Plagues always end- but what comes after?
Fintech entrepreneur and thought leader Brian Roemmele shares his takeaways on the pandemic- including parallels to 1918- and what it means for the future of the workplace and talent recruiting. Also, Wyoming’s crypto banking play gets Kraken.
The Crypto Creature from Wyoming
The regulatory landscape for US financial institutions is notoriously complex, a complicated web of overlapping federal agencies and state authorities. The need to comply with so many rule makers is frequently cited as a reason the US lags in financial innovation. Sometimes it takes a bold, borderline crazy move to jumpstart the process. And we may have just seen one in- of all places- Wyoming.
Re-run: There’s Nothing Cryptic about These Digital Dollars
Glen interviews Daniel Gorfine of the Digital Dollar Project about his vision for a government backed tokenized currency and a recent US “Sputnik Moment.” Also- a setback on payday lending, and a rejected credit union merger highlights the perils of succession planning.
Lessons from the 1918 Pandemic – and What Comes Next
Credit unions – and innovation – don’t exist in a vacuum. There’s plenty to be learned from experiences beyond financial services, as well as the broader context in which we all operate. That’s one of the principles behind BIG’s weekly Digital Town Hall Meetings, at which credit union leaders share best practices and recent developments.
Digital Banking’s New “App Store” Model
Glen speaks with leaders from Finzly and Q2- both Finovate Fall Best of Show winners- about innovative approaches to rapidly bringing digital banking solutions to market. Also, more on working from home and our gradual return to the workplace.
Operating Assumptions and the Great 2021 Budget Challenge
Budget season is among the year’s most stressful and aggravating times under the best of circumstances. Layer on our current uncertainty regarding the economy, public health and election outcomes and the challenge begins to feel insurmountable.
Finovate Fall- Best of Show, Key Themes, and Cool Ideas
The always intriguing Finovate conference followed the rest of society into the digital sphere last week, adapting its tried-and true model of seven-minute demos of cutting edge financial technology just slightly for the new format. While the buzz of a packed auditorium devouring live demos was missing, the ideas being pitched were as compelling as ever.
The Curious World of Checks and Coins
Of all the havoc the coronavirus has wreaked on daily life, disruptions to payments behavior hardly tops the average consumer’s list. Nonetheless these impacts are real, and they matter quite a bit to leaders of credit unions and other financial services firms.
The Debate Continues- How Many Apps Should a Credit Unioan Offer?
A few weeks back John and Kevin initiated a spirited debate over the multiple tradeoffs baked into a credit union’s app strategy- user friendliness, functionality, ease of ongoing updates, etc. Check out our prior post for the first half of this conversation, particularly on whether it’s best to offer a single all-inclusive app addressing every banking need, or a compact ”everyday” app along with a series of others suited for less frequent needs like mortgage applications.
FedNOW… in 2023? The Allure of Instant Payments
The Federal Reserve stirred the pot in 2018 when it requested comments on its offering a real-time payments network, since branded as FedNOW. Credit unions and community banks encouraged the Fed’s entry into the real-time market as a way to ensure widespread access to this important new capability.