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Research

Where bank, credit union and fintech leaders turn for unbiased, data-driven analyses, insights, and perspectives. Enhance your messaging with independent financial services industry analysis.

Research Reports Featured In

Financial service industry leaders draw upon Cornerstone's authoritative research to stay current on industry trends and market developments. As a financial services leader for more than 20 years, Cornerstone Advisors is proud to provide invaluable industry research for free. By making this research fully accessible, we empower banks and credit unions to gain the necessary insights to thrive, while enabling fintechs to better understand the market and serve these institutions more effectively. Types of research include:


  • Consumer & Business Surveys and Studies
  • Industry Executive Surveys and Interview-Based Studies
  • Expert Opinion Editorial Pieces and White Papers
  • Brand Awareness/Affinity Research

 

Cornerstone's independent, unbiased and engaging reports help organizations successfully navigate a constantly evolving industry.

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The Digital Banking Channel: Making It a Profit Center
For too long, community banks and credit unions have treated their digital channels as just another cost of doing business. That mindset is no longer sustainable. New research from Ron Shevlin shows community banks and credit unions how to transform their digital banking channels into a $25 billion revenue opportunity.
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Solving BaaS Ledger Reconciliation Challenges
Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) has created unprecedented opportunities for innovation while presenting complex operational challenges. This report reveals critical ledgering challenges faced by financial institutions that are embracing the BaaS paradigm and illustrates ways to capture market share in the rapidly expanding BaaS landscape. Plus, learn four key trends that will shape the future of BaaS ledgering.
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The Playbook for Generative AI-Driven Productivity Improvement for Community Banks and Credit Unions
As AI adoption shifts from testing to full-scale deployment, community banks and credit unions teeter at a critical inflection point. The question is no longer if financial institutions should use AI, but how they can turn it into measurable gains. Those who act now will unlock unprecedented productivity, compliance efficiency, and operational savings.
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The Next-Generation Digital Banking Platform
Digital adoption at banks and credit unions is being threatened by competition from fintechs, merchants, and other providers, as well as shortcomings in their own systems. For this report, Cornerstone’s Ron Shevlin interviewed chief executives at leading community-based financial institutions about their digital banking challenges. His findings? It’s time for a refresh in the digital banking platform.
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The Journey Toward 2030: Becoming a Smarter Bank
Cornerstone Advisors has identified five key pillars—Hyper-Efficient, Data-Driven, Nimble, Differentiated, and Opportunistic—that are not just best practices; they are the blueprint for Building Smarter Banks®. These pillars address the biggest challenges banks and credit unions face today, offering a blueprint for the journey toward 2030. Throughout this paper, we’ll explore each pillar, backed by data, real-world insights, and proven strategies.
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2025 Digital Banking Performance Metrics
Financial institutions are realizing how digital is impacting bottom-line results. This report, researched and written by Cornerstone Advisors’ Ron Shevlin and commissioned by Alkami, gives leadership the foundational data to build their overall digital strategy cross-functionally. Download now to learn how to make smart(er) decisions about your digital investments and resources.
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Improving Your Financial Institution’s Data IQ
As artificial intelligence transforms banking operations and customer experiences, many banks struggle to bridge the gap between their data infrastructure and the sophistication of AI systems. This research, written by Cornerstone Advisors’ Ron Shevlin and commissioned by Apiture, presents a framework to help financial institutions better acquire, manage, and use data.
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What’s Going On in Banking 2025: Happy(er) Days Are Here Again
The economy is fragile, the interest rate environment isn’t stable, and regulations and compliance remain a burden. But optimism among bankers is as high as it’s been in a decade, and this year’s report sails on calmer seas to explore ways financial institutions and their technology providers can plan for the changes and challenges ahead.
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The Boomer-ang Effect: Financial Institutions’ $1 Billion Opportunity in Senior Financial Management
Last year, over $38 billion were stolen from American senior citizens due to financial fraud. In this report, Ron Shevlin, Chief Research Officer at Cornerstone, explains how banks and credit unions are uniquely positioned to offer products and services that protect the elderly against fraud and provide much-needed help to those who care for them.
