A bunch of new ways to drive growth and profit at your bank,
that's who. π°π
Oh, and a recap of our BankTech Ventures Annual Summit!
Welcome to the April newsletter. Let's get into it!
Key Takeaways from our LP Summit:
This past week, we held our 2nd Annual "BankTech Ventures Limited Partner Summit" in Chicago and wow, what a busy but encouraging few days that turned out to be! We brought together our Limited Partners (community banks) to meet with our Portfolio Companies (banking technology vendors) to discuss the future of banking, how each party can more efficiently work with each other, and create new synergistic relationships to strengthen the market positions of everybody in the room. The days were packed with original content from our speakers, our panelists, and the companies alike. A few takeaways from those conversations include:
When it comes to bank innovation, doing nothing is a choice. But your indecision is ultimately still a decision, granted one that is leaving you behind.
The power of relationship & network building in our industry is invaluable, especially given it's not a particularly large industry. And while Zoom meetings have been nice these past few years, there's infinitely more that can be achieved when creating new relationships in person. Our very own Pam Kaur, Head of Bank Technology, writes about that in this blog post. And maybe in the end, you may not end up working with a specific tech company or bank, but knowing that person/team will vouch for you to others will put you ahead of the rest.
An open-minded approach to fintech partnerships can move mountains -- but don't "boil the ocean" all at once. Start small with an easy-implementation solution, then build off of that momentum. Don't underestimate what the power of a "small win" will do for your team's continued motivation and loyalty. Even our most innovative banks (featured in the panel session picture below) had to start small. Now they're implementing critical infrastructure upgrades and multiple new vendors per year, but they, too, are still honing in on their innovation process with the ongoing support of their C-Suite, advice from peer banks, and a robust network of passionate, driven fintech-founders.
Completing the form at the bottom of this newsletter, the first three people to respond correctly get the prize!
Mark your calendars... ποΈ
Don't worry if you couldn't make it to our epic, incredible, life-changing summit this year π You can see what all the hype is about by joining us in May 2024.
Reach out to Sarah for early registration and additional details!
Article alert!!
What if we told you that digital marketing could actually drive growth? ... and save you money too?
We sat down with one of our valued PortCo founders, Nicky Senyard, to learn about the performance marketing platform that can turn digital marketing into one of a bank's primary growth engines, fueled by data transparency. It could be so simple!
Check out the members of our community who are out there making real impact.
β’ Beauceron Security'sDavid Shipley spoke on two podcast episodes recently about the ever-growing threat of cybercrime, and what is being done to combat it: Canadian bank RBC's Disruptors,and IT World Canada's Cyber Security Today π€
β’ Torpago founder Brent Jackson shared his team's top 3 takeaways from Fintech Meetup back in March. Great insight into what banks are looking for and where fintech should be headed.
β’We were mentioned in this Yahoo Finance article about our Limited Partner, Farmers and Merchants Bank, and how they are stepping up their innovation game on multiple fronts. Let's go!
β’ Mark Sangster of Adlumin shares his thoughts on how banks are champions of compliance, while simultaneously falling victim to cybersecurity threats. Compliance β Security.
β’ Join CNote on May 3rd for a live webinar on measuring and utilizing impact investing in your company! β»οΈ
β’ Integration-as-a-Service provider PortX was not only mentioned, but highly praised in the ABA's Exploring Middleware Solutionsreport last month. You know the value is real when the marketing creates itself. π PortX also released this super informative article on the lessons learned since the collapse of SVB, from a bank integration perspective.
A special offer available to our community only!! π¨
Donβt limit your bank to outsourcing customer relationships, data, and control for corporate cards. With Torpago Powered By, you can take back your brand.
For all BankTech Ventures Limited Partners and Portfolio Companies, Torpago is offering 1.6% cash back and zero SaaS fees if you sign up in the next 90 days.
We'd like to reintroduce you to the BankTech Ventures team, your resource for all things bank innovation and bank-enabling fintech. This month's featured team member:
Katie Quilligan
Investor @ BankTech Ventures
Background: Katie recently joined our portfolio pipeline investment team, finding the bank-enabling fintechs that would best serve our Limited Partner banks and the broader banking industry. She supports the BankTech investment process from origination to execution and everything in between. Katie has previous fintech investment experience at a seed stage fund, as well as a track record of driving audience growth, revenue, and innovation for startups and Fortune 500 companies, including American Express.
Reach out to Katie if:
You're a financial technology startup that is looking to push the financial services industry forward.
You're a banking executive, manager or director looking to infuse a spirit of innovation and progressive change in your organization.
You're looking for support in navigating fintech sourcing, introductions, selection, diligence, implementation, and anything else fintech related.
You want to discuss what the future of banking can look like and what we need to do to get there.
Let us know if you're planning to attend any of these, as it's likely that we'll either be there or we know great companies or contacts for you to meet with while there!
π This insightful article explores the role that fintech could play in unpaid family caregiving.
π This quick read suggests that bridging the gap between back end core processing and front end consumer software could be a significantly productive step for banks, financially and otherwise. That's the dream, isn't it?
π§ As you've probably heard, The Future of Life Institute is hosting this open letter and petition for all AI development to halt for six months. There are some who oppose it, and there are some who think it's not enough. The petition only being at 27,500 signatures when this newsletter was written, it's unclear whether the support infamous Smart Person and Good-Decision-Maker Elon Musk will be enough to stop the march of progress.
ποΈ Beatriz Flamini, an extreme athlete from Spain, has emerged from her record-breaking isolation after 500 days in a deep underground cave. She has had no contact with the outside world since February 21st, 2021. If we were tasked with filling her in on what she missed, here's what we'd choose:
β’ the rise (and fall) of NFT's
β’ the blocking of the Suez Canal
β’ the rebranding of Facebook into Meta and Elon Musk taking control of Twitter
β’ the death of Queen Elizabeth II
β’ the collapse of FTX and SVB
π» Twenty-one year old US Airman Jack Teixeira probably didn't realize what he was doing when he posted classified military documents about the Ukraine War to his group of buddies on Discord, but he would soon learn. The case is unfolding now, click here for an update.
Career Corner πΌ
Job openings at our partner banks and portfolio companies.