01/09/2018

Financial Leaders Panel Weighs in on Bank Management in the Digital Era

Scott Mills, president of the William Mills Agency, served as the moderator for a very interactive financial leaders panel providing insight on banking in the digital era at the AFT 2017 Fall Summit, held at the Montage Deer Valley resort in Park City, Utah.

On the panel: Nichol Beckstrand, President of St. Paul, Minn. based Sunrise Bank; John Gill, Chief Operating and Risk Officer, of Somerset (Pa.) Trust Company; Brice Mindrum, Mobile Services Manager, of Riverdale, Utah based America First Credit Union; and Sarah Phalen, President/CEO, of Springfield, Ill. based Illinois National Bank.

Beckstrand said, “one of the challenges of working in a financial institution is maintaining a culture of change and innovation.” She also provided background on Sunrise Bank’s effort regarding small-dollar loans and how that blends into their local and people-based strategies to focus on delivering products and services to previously underserved communities in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Illinois National Bank, which began in 1999, grew by focusing on marrying technology, business banking and personalized service. “That growth can’t happen unless we’re selling all the time. That’s why we have to rely on our very close partnerships with our vendors.” Phalen emphasized. She added the only way they can compete is by delivering the best possible products to its customers.

“We’ve been focused on innovation for quite some time,” Mindrum explained about America First Credit Union’s approach. Their digital strategy began in the 1990s with internet banking and continued to date with mobile banking. “The delight of our members is our ultimate goal.” That’s why they do a ton of online surveys and employ user feedback and online reviews.

Gill provided an overview of Somerset Trust Company’s primary vision, which is growth. Their two-pronged development strategy centers on constructing branches (they have built 13 branches in the last five years) and their very strong technology division. They look at their fintech plan as an opportunity and determination to sustain a strategic differentiation, control their destiny and preserve an internal pride.  

The group also tackled several other topics.  On threats to innovation, Beckstrand warned, “the regulators threaten innovation every time they show up.” Regarding the new wave of fintech competitors, “we are concerned but they also motivated us,” Phalen insisted. When it comes to deciding whether to build solutions in-house or relying on vendor partnerships, Mindrum pointed out the credit union uses “a little bit of both.” Whether innovation is part of the bank culture, “there is a top-down approach,” Gill responded. “We facilitate and remove roadblocks.”