” he said.

The Birmingham, Alabama, bank has developed artificial intelligence-based systems that can flag suspicious activity and guide customer service representatives. Amala Duggirala, the bank’s chief operations and technology officer, describes the AI work she and her team have been doing.

Jake Donoghue, author of the book Crypto Confidential, shares some of the worst practices he saw as a founder of a cryptocurrency company.

Some of the biggest risks facing any large bank come from within, such as human error or mischievous traders. Andrew Waxman, a risk management consultant and author of the new book, Rogues of Wall Street, discusses how cognitive psychology and augmented intelligence offer help.

Caitlin Long, member of the Wyoming Blockchain Task Force, explains why the state has enacted 13 blockchain laws and what they mean for fintechs and banks.

Dan O'Malley, who until very recently ran the fintech incubator at Eastern Bank (and before that was at Capital One), now has a startup called Numerated Growth Technologies and software that he says can process loans in five minutes. O'Malley explains how it all works in this podcast.

Bank Independent in Alabama was one of the first banks to let customers handle basic tasks through Amazon Alexa and plans to go further with the technology. Its digital chief, Kelly Burdette, shares how and why.

Julio Alejandro, CEO of Humanitarian Blockchain in London, thinks so. Some of his projects, such as providing bitcoin Visa debit cards to refugees and digital identities for ex-cons, are ideas financial services firms could implement here.

Lincoln Parks, director of marketing at Heritage Bank, explains the bank’s cautious yet forward-thinking approach to its new virtual assistant, and how to avoid social media snafus.

Christopher Whalen, senior managing director and head of research at Kroll Bond Rating Agency, discusses the sorry state of European banks, the missteps by European Union regulators and the potential ramifications for financial institutions in the U.S.

Jeff McMillan, who served in South Korea and is now chief analytics and data officer for wealth management at Morgan Stanley, shares some of the challenges he faced in readjusting to civilian life and how he and his company try to help other veterans.

More than 50 million people are caught up in modern slavery, according to the U.N. Hidden crimes like human trafficking and elder abuse are more common than most people think. Ian Mitchell at The Knoble, who led crime detection at several financial institutions, works with banks to find signs of abuse and help law enforcement to help victims and catch perpetrators, including among Super Bowl crowds.

When CFPB Director Richard Cordray resigns in two weeks, will the agency grind to a halt? Kate Berry shares the latest on the embattled agency.

MIT professor Maria Loumioti has studied loans made strictly using hard data and loans where a loan officer clearly was influenced by personal connections or feelings about a borrower. The results, which she shared with American Banker editors Bonnie McGeer and Penny Crosman, shed light on the value and limitations of "soft" information.

Executives from Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Canada share their early learnings about distributed ledger technology at American Banker's Blockchains + Digital Currencies conference in July.

Peter Wannemacher, senior analyst at Forrester, explains why Europe's PSD2 regulation matters to U.S. banks and why it will be a hot topic in 2017. He also shares his tech predictions for 2017 and a few contrarian warnings.

Consultant and behavioral psychologist Wei Ke shares his view on the bank’s announcement it will soon offer free trading, and why competitors shouldn’t react too quickly to it. At the end of today’s episode, keep listening to hear the trailer for a special American Banker podcast series, Nobody’s Home.

Jill Castilla, the Oklahoma community bank's CEO, has made branches more high-tech, opened a co-working space, held street festivals and taken other steps to stand out from the crowd.

Jeremy Balkin, head of innovation at HSBC Bank USA, shares how the bank is investing in retail innovation, including a $350 million core system.

Shawn Rose, chief digital officer, and Holly Pontisso, vice president of customer experience at Scotiabank at Toronto, share how they have adapted their digital offerings for people over 50, including making sure ageist attitudes don’t creep into digital channels or messaging.

Werner Loots, the bank’s first head of transformation, is helping the bank redesign how work is done, then streamlining and digitizing as much as possible. 

"Uber Influencer" and venture capitalist Spiros Margaris discusses which economies and regions are leading adaptation to fintech and AI. Then, author Byron Reese, CEO of GigaOm, talks his new book, “The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers and the Future of Humanity.”

Financial institutions can trade billions of dollars per day and handle sensitive data for millions of customers across the globe, which make them enormously attractive targets for cybercriminals. Their defenses must be top notch and ever evolving to keep up with this threat, but FIs' infrastructures are usually vast and complex, straddling old, legacy mainframes and cutting-edge, cloud-based applications that can create security gaps. Moreover, regulations mandate that some divisions within institutions are siloed from each other, which complicates communication and a coordinated defense against cyber criminals.

In this difficult security environment, a hyper focus on integration is critical. FIs should look to consolidate tools to fewer vendors so they have less to manage. Many are grappling to understand their security posture and vulnerabilities, how to efficiently manage cloud-based applications, and whether they should buy or build their own security solutions. In this podcast, experts in the field will tell stories from the trenches – the good, the bad, and the ugly when protecting some of the largest, most complex networks in banking.

Banking apps now rank just after weather and social media in usage. Alice Milligan, chief customer and digital experience officer at Citi Global Cards, shares the results of the bank's survey of 2,000 Americans.

Financial technology startups have developed some useful technology for consumers, such as automated savings, says Tescher, who founded the Financial Health Network 20 years ago. But some fintech innovations are more questionable. 

Michael Terpin explains how hackers stole $24 million worth of cryptocurrency from his mobile phone and why he’s suing AT&T for $224 million. Luke Lombe of PlayChip describes his new ICO that combines fantasy sports leagues with crypto tokens.

Consumer Financial Protection Agency Acting Director Mick Mulvaney is winding down some of the efforts his predecessor worked hardest on: enforcement of payday and fair lending rules and the Military Lending Act. Reporter Kate Berry shares the latest. 

Bitcoin has passed $13,000 in value, and is now acting as a digital asset. But with the spike in value, many people are wondering if this is a bubble or just the beginning. Brett King hosts four guests: Brian Roemmele, founder of PayFinders.com; Bailey Reutzel, U.S. editor of Coindesk; Gabe Sukenik, founder of Morph Token; and Suleman Din, technology editor at American Banker and Financial Planning.

April Rudin, CEO of the Rudin Group, offers advice on tailoring marketing to younger audiences and women.

With the midterms finally over, we discuss how it will impact regulatory and legislative policy for financial institutions going forward —as well as how it will affect the 2020 race.

David Pollino, deputy chief security officer at Bank of the West, shares insights into the email-based cybertheft attacks he's been tracking and what the bank is doing to shield itself and its customers from email scams.

Brett King and co-host Jason Henrichs talk with Margaret Hartigan,
CEO of Marstone, Keith Armstrong of Abe.ai and John Schulte, CIO of Mercantile Bank, about what makes relationships between banks and fintech startups work.

About half of small businesses nationwide are now classified as financially unhealthy: They have difficulty paying bills on time, inadequate cash reserves or insufficient insurance. Eytan Bensoussan, founder and CEO of NorthOne, a neobank for small businesses, shares his thoughts on how banks and fintechs can help these customers survive.