Apart from interest rates, the two biggest issues that bank executives seem to wrestle with are regulatory and compliance costs. I sense another emerging challenge coming to shore; specifically, how to “open up” one’s business structure in terms of developing partnerships and permitting others to leverage their customer data and/or capabilities.
For bankers, this challenge comes with significant reputation and customer risk.
Now, it is hard to truly disrupt the concept of banking — and I shared this opinion from the stage at Bank Director’s annual Bank Executive & Board Compensation Conference this morning. However, I did adjust some of my welcoming remarks based on the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s position that consumers can control their own financial data, including to let third parties help them manage their finances. As I learned from Jo Ann Barefoot’s Fireside Chat with CFPB Director Richard Cordray at Money 2020, the CFPB “is not content to sit passively by as mere spectators watching these technologies develop.” According to his prepared remarks:
Many exciting products we see… depend on consumers permitting companies to access their financial data from financial providers with whom the consumer does business. We recognize that such access can raise various issues, but we are gravely concerned by reports that some financial institutions are looking for ways to limit, or even shut off, access to financial data rather than exploring ways to make sure that such access, once granted, is safe and secure.
Since reading the CFPB’s position, Ms. Barefoot’s recap and the Wall Street Journal’s synopsis, I decided to talk with various bank executives and board members that are here with us at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island about this stance. As I note in this video, I sense both an ongoing struggle — and a sincere interest — to truly understand the role of technology. For those I talked with, this is as much about “becoming sticky” to their customers as it is about embracing or defending themselves against “the new.”
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For more about this year’s conference, I invite you to take a look at BankDirector.com. Also, a virtual high-five to the team here for a great first day. You all rock!
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