Data-Driven Finance: The Financial Intelligence Podcast

Bruce Schilder of Accenture on Open Banking Transformations

Bruce Schilder, North American Open Banking and Fintech Lead at Accenture. Bruce comes out of Syracuse’s Whitman School of Management, and before Accenture spent time at JPMorgan Chase and Sterling National Bank. We talk about open banking and digital transformation in banking from a consulting perspective. Topics covered include:

• How far we’ve already come in open banking.
• Achieving the balance of all the conveniences data can provide while reassuring consumers their data is used properly.
• Can existing infrastructures accommodate the connected finance future?
• How is the US set up compared to other countries and regions in establishing finance frameworks and standards?
• The factors challenging financial institutions from enacting digital transformations.
• What the competitive environment looks like in terms of speed of technology adoption.
• The new norm of data being shared beyond the four walls of a financial institution.
• Advice for financial organizations from a big picture perspective.

Helpful Links
Bruce Schilder on LinkedIn
Accenture
Envestnet Yodlee 

Dustin De Vincentis of Alumni Services on Digital Transformation

In this episode, we talk with Dustin De Vincentis, Global Head of Financial Services at Alumni Services. Dustin comes out of Columbia business school and has spent time at JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley before joining Alumni Services. Dustin comments about the often rocky world of digital transformation in financial services, with topics such as:

• What was learned at large financial institutions that you carried into the FS startup world?
• If change, including digital transformation harder to accomplish in financial services vs. other verticals?
• How do you integrate business strategies with new technologies? Which of those things tends to drive the other?
• What is the best and most effective ways to go about implementing change in a highly risk-averse industry and organization?
• Who makes a good B2B partner for a finserv company? What are the characteristics of a good, mutually beneficial relationship?

Helpful Links:

Alumniserv.com

Dustin De Vincentis LinkedIn

Resources.yodlee.com/podcasts

Steve Boms of Allon Advocacy on Open Bank Regulation

Our guest this episode is Steve Boms, Founder and President at Allon Advocacy and also Executive Director of the Financial Data & Technology Association. Steve comes out of Penn State and has worked at Capital One, the International Securities Exchange, and the US House of Representatives assisting a senior member of the Financial Services Committee. We talk about regulations and government relations in financial services. Topics include:

• Who needs a lobbyist?
• How do the countries stack up against each other in terms of regulation readiness for open banking?
• Dodd Frank passed into law in 2010 but we’re only talking about the regulations going into place at the end of 2024. Why?
• What are the metrics we should be looking at that will indicate we’re moving toward connected finance in the right way and at the right speed?
• What must the consumer be reassured of when it comes to asking them to offer up their data?
• Why financial services is one of the first verticals being looked at for the application of data regulation.
• How data access will bring more competition which will bring more benefits to consumers.

Helpful Links:
Allon Advocacy
Financial Data & Technology Association
Steve Boms on LinkedIn
Envestnet Yodlee

Jose Tagunicar of Stratyfy on AI in Lending

Our guest this episode is Jose Tagunicar, Product Strategy, Analytics, and Risk Management at Stratyfy. Jose was previously with FICO and Equifax. We talk about the latest takeaways from the FICO World 2024 gathering in San Diego, as well as how AI is being planned for and applied, particularly in the credit and lending space of finserv. Topics covered include:

• Why do smaller lenders tend to struggle against the big banks?
• Striking the right balance between tech/algorithms and human judgment in lending.
• Personalization and hyper-personalization in lending.
• What is a healthy approach to risk-aversion?
• The benefits of accelerated evaluation.
• What AI can and cannot do in lending.
• How are we making sure the data being used to make lending decisions is sound?
• What it takes for alternative forms of credit to be competitive.
• Transparency = table stakes.
• Top takeaways from FICO World 2024.

Helpful Links:
Stratyfy.com

FICO

Jose Tagunicar LinkedIn

Envestnet Yodlee

David Snitkof of Ocrolus on Lending Data

In this episode, we speak with David Snitkof, entrepreneur and SVP of Growth at Ocrolus about bringing lending institutions the data they need to make more efficient and effective assessments of potential borrowers while also evening the lending playing field for those borrowers. In our discussion we cover things like:

• Why it’s so important to have a credit system that is fair, active, and efficient.
• The ingredients for getting buy-in for internal innovations.
• Is online lending some kind of threat to traditional lenders or the data they use?
• What’s the right kind of data to use for making loans and where do you get it?
• What can happen if lending institutions can’t access reliable data on applicants.
• How uncertainty and asymmetry play into vetting and making loans.
• The affect AI is having and is likely to have on online lending.
• What is a “superhuman underwriter”?

Useful Links:
Fintechaireview.com
Ocrolus.com
Envestnet Yodlee

Jean-Paul LaClair of FDX on Open Finance

In this episode we talk with Jean-Paul LaClair, Senior Director of Product and Financial Data Exchange about the best ways to pursue open finance through adoption of systems and standards. Jean-Paul came out of Cornell University with a BA in Economics and Sociology, and prior to landing at Financial Data Exchange worked at USAA and M&T Bank. We cover topics like:

• What’s lacking in our conventional approaches to lending?
• How do we build a financial ecosystem that serves everyone?
• What exactly is open finance?
• How exactly does open finance benefit consumers and customers?
• How do you get so many players in finance to coalesce around one standard?
• What are the security concerns around open finance and data-sharing?
• Who are the member organizations that would participate in open finance?

Useful Links:
Financialdataexchange.org

Michael Whitt of ApexEdge on Subscriptions Management

In this episode we speak with Michael Whitt, President and Co-founder of ApexEdge, about subscription-based products and services and how financial institutions can offer superior customer experiences related to subscriptions. In our discussion we cover things like:

• The disparities between consumers and providers.
• Why are so many businesses moving to subscription instead of ownership business models?
• Why subscriptions cancellation may soon be table stakes for financial companies.
• What is “friendly fraud”?
• How this affects the relationship between banks and subscription providers.

Useful links:
ApexEdge
Michael Whitt on LinkedIn
Envestnet Yodlee

Farouk Ferchichi on Financial Intelligence and Wellness

In the debut episode of our podcast, we speak with Farouk Ferchichi, Group President of Envestnet | Yodlee and Global Head of Envestnet Data & Analytics about his fintech entrepreneurial background and how what he’s learned along the way is being applied now in his work at Envestnet. Our chat covers things like:

• Effective ways to sell transformation internally
• Data democratization in the age of drowning in data and data command & control.
• What is “financial wellness” and is it the same for everyone?
• The different services financial customers need at every stage of their financial journey.
• What’s the best role for AI to play right now in financial management and advisement?

Useful links:
Yodlee.com
Farouk Ferchichi on LinkedIn