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Achieving High-Performance Lending: The Impact of AI on Lending Efficiency
For many credit unions and community banks, a lack of innovation in their lending operations results in inefficient processes. This report outlines the challenges financial institutions face; reveals how AI can impact loan processing efficiency; and presents opportunities for banks and credit unions to achieve maximum operational lending performance.
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Vendor Management: How Banks and Credit Unions Can Gain a Competitive Edge
Download this comprehensive guide and discover the 6 key steps you must take to implement an effective vendor management program at your financial institution
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Z Hits Different: How to Better Acquire and Engage a New Generation
Download this comprehensive guide and discover what's top of mind for Gen Z, how they're thinking about money, and what it means for financial services marketers.
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Improving Online Lending Profitability with Embedded Payment Insurance
Embedded loan payment insurance can benefit digital lenders and borrowers alike. This research, commissioned by TruStage, shows online lenders how a revolutionary approach can lead to significant profitability gains, including reduced and redistributed delinquent debt, an expanded borrower base and improved economic growth.
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2024 Digital Banking Performance Metrics
As digital banking technology and consumer preferences evolve, more and more consumers are opening accounts at fintechs rather than at traditional banks and credit unions. This research, commissioned by Alkami, provides performance metrics to help financial institutions measure and manage the effectiveness of their digital investments, channels and operations.
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New Revenue Opportunities from Embedded Accounting
As small businesses grow, so do their accounting needs. This report from Cornerstone Advisors and Hurdlr explores ways embedded accounting can alleviate pain points for small businesses and deliver new revenue streams for vertical SaaS providers and digital platforms.
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Future Harm From New Credit Card Regulations
This report demonstrates six ways the Credit Card Competition Act will negatively impact credit card issuers, consumers and merchants, as well as those the bill sponsors suggest would benefit, if the proposed legislation is passed and implemented...
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Fair and Accessible Credit for Small Businesses: A Guidebook for Financial Institutions
This report presents solutions for small business lenders to deliver fair and accessible credit while profitably managing risk. It highlights challenges lenders face in lending to minority and protected class segments with insights and solutions from industry executives worldwide...
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Aging and Banking: Unique Needs and Challenges of Aging Individuals and Their Loved Ones
Although seniors are vulnerable to financial fraud, they may be reluctant to seek help with their finances. This research explores tools and techniques seniors and their adult children can use to protect themselves from financial exploitation...
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What's Going On In Banking 2024: Finding the Next Wave to Re
This year’s report explores the latest banking and fintech trends and delivers a deep dive into the strategic, operational, and technology-related plans of 359 community banks and credit unions surveyed by Cornerstone Advisors.
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2023 Mobile Deposit Benchmark Report
With customer experience rankings for 20 top retail banks and credit unions, this report identifies competitive best practices for product roadmap updates that can deliver measurable improvement in channel migration, customer satisfaction and end-to-end mobile deposit readiness...
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Finding the Lending Diamonds in the Rough
This report examines key strategies to balance efficiency, growth and risk in a down lending environment and beyond. Discover new ways to ultimately streamline the lending process, improve the customer experience and open the door for new lending opportunities...
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How to Raise Your Contract Negotiation IQ
This guide shows banks and credit unions how to negotiate efficient, effective and cost-saving software contracts and uncover high-performing financial opportunities in their vendor relationships.
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The Harmful Impacts of Removing Sales Tax from Interchange Calculations
Legislative proposals seeking to exclude state and local sales tax from interchange fee calculations for card payments pose an enormous threat to the global payment system and will result in higher - not lower - costs to all but the largest merchants...
