Wealth Access Report FINAL - Flipbook - Page 8
Over the past 18
months, has your
bank’s leadership team
and/or board discussed
allocating budget or
resources to any of the
following emerging
areas?
in their decision-making. But this is not a sustainable model as
an institution grows or expands its reach. That’s what happened
when Choice Bank, the $5.6 billion bank unit of Choice Financial,
expanded beyond its local customer base and began partnering
with fintechs.
“[Community banks] say, ‘Well, we know our customer,’” Singh
says. “My question is, ‘If a person is coming through a digital
channel, through the fintech customer, do we really know them?’”
Singh’s focus on how Choice Bank’s technology stack integrates
Data analytics
with other systems allows the bank to capture, store and use the
80%
data generated from these systems. Today, the talent at Choice
Bank includes a leader of data analytics who reports to Singh
Artificial intelligence
and a data governance function that reports into the bank’s sec66%
Banking as a service (e.g., payments as
a service, lending service, deposits as a
service)
ond-line risk function.
“That, to us, was crucial because that’s a good backbone,” he
says. “If you don’t have that backbone, then things will crumble
down.”
37%
Cryptocurrency/digital assets
No Time Like the Present
6%
Starting and executing a data strategy is a lot of work, and many
Blockchain
smaller firms are early in their journeys. Data projects are too
3%
large and unwieldy to do well on accident. There are numerous
pitfalls that can negate the return on investment. Putting together
Source: Bank Director’s 2024 Technology
Survey
and executing a data strategy requires governance, commitment
and diligence.
“You got to understand what you want to use these solutions for,
whether it’s data, customer relationship management or anything
else, before you put the investment in,” says Benjamin Maxim,
chief technology officer at MSU Federal Credit Union, which has
$8.2 billion in assets and is based in East Lansing, Michigan.
“And it is a cultural investment, not a technology investment.”
Perhaps that’s why only 11% of respondents to Bank Director’s
2024 Technology Survey reported their institution uses data in
many decisions and areas of their institution and believes their
data strategy and execution exceeds peers.
Additionally, data strategies aren’t ever “done” in the narrow
project management sense. After implementing a strategy and
standing up the data storage and capabilities, the ongoing work is
6 | FINXTECH INTELLIGENCE REPORT
