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The Bottom Line

SRM Perspectives on Key Industry Trends

The Importance of Diversifying Your Deposit Base

Posted by Tim Keith on Apr 4, 2023 11:13:00 AM

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We were already seeing banks and credit unions step up efforts to attract and retain deposits before last month’s bank fallout resurrected discourse about the importance of liquidity.

Financial institutions of all sizes are doubling efforts to hold onto depositors while serving people who have moved their accounts from Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and others. Deposit balances have become a hot topic – the Independent Community Bankers Association just announced that it would be a focus of its next fintech accelerator season.

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Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Deposits, liquidity, Checking Accounts

Looking at AI Language Model Use Cases for Financial Institutions

Posted by Connor Heaton on Mar 30, 2023 11:09:00 AM

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The banking industry’s reaction to recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) platforms such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and freshly released GPT-4 has been a mix of excitement and caution.

Morgan Stanley is among the banner clients of GPT-4, using it to enhance its internal knowledge base and handle federated search capabilities for its wealth management personnel. JPMorgan Chase, in contrast, has tried to restrict employee use of ChatGPT. We believe adoption is inevitable, especially after Microsoft integrates GPT’s capabilities into its Office products.

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Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Large Language Models, ChatGPT

How to Prepare for CFPB Crackdown on Consumer Fees

Posted by Paul Davis on Mar 16, 2023 11:06:00 AM

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It’s not every day that a phrase as vague and slanted as “junk fees” becomes an actual legislative term, but here we are. In various statements, the White House and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have defined junk fees as “hidden or unexpected fees” and “increasingly sophisticated tools to disguise the true price consumers face.”

Although President Biden highlighted hotel resort fees, concert ticket services, and airline surcharges in his State of the Union address, the CFPB has also pushed to lower the cap for most credit card late fees from roughly $30 to $8. Limiting or eliminating NSF/overdraft fees is also high on the agency’s agenda.

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Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Overdraft, CFPB, Credit Cards, Retail Banking

Making Sense of the EWS Digital Wallet Initiative

Posted by Prakash Natarajan on Mar 7, 2023 11:27:00 AM

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Stop me if you've heard this one before – a group of industry players creates a consortium to launch a digital wallet to participate in the payments process and exert control over the consumer experience.

Such an endeavor has been pursued in the past years by major U.S. retailers, like MCX, and telecom providers, through the unfortunately named ISIS.

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Topics: Payments, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Digital Wallets, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Mobile Wallets, Fintech Strategy

Five Tech Takeaways from Acquire or Be Acquired

Posted by Richard Whiddon on Feb 28, 2023 11:37:00 AM

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The SRM recently returned from Bank Director’s Acquire or Be Acquired conference. The event was well attended, provided great networking opportunities, and created a forum for sharing ideas on numerous growth strategies for financial institutions of all sizes.

While the event remains focused on the topic of mergers and acquisitions, this year’s sessions highlighted broader strategic initiatives that can differentiate winners and losers in the financial services industry. Naturally, fintech played a considerable role, as witnessed by the attendees and the topics.

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Topics: Fintech, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Blockchain, Strategy

Creating a Map for Credit Unions’ Digital Readiness

Posted by Loretta Weller-Mowers on Feb 23, 2023 11:09:00 AM

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The future is digital, and credit unions’ ability to deliver an exceptional experience will be a critical benchmark for success. Strategic questions abound. How do you harmonize the digital channel with the personalized in-branch experience? Should you partner with fintechs? If so, which providers and services should be prioritized? Do you understand what your members want and how you stack up against your competition?

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Topics: Fintech, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Digital Map, Strategy

Humanizing the Digital Experience for Credit Union Members

Posted by Loretta Weller-Mowers on Feb 16, 2023 11:03:00 AM

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In today’s digital age, credit unions must create an exceptional online experience for members across a spectrum of products and services. The ability to “humanize the digital experience” will shape how credit unions can anticipate and map out how members move across channels.

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Topics: Digital Banking, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Onboarding

How the CFPB Could Shake Up (and Shake Down) Fintech

Posted by Paul Davis on Feb 2, 2023 11:07:00 AM

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Shifts in the regulatory landscape carry significant impacts on banks, credit unions, and the fintech companies that are part of a growing ecosystem. The most-active agency in recent months has been the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). There's little reason to expect the CFPB to slow its pace in 2023, aggressively enforcing existing rules and angling to expand its jurisdiction.

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Topics: Open Banking, Fintech, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, BaaS, CFPB

Making the Case for Open Banking

Posted by Jeff Ostheimer on Jan 24, 2023 11:07:00 AM

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Open banking gives third-party financial service providers open access to consumer banking, transactions, and other financial data through application programming interfaces (APIs). It allows for the networking of accounts and data across institutions for use by consumers, FIs, and third-party service providers, according to Investopedia.

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Topics: Open Banking, Digital Banking, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Embedded Finance, Embedded Fintech

Timing Matters in Contract Negotiations

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Jan 17, 2023 11:36:00 AM

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We recently released “Rising to the Challenge: SRM’s Seven Rules for Optimizing Vendor Contracts,” a report outlining ways banks and credit unions can ensure they receive services at fair prices and terms from third-party providers. As we enter 2023, these vendor relationships will receive even greater focus as FIs aim to defend their bottom lines and sharpen their internal processes amid an uncertain economic environment.

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Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management

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