<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=228149342841576&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">

Leaders in Lending | Ep. 34

Balancing Digital Touchpoints & Traditional Offerings

Nathanael Tarwasokono, President & CEO at Firstmark Credit Union, joins the show to talk about the art of finding balance between what he calls the “bricks and clicks.”

Nathanael Tarwasokono
apple-podcast
google-podcast
spotify-podcast
stitcher-podcast
podcast-speaker

GUEST

Nathanael Tarwasokono

Nathanael is the President and CEO of Firstmark Credit Union. He is a passionate and inspiring credit union executive that leads by example. He is a fair-minded leader that holds himself and his team to high standards and lives by the principles of helping others, teamwork, honesty, perseverance, humility, and always doing the right thing.

Nathanael’s strengths include leadership, board relations, strategic planning, communication, employee coaching and development, team building, relationship development, and negotiating. He has a strong understanding of the credit union industry, organizational culture, human resources, technology, risk management, asset/liability management, lending, and retail delivery.

podcast-bank

ABOUT

Firstmark Credit Union

Established in 1932, Firstmark Credit Union is the oldest state-chartered credit union in San Antonio, Texas.  Today, it manages  $976M in assets and serves over 96,000 members throughout Bexar County and the surrounding area. Firstmark Credit Union provides financial services to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Bexar County as well as education-related employees in Bexar County and the 11 surrounding counties; and their relatives. Established in 1932, the Credit Union has 14 locations serving more than 97,000 members and manages over $900 million in assets.

 

Key Topics Discussed

  1. The strategy around being selective about the products you offer

  2. New approaches to qualifications for consumer lending

  3. Why Firstmark is certifying in-branch staff as financial coaches
  4. How financial institutions can combat buy now, pay later

EPISODE RECAP & SUMMARY