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Small Business Banking Technology: Simplifying Deposits and Loans
For community financial institutions exploring growth in the SMB segment, the right technology is critical. This report looks at challenges faced by FIs entering the SMB market and illustrates how automating their deposit and loan processes can…
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The True Impact of Interchange Regulation: How Government Price Controls Increase Consumer Costs and Reduce Security
Legislation that mandated debit card payment routing and interchange price caps harmed the nation's banking system and consumers. If Durbin 2.0 passes, the negative impacts will be felt not just by consumers and banks but also by merchants...
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Reinventing Business Checking: The Key to Growing SMB Relationships
Two-thirds of small and medium-sized businesses are likely to look for new banking relationships in the next 12 months. This research explores SMBs' relationships with their financial institutions and provides strategies to attract these business owners and leaders...
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The Rise of Family Digital Wallets
This report illustrates how offering family digital wallets can enable banks and credit unions to expand their customer base and provides financial institutions with a tiered methodology to implement a family digital wallet - wherever they are in their digital journeys...
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How Social Issues Impact Americans’ Financial Lives and Relationships
From gun control and climate change to mental health and school curricula, social issues are dominating public discussions. This research explores how these conversations are impacting our financial lives and relationships...
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Capitalizing on Embedded Finance and Fintech Opportunities
Embedded finance and fintech represent huge revenue and growth opportunities for mid-size financial institutions. This report details strategies for the embedded future, new core workarounds, and key components of a fintech enablement platform...
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What's Going On In Banking 2023: Fighting the Headwinds, Riding the Tailwinds
An exploration of banking and fintech trends with a detailed dive into the strategic, operational and technology-related plans of community banks and credit unions.
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2023 Digital Banking Performance Metrics
How effective are your digital banking strategies? New research from Cornerstone Advisors presents benchmarks and insights across 11 digital banking areas to illustrate how high-performing community financial institutions are doing digital right....
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Banking and Fintech in 2022: A Recap of Cornerstone Advisors Research
Get highlights from Cornerstone Advisors Research reflecting key issues, challenges, and opportunities faced by bank and credit union executives.
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The Impact of Digital P2P Payments on Community-Based Financial Institutions
To stay competitive in the financial ecosystem, community-based FIs must implement a modern payments strategy that includes digital payments...
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The Chatbot Journey: Making Intelligent Digital Assistants Integral Members of the Team
This report reveals the results of interviews with bank and credit union executives about their conversational AI journeys and presents key elements of successful chatbot deployment...
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Beyond Overdraft: Helping Consumers Manage Liquidity
This report explores 3,000 U.S. consumers’ use of, experience with and attitudes toward overdraft protection services and with overdraft activity on their checking accounts...
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The Embedded Finance Flywheel
Download this report to learn how financial products can help brands generate millions in revenue and increase customer loyalty...
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Selecting an Open Banking Data Aggregation Vendor
A guide to help financial institution and fintech executives make smart choices for their data acquisition, utilization, and analytical solutions...
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Creating a Fintech Subscription Engine
New research from Cornerstone Advisors presents insights and solutions to address the revenue recession driven by declining fee income and waning interchange income...
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The Payments Modernization Imperative
As FIs' payments revenue streams are threatened by industry trends that their digital transformation initiatives fail to address, success depends on modernization of their payments infrastructure...
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The Definitive Guide to Potentially Misunderstood Fintech Trends & Terms
This mega guide will quickly become your go-to resource for a data-driven view of what’s happening in fintech.
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Open Banking and APIs: Strategies for Mid-Size Financial Institutions
APIs are today’s best tools for creating connectivity and data sharing. This report shows banks and credit unions how to build, manage and deploy ...
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2022 Digital Banking Performance Metrics
This report provides a framework to help bank and credit union executives better measure and manage their digital investments, channels, and operations...
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Banking as a Service: Banks' $25 Billion Revenue Opportunity in Fintech Banking
There's a huge revenue opportunity for banks to provide BaaS with the help of third-party technology companies ...
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What's Going On In Banking 2022: Rebounding From the Revenue Recession
Priorities, plans, and plaints for 2022 as reported by 300 U.S. community-based bank and credit union executives.
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The Small Business Digital Account Opening Imperative
To stay relevant, community financial institutions must meet rising customer and member demand for superior ...
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2022 Mobile Deposit Benchmark Report
A detailed reporting of customer experience rankings for top U.S. retail banks and credit unions, including an analysis of the competitive best practices and gaps in these institutions' mobile deposit readiness...
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Cultivating a Digital Lending Ecosystem Strategy
Learn how to boost profitability by embedding lending products into the digital ecosystems your customers already use.
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The State of the Union in Bank-Fintech Partnerships
Fintech partnerships are falling short of financial institutions’ objectives. Here are some new approaches to reverse the trend.
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Leveraging the Cloud to Accelerate Digital Transformation
This report outlines the struggles FIs face relative to cloud technology and explores keys to a successful cloud-based digital transformation strategy...
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Small Business, Big Ambitions - How Community Banks Can Embrace the Small Business Market
Community banks' share of the small business lending marketplace is being threatened by digital neodisrupters. Learn ways FIs can survive, thrive and win back Main Street...
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Counterattack: Banks’ Field Guide to Fintech Disruption
Learn why banks should take fintech disruption seriously and how they can counter five specific competitive threats to be better positioned to win...
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The Human + Digital Challenge in Banking: Consumers Want Both
Discover why banks must utilize tech that works in harmony with human interactions.
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Improving the Loyalty of Mortgage Borrowers
Research-backed strategies for building long-term relationships with every customer or member.
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Going Green: The Climate Change Opportunity in Banking
A new study of U.S. consumers demonstrates significant opportunity for banks and credit unions to win business and gain a competitive advantage by ...
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Modular Banking: Delivering Innovation Without Touching the Core
An exploration of how mid-size banks and credit unions can leverage modular banking to compete with larger financial institutions and…
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Embedded Fintech - How Mid-Size Financial Institutions Can Jumpstart New Product Innovation Through Fintech Partnerships
With so many people forgetting their passwords to their cryptocurrency accounts, we hope FNHB won’t forget the combinations to their buggy locks!
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Migrating to the Cloud: Strategies for Mid-Size Financial Institutions
Only four in 10 mid-size financial institutions have invested in or deployed cloud computing. Learn the benefits of cloud migration…
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What’s Going On In Banking 2021: Rebounding From the Pandemic
New research reveals the 2021 priorities, fintech plans and future forecasts of community-based financial institutions.
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Don’t Abandon Me: Reducing Friction in Online Account Opening with Digital Identity Verification
Industry trends in account origination, where abandonment occurs, and how to reduce friction with digital identity verification – to help…
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Seizing the Upper Hand in Contract Negotiations
Learn how to perform efficient, effective and cost-saving negotiations so you can reinvest in what matters most to your financial...
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2021 Mobile Deposit Benchmark Report
Fifth annual customer experience rankings for 20 top retail banks and credit unions
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Cornerstone Performance Report for Banks 2019
The Cornerstone Performance Report delivers the latest trends and data to help banks become high performing organizations.
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Business Services 2.0: A Credit Union Playbook for Growth
Credit unions must engage with the small businesses that need the most help and continue to look for new ways to fulfill...
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What’s Going On in Banking 2019: Is the Party Over?The State of the Union
Now in its sixth year, Cornerstone Advisors’ annual What’s Going On In Banking study surveys senior executives at community-based financial…
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The Cloud On The Horizon
Learn how your financial institution can overcome cloud challenges and implement an enterprise-wide cybersecurity initiative.
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Commercial Banking Operational and Technology Review
2016 Commercial Banking Operational and Technology Review In Q3 2015, Cornerstone Advisors engaged senior executives at 10 mid-size banks to…
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Financial Institution & Fintech Relationships: From Both Sides of the Table
Financial institutions and fintechs need to get past the "dreamy partnership" language and recognize that they're on different sides of…
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The $370 Billion Small Business Opportunity for Banks
This report identifies the revenue opportunity in small business accounting and payments services.
