Imitate This – About That Ratio

February 29, 2016February 29, 2016

March 1 is FinTech Day

Tomorrow is FinTech Day… here is what you need to know in advance of this exclusive one-day event.

When: Tuesday, March 1 2016

Where: Nasdaq’s MarketSite (4 Times Square – 43rd & Broadway)

Overview: The next few years promises to be one of profound transformation in the financial sector. Clearly, the fabric of the industry continues to evolve as new technology players emerge and traditional participants transform their business models. At FinTech Day, we address trends like the personalization of banking, the challenges of scaling a company in our highly regulated industry and what shifting customer expectations portend for all. For the full agenda, click here.

Who is coming: Attendee lists are provided to all confirmed; unfortunately, we are at capacity and cannot accept any additional registrations. Below, I highlight the various businesses represented.

FinXTech: In addition to connecting participants from across the community, I am excited to introduce a new digital division — FinXTech — to provide authoritative, relevant and trusted content for (a) Fintech companies who view banks as potentially valuable channel or distribution partners; (b) Banks over $1B looking to grow and/or innovate with fintech companies’ help and support; and (c) Investors and services firms interested in helping to shape the future of banking.

Misc: To follow the conversation, I invite you to follow me @aldominick or use #FinTech16. In honor of the occasion, I will be ringing the closing bell (flanked by Joan Susie, Chairman of Bank Director and Kelsey Weaver, Publisher of Bank Director + our speakers and various executives from fintech companies and high performing banks). So if you want to see how we wrap things up at 4:00 PM ET, I invited you to turn on CNBC, MSNBC, etc.

February 23, 2016February 24, 2016

Fintech in 2016: A Whole Lot of Collaboration

While some of the largest and most established financial institutions have struck relationships with various financial technology firms (and not just startups / early stage), opportunities for meaningful partnerships abound. At Bank Director’s annual FinTech Day at Nasdaq’s MarketSite in Times Square next Tuesday, we explore — with executives from the companies depicted above — what’s really possible when banks and fintechs collaborate to help each other’s businesses accelerate and scale.

By Al Dominick, President & CEO, Bank Director

A fundamental truth: individuals, along with business owners, have more choices than ever before in terms of where, when and how they bank. So a big challenge — and dare I suggest, opportunity — for leadership teams at financial institutions and fintech companies alike entails aligning services & product mixes to suit core customers’ current interests and prospective one’s expectations.

Yesterday, I shared how the fabric of the financial industry continues to evolve as new technology players emerge and traditional participants transform their business models. Indeed, many fintech companies are developing strategies, practices and new technologies that will dramatically influence how banking “gets done” in the future. However, within this period of change — where considerable market share will be up for grabs — I believe that ambitious organizations can leapfrog both traditional and emerging rivals.

Clearly, bank CEOs and their teams must seek new ways to not just stay relevant but to stand out. While a number of banks seek to extend their footprint and franchise value through acquisition, many more aspire to build the bank internally. Some show organic growth as they build their base of core deposits and expand their customer relationships; others see the value of collaborating with fintech companies.

For a bank CEO and his/her executive team, knowing who’s a friend, and who’s a potential foe, is hugely important. Personally, I have found this to be quite difficult for many regardless of their size or market. Moreover, I find this to be a two-sided challenge in the sense that for a fintech founder or executive, identifying those banks open to partnering with, investing in or even acquiring a company like the one they run presents as great a challenge as it does opportunity.

So as more & more fintech companies look to partner with legacy players — and banks warm to such a dynamic — I am excited to think about the creative new partnerships that can be explored to ease payment processes, reduce fraud, save users money, promote financial planning and ultimately, move our giant industry forward.

February 23, 2016February 23, 2016

FinTech Day is One Week Away

The fabric of the financial industry continues to evolve as new technology players emerge and traditional participants transform their business models. Through partnerships, acquisitions or direct investments, incumbents and upstarts alike have many real and distinct opportunities to grow and scale. If 2015 was all about startups talking less about disruption and more about cooperation, I see 2016 as the year that banks reciprocate.

By Al Dominick, President & CEO, Bank Director

Next Tuesday, at Nasdaq’s MarketSite in Time Square, our team hosts our annual “FinTech Day.” With so many new companies pushing their way into markets and product lines that traditionally have been considered the banking industry’s turf, we look at what fintech means for traditional banks. Likewise, we explore where emerging fintech players may become catalysts for significant change with the support of traditional players. When it comes to trends like the personalization of banking, the challenges of scaling a company in our highly regulated industry and what shifting customer expectations portend for banks and fintechs alike, we have a full day planned. Take a look at some of the issues we will address.

Riding The Wave Of Change
Al Dominick, President & CEO, Bank Director
Robert H. McCooey, Jr., Senior Vice President of Listing Services, Nasdaq

At a time when changing consumer behavior and new technologies are inspiring innovation throughout the financial services community, we open this year’s program with a look at how collaboration between traditional institutions and emerging technology firms bodes well for the future.

Banking’s New DNA
Michael M. Carter, CEO, BizEquity
Vivian Maese, Partner, Latham & Watkins
Eduardo Vergara, Head of Payments Services & Global Treasury Product Sales, Silicon Valley Bank
Moderated by: Al Dominick, President & CEO, Bank Director

With continuous pressure to innovate, banks today are learning from new challengers, adapting their offerings and identifying opportunities to collaborate. With this opening session, we focus on the most pressing issues facing banks as they leverage new tools and technologies to compete.

