07/23/2019

AFT Vantage Point

Interactive Sessions Bring Out the Best of AFT

One of the essential characteristics of any Association for Financial Technology conference are the interactive sessions. These sessions are really where the term “coopetition” – cooperation among the competition for the betterment of the financial technology industry – shines at AFT. That tradition lived on at the 2019 AFT Spring Summit at Tucson, Ariz.

While the interactive environment permeates every AFT gathering from start to finish it is the interactive sessions specifically set aside to explore common pressing issues that always standout for their spirited and straightforward discussions.

Roger Amador, Vice President, Corporate Business Development at Q2ebanking, Inc.; Peter Glyman, President/Co-Founder of Geezeo, Jeff Harper, Chief Revenue Officer, Allied Payment Network; Cara Hayward, sales director, Currencycloud; and Derik Sutton, Vice President Product and Experience for Autobooks; moderated two separate sessions, a general interactive discussion and a business development/sales interactive group.

Topics centered around digital identities, data analytics, transaction data, patent trolls, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, remote work policies, best practices for managing partners, hiring and managing talent, the most valuable channel for referrals/leads, and strategies for compensation.

Here is a sample of some of the exchanges and viewpoints brought up in the interactive discussions at the 2019 Spring Summit:

Trusted Digital Identity

• We are looking at implementing standards to get away from the single sign-on model.
• Exploit cloud providers like AWS, Google and Azure to authenticate.

Data Analytics

• How do we get good at using data internally to make decisions?
• You have to look at what you want that data to do.
• Data is an enabler but sometimes its hard to get to that enabler.
• We are starting to seen inroads in leveraging CRMs.
• Clients are asking to leverage data.

Patent Trolls

• A patent assertion entity, a.k.a. a patent troll, is an entity (a person or company) that instigates a patent rights case against accused infringers in an effort to accrue licensing fees. The accuser does not create products or provide services.
• Attorneys start filing lawsuits against all the banks and credit unions using a certain product, such as a payment mechanism. The banks and credit unions get scared and they start making payments to the lawyers.

New School (Skype) versus Od School (In person) Sales Marketing Strategies

• Not all sales cycles are created equal.

Automated Marketing Platforms/Lead Generation

• Making sure potential clients see what you are producing when sending an email or creating short videos. This tracks who is looking at it?
• This tracking mechanism has really kind of helped us get closer to how real our opportunities are.

RFPs

• Ignore them.
• My experience with RFP is completed dependent on how it is written.
• When you get an RFP and go up against the competitors outside of this industry, it can actually be significant, the golden RFP might get you in the door.
• The reality is they (potential clients) have to go through an RFP. It is a harsh reality.

Vendor Due Diligence

• We have been proactive on the due diligence perspective.

Helping Financial Institutions Make Strategic Purchases

• They cannot make a purchase without a strategy.
• Helping them develop a sound strategy is a first step.
• We have the opportunity to do more.