Pub. 13 2018-2019 Issue 4

NEBRASKA BANKERS ASSOCIATION 7 R ECENTLY, I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND SEVERAL extremely informative presentations related to the ever-evolving financial technology — or “fintech” — industry. The reaction of many Nebraska bankers when they hear the term fintech ranges from excitement, to fear, to glazed-over indifference. With more than 8,000 fintech firms in the United States, the reality is this technology creates both challenges and opportunities for the Nebraska Bankers Associa- tion (NBA) member institutions. Customer experiences and ex- pectations are driven by companies like Amazon and Facebook. One trend occurring in the technology arena is the transition of effort of these fintech companies moving toward a new con- cept: “techfin.” Traditional fintech firms have focused on creating products and services that compete directly with the banking sector, like Venmo and Paypal. Fintech companies inmany cases, have been challenged with connecting to a customer base that has long-standing banking relationships as well as the costs and headaches associated with significant regulatory requirements. Techfin firms on the other hand focus on creating products and services to support and grow traditional banks as a technology partner. This segment of technology is expanding quickly with more than 500 techfin products introduced in the last year. Nebraska banks will have to adopt and proactively embrace technology solutions to remain viable in our hand-held climate. I’d like to share a few suggestions that I’ve picked up on em- bracing technology, and how to secure and maintain profitable relationships with techfin firms: • There will be initial tension between traditional bank employees and techfin firms. You might envision the feeling of fintech employees coming into your bank in blue jeans and hoodies, or t-shirts and flip flops. The goal of bank management should be to embrace and encourage these young technology leaders to facilitate a dynamic relationship focused on success. • Bankers need to be proactive in evaluating their user experience. One presenter suggested recruiting a group of young customers to serve as a focus group for testing new technology products. Pay these individuals like you might a bank board member and listen to their input. • Routinely monitor online review sites to see what cur- rent and potential customers are saying about your institution. Think about services like Trip Advisor or YELP. Consumers are increasingly engaged with online customer review forums when selecting banks to do business with. • When rolling out a new technology solution, banks, especially those with few tech-savvy staff members, should roll out pieces incrementally rather than an entire PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE NAVIGATING THEWORLD OF FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY Richard J. Baier, President & CEO, Nebraska Bankers Association President’s Message — continued on page 11