Who Has the Power to Transform Banking
Jeana Deninger, Senior Vice President, Marketing, CoverHound, Inc.
Brooks Gibbins, Co-Founder & General Partner, FinTech Collective
Colleen Poynton, Vice President, Core Innovation Capital
Moderated by: Al Dominick, President & CEO, Bank Director

While fintech startups continue to spearhead the technological transformation of financial services, recent efforts by systemically important financial institutions call into question who reallly has the power to tranform banking. From an investment perspective, recent market turmoil may put some opportunities on hold – while others now have a higher, sharper bar to clear. In this session, we talk to investors about the traits that they look for when backing a venture in the context of a changing economic environment.

Opportunities to Reinvigorate the Banking Industry
Tom Kimberly, General Manager, Betterment Institutional
Thomas Jankovich, Principal & Innovation Leader, US Financial Services Practice, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Pete Steger, Head of Business Development, Kabbage, Inc.
Moderated by: Al Dominick, President & CEO, Bank Director

Many fintech companies are developing strategies, practices and new technologies that will dramatically influence how banking gets done in the future. However, within this period of upheaval – where considerable market share will be up for grabs – ambitious banks can leapfrog both traditional and new rivals. During this hour, we explore various opportunities for financial services companies to reinvigorate the industry.

Opportunities to Financially Participate in Fintech
Joseph S. Berry, Jr., Managing Director, Co-Head of Depositories Investment Banking, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. A Stifel Company
Kai Martin Schmitz, Leader FinTech Investment LatAm, Global FinTech Investment Group, International Finance Corporation
Moderated by: Al Dominick, President & CEO, Bank Director

While large, multinational banks have made a series of investments in the fintech community, there is a huge, untapped market for banks to become an early-stage investor in fintech companies. Based on the day’s prior conversations, this session looks at opportunities for banks to better support emerging companies looking to grow and scale with their support.

While this special event on March 1 is sold out, you can follow the conversations by using #Fintech16 @aldominick @bankdirector @finxtech and @bankdirectorpub. And as a fun fact, I’ll be ringing the closing bell next Tuesday flanked by our Chairman and our Head of Innovation. So if you are by a television and can turn on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc at 3:59, you’ll see some smiling faces waving at the cameras.

December 23, 2015

Bank Director’s annual Tech Issue is now available for free

Take a look at Bank Director’s just-published “Tech Issue.” In it, we look at how bank CEOs and executive teams can better engage with fintech companies, what the biggest banks are doing in terms of technology strategy and what the Internet of Things (IoT) means for financial institutions in 2016.

To download this free issue:

On Your Tablet or Mobile Device, Select Apple’s AppStore, Google Play or Amazon’s Apps;
Search “Bank Director Digital Magazine;” and
Download the App to Your Digital Device & Enjoy.

Happy Holidays!

April 21, 2015April 21, 2015

The Fight for Relevancy

I’m sure it is really simple for those not invested in the future of banking to write that CEOs, their boards and executive teams should cut branches and full-time employees to make their banks more efficient. But I’m of the belief that you can’t save your way to long-term profitability and viability — and not everyone can be like Capital One and reinvent their business model from digital to analog on the fly.

Last October, Richard Fairbank, the Chairman and CEO of Capital One, expressed the following opinion on an earnings call: “Ultimately, the winners in banking will have the capabilities of a world-class software company. Most of the leverage and most of our investment is in building the foundational underpinnings and talent model of a great digital company. To succeed in a digital world (you) can’t just bolt digital capabilities onto the side of an analog business.” Now, I am a big believer that many banks have immediate opportunities to expand what banking means to individual and business customers. Heck, I wrote as much to open a special supplement to Bank Director magazine that highlights a number of interesting technologies that have re-shaped the fortunes of banks across the U.S. As you can see in the graphic above (produced for and by our team), the intersection of financial services with technology tools is immense.

Nonetheless, the interaction, communication, coordination and decision-making in regulated banks is vastly different than those of an up-and-coming technology company. No matter how much both sides want to work with the other (to gain access to a wider customer footprint, to incorporate emerging technologies, etc.), the barriers to both entry and innovation are high.

Keep in mind that there has been an enormous shift in asset concentration and customer loyalty during the past two decades. Today, the ten biggest banks in the U.S. now have more assets than all of the other institutions combined. Concurrently, major consumer brands such as Apple and Google have emerged as significant non-bank competitors while “upstarts” like LendingClub and OnDeck jockey to provide loans to traditional bank customers.

So to stay both relevant and competitive, I believe a bank’s leadership team needs to develop a culture of disciplined growth that encourages creativity and yes, risk taking. For a leadership team, this requires a combination of knowledge, skill and courage — all things we designed our annual Bank Board Growth & Innovation Conference at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans to provide (*fwiw, this is a complement to our annual M&A conference — Acquire or Be Acquired).

In the coming days, I’ll be looking at how the processes of interaction, communication, coordination and decision-making in a regulated bank are vastly different than those of a tech firm. Cleary, the fight for relevancy is on in the banking space… and to see what’s being written and said, I invite you to follow @bankdirector, @aldominick + #BDGrow15.