| | August 20209CIOReviewadoption takes time. Keep your eye on the end-user and not the flashy new widget. Consumer usage patterns, as evidenced in your transaction data, will tip you off on how they're testing new payment channels; track it regularly. Meet consumers where they are headed, and be prudent enough to discern what has legs and what does not. Pivot on enhancements to the cardholder experience, reduced friction, efficiency gains, or improved spend behavior. · Self-Source the Golden Nuggets. Open banking is revolutionizing the industry. Application Program Interface (APIs) creates efficiencies with how software programs communicate, thereby enabling two different platforms to interact. In the years ahead, many FinTech companies and long-standing payment processors will have APIs that link their respective technologies giving community financial institutions access to a broader array of platforms and functionality. Open banking is leveling the playing field and driving competition. Source new and great technology, then push your partner to integrate with APIs. · Invest in Data Analytics. Nothing is more nebulous in its interpretation than `data analytics.' A report or flat-file should not be confused with analytics. Finding patterns in your data that create new learning, leveraging data to predict cardholder behavior, or conducting cardholder segmentation to identify new product opportunities are classical analytical use cases. Big banks are doing this today and delivering best-fit payment solutions to customers. A robust analytics solution will keep you well-informed of shifting payment trends from your own transaction data, and help you know what investments to make. This isn't cheap. Expect a large investment, but plan appropriately to maximize the return. · Enhance Digital Offerings, but Protect Service. There's the right balance between improving your digital footprint and enhancing your tried-and-true customer service. Both are equally important, and a good digital strategy that rules out improvements in branch operations or call centers is doomed to fail. Instead, choose an integrated path that allows your brick-and-mortar teams to enhance service with expanded digital offerings. Seek those applications that provide members with greater transaction detail combining simplified GUI interfaces with frictionless payments. Your form factor should be crisp, clean, and simple. In the end, we cannot resist change, and good service alone won't shield against the pace of innovation and shifting consumer behavior. Blockbuster is the poster child here ­ the self-serve kiosk killed them. Keep your eyes on what matters, and what matters to your cardholders. Raise your head above the operational day-to-day and see where your cardholders and the market are headed. Just because you're working in a smaller geographic footprint doesn't mean you won't feel the effects. Imagine what the next dozen years will bring. Do you have a plan? Seek those applications that provide members with greater transaction detail combining simplified GUI interfaces with frictionless payments. Your form factor should be crisp, clean and simpleChris Slane
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