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Competing with Google Plex and the Digital Banks: How Community-Based Financial Institutions Can Regain Their Mojo
New research on the changing consumer behaviors and attitudes that threaten community-based FIs.
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Successfully Executing a Merger of Equals
When two comparable banks join forces, moving beyond a “your bank/our bank” mentality will be a key to success.
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Digital Sales Benchmarks and Best Practices for Financial Institutions
There is strong consensus among bank and credit union executives that building a robust digital account opening capability is a top priority
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Efficient Instead of Busy
A Discussion with Industry Insiders Cornerstone Advisors managing director and GonzoBanker contributor Eric Weikart recently talked best practices with Jonathan…
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The State of Commercial Digital Lending
The face of the commercial borrower has changed, and many lenders are struggling to deliver service that meets the heightened…
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The Reacquisition Imperative
Many assume that once they acquire new customers or members, those consumers will embark on a journey to become loyal and profitable customers.
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Evaluating Commercial Loan Origination Systems - Defining Performance Drivers and Financial Impacts
Many community-size financial institution CLOS evaluations don’t start with a baseline for desired improvement, i.e., defining the problems to be solved, the CLOS functionality needed to address the problems, and what metrics will be used to measure success
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2020 Mobile Deposit Benchmark Report
Learn about changes in mobile deposit CX from 20 of the largest financial institutions in the United States.
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Americans’ Shadow Financial Lives
Learn how consumer behavior that evades observation affects incumbent financial institutions.
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The Lifetime Value of a Student Loan Refinancing Relationship
Learn about the market opportunity for student loan refinancing as well as the appetite for cross-selling to these borrowers.
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Fintech Adoption in the United States - The Opportunity for Banks and Credit Unions
Despite the attention that leading fintech startups get in the press, actual consumer adoption is quite low.
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Implementing a Commercial Loan Origination System
Deploying an end-to-end commercial loan origination system (CLOS) is complex and provides many opportunities for missteps.
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Selecting an End-to-End Commercial Loan Origination System
Best practice institutions start a CLOS selection by identifying the return on investment (ROI). What is the institution hoping to achieve by implementing a new system?
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Improving Financial Services for Women
What can – and should – financial institutions do to improve the delivery of financial services to women?
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Five Mistakes to Avoid in DAO
The imperative for digital account opening is high due to competitive pressures, but mistakes in implementation can hinder success.
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Making Marketing Strategic
How marketing can improve its strategic contribution in mid-size financial institutions
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Accessorizing the Checking Account
The competition is fierce as the megabanks (Chase, BofA, Citi, Wells) are overwhelmingly winning across all demographic segments (Millennials, GenXers, and Baby Boomers) in the fight for the consumer’s primary checking account.
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The Future-Ready Chief Lending Officer
How emerging technologies are shaping lending and shifting management priorities in community markets.
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The Impact of the Platform Economy on Financial Services Marketing
Discover the three challenges financial institutions must overcome to achieve platform success.
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Point-Of-Sale: The New Battleground for Bank Marketers
Inbound and outbound marketing techniques often fail to engage consumers during the product researching, shopping and buying activities in which…
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Debunking Cybersecurity Myths
Five key misconceptions bank and credit union CEOs need to overcome to effectively manage, measure and educate employees and board…
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Reinventing Checking Accounts
Your financial institution's checking account strategies must evolve to survive in the new subscription economy.
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The Platformification of Banking
In this white paper commissioned by Avoka, a new business model emerges: the platformification of banking.
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Digital Identity in Banking - What CEOs Need to Know About Best Practices and Future Directions
Although the topic of digital identity gets daily attention today in 2018, it’s hardly a new topic.
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Using Mobile Location Data to Improve Bank Marketing Results
Although the topic of digital identity gets daily attention today in 2018, it’s hardly a new topic.
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The Future Ready Commercial Bank
Overall, bankers aren’t very comfortable with the state of their commercial banking capabilities.