Banking Transformed with Jim Marous

Financial institutions should make it easy to do business with them their first priority. One community bank got account opening to 2 minutes and 13 seconds and increased conversion rates to almost 70%.

Derek Corcoran spent 25 years working on customer experience in financial services, including time as chief experience officer at Temenos. His new book, Designing for Need, argues that the industry copied its playbook from businesses selling things people enjoy. Banking is something people need to do, and the best version of a need-to-do experience gives the customer their time back. He makes the case with a community bank that opened accounts in 2 minutes and 13 seconds and a London branch where customers spent 55 minutes anyway.

Jim pushes back. He has spent years arguing that customers want us to know them, understand them and help improve their financial wellness, which sounds like the opposite of an institution designing itself to disappear. Derek's answer is the notice that arrives before an overdraft and the sweep from savings that quietly prevents it, an institution responding to what is happening in the customer's life in real time. They also talk about embedded banking, and why Derek treats AI as a tool that follows strategy.

Derek says banks under $10 billion held about 15% of industry assets and distributed 45% of PPP funds, and that friends of his who moved to a community bank were back at a national bank within a year. They get into intentional friction, with a customer who said a $600,000 mortgage should feel serious, the question of when you last opened an account at your own institution, and the marketing promise Bankwest and DBS make that Derek can't find an American institution making.

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Download the 2026 Retail Banking Trends and Priorities report from the Digital Banking Report: https://www.digitalbankingreport.com/trends/2026-retail-banking-trends-and-priorities/?YouTubeIV59

Money 20/20 showed banks and credit unions what to prepare for: AI agents that move money, new payment rails and rules that are still being written. The OCC finalized its first federal rule for stablecoin issuers during the show, and several large banks were reported to be restricting third-party AI agents in customer accounts within days of its close.

At Money 20/20 in Las Vegas, American Express shared research showing 59% of consumers are comfortable with AI recommending a purchase but only 36% are comfortable letting an agent complete it. Jim Marous thinks that gap may already be optimistic after Amazon blocked Meta's Muse shopping agent for not identifying itself, Meta patched a flaw that could have let an attacker hijack the assistant, and six major banks published principles for trust in agentic commerce.

Jim uses the show as a model for how banks and credit unions can learn from any large industry event: look for the issues that matter, the direction banking is heading and the speed of change. Three themes ran through it. Rules cover authority, identity and responsibility; rails connect accounts and move money; and readiness covers whether customers, employees and the institution can depend on the service. An agent that recommends moving a customer's savings to another institution touches all three.

His view is that caution about AI agents is reasonable and there is no reason to stop. Gated entry lets agents through on conditions, while barriers push the activity somewhere institutions cannot see it, and for the foreseeable future he expects agents to work on behalf of customers, much like a financial advisor within guardrails. The episode closes with practical steps for preparing for more than one outcome, including a standing list of developments, a provider walkthrough of one customer experience, and small tests.

About: Banking Transformed is hosted by Jim Marous, a top five banking industry influencer and Co-Publisher of The Financial Brand. Banking Insights episodes deliver the most important strategic ideas in about ten minutes, for the executive who wants the takeaway without the deep dive. Subscribe to the Digital Banking Report at digitalbankingreport.com.

Victor Alexander explains how a $185 billion bank takes on giants and fintechs by funding fewer priorities and finishing them.

Flashback Friday: In this 2025 interview from The Financial Brand Forum, Head of Consumer Banking Victor Alexander explained why KeyBank says no to good ideas. A $185 billion bank could invest in almost anything, he said, but it cannot aim at everything, so some great ideas are not today's idea. He also described how that focus shapes client experience and why he would rather do fewer things better.

Victor described how KeyBank built its first dedicated offer for mass affluent households with $250,000 to $2 million in investable assets and was signing up more than 1,000 clients a month. He also explained when KeyBank partners with, invests in or acquires a fintech, including the 2019 purchase of Laurel Road, and why fintechs have raised the bar for everyone.

He covered AI as a growth driver instead of a cost cutter, how data on tax refunds and overseas payments helps bankers call the right client, and how a digital account opening leads to a call from the local branch manager. Jim also asked a room of bankers who closed a primary relationship in the last five years (nobody) and who opened one at another institution in the last two (everybody).

Since the 2025 recording, KeyBank has grown from the $185 billion Victor cited to about $191 billion in assets (June 30, 2026) and hired a former JPMorgan Chase virtual banking leader to lead retail banking.

Hosted by Jim Marous. Subscribe to Banking Transformed for new episodes multiple times each week.

Get the 2026 Retail Banking Trends and Priorities report from the Digital Banking Report: https://digitalbankingreport.com/?YouTubeIV58

Banks and credit unions can compete with digital-first organizations by finishing nine specific tasks, from a clear North Star to opening an account in 3 to 5 minutes. Our research shows that 93% of institutions have not fully reached their digital transformation goals, so the gap is in execution.

Most banks and credit unions know what to do, and few of them do it. Our research shows that 93% of institutions have not fully reached their digital transformation goals, and most have been working on them for more than two years. While 57% name digital experience as their top priority, only 28% make data and analytics a funding priority. Plans stall between departments and silos, which is why this list is built as tasks to start.

The first five strategies cover the customer journey. They begin with a North Star for differentiation, then move to account opening that takes 3 to 5 minutes, onboarding with a progress bar, ongoing flow-of-funds analysis and partnerships that help smaller institutions reach digital maturity faster. Each comes with the first steps to take, such as timing your own account opening process or listing what your current partners offer beyond what you use today, and the reason it earns a place on the list.

The remaining four strategies build on that foundation: democratizing data for branch managers, business bankers and contact center teams, an easy-credit button for qualified customers, checking how AI assistants and search engines describe the institution, and cybersecurity and trust that remove friction for legitimate customers. None requires a massive budget or years of work to begin making progress. The episode closes by asking leaders to choose the three that would make the biggest difference to their customers.

About: Banking Transformed is hosted by Jim Marous, top five banking industry influencer and Co-Publisher of The Financial Brand. Banking Insights episodes deliver the most important strategic ideas in under ten minutes, for the executive who wants the takeaway without the deep dive. Subscribe to the Digital Banking Report at digitalbankingreport.com.

Download the free Innovation in Retail Banking report, with insights from 170+ banking executives worldwide: https://www.digitalbankingreport.com/dbr/dbr314

Bancolombia built a digital bank to compete with itself. It now serves 24 million customers.

Many U.S. bankers still think of Latin America as a region catching up. Fidel Vargas, Chief Information Officer of Bancolombia, says that's the wrong lens. Inclusion, fast digital adoption, real-time payments, and a wave of new competitors, from Nubank to Revolut to Mercado Pago, have forced Colombia's largest bank to innovate at a pace few U.S. institutions face. The result is a model worth studying for any bank or credit union, built by an institution with more than 32 million customers.

Fidel walks through why Bancolombia let Nequi, the digital bank it started inside the bank 10 years ago, become its own licensed company with 24 million customers, and how the group decides when an internal initiative needs more speed, a different regulatory setting, or a brand of its own. He also explains why Bancolombia brought more than 60% of its IT people in-house and builds what sets it apart. That decision rule, starting inside and separating only when a customer need demands it, is one any institution can apply at its own scale.

On AI, Bancolombia moved past experiments two years ago and put generative AI in front of customers, cutting its contact center budget by more than 20%. Fidel explains why innovation and resilience aren't competing priorities for a 150-year-old bank, why he believes banks that don't modernize won't survive, and why his toughest daily challenge is helping his own people keep pace with change. He closes with the daily forums Bancolombia runs to keep its teams aligned with how fast customers are moving.

About the guest: Fidel Vargas Londoño is Chief Information Officer of Bancolombia, part of Grupo Cibest, where he connects business and technology and leads digital transformation across the bank and its companies.

Thanks to Infosys Finacle and Qorus for making this conversation possible as part of our ongoing work on innovation in retail banking.

Hosted by Jim Marous. Subscribe to Banking Transformed for new episodes multiple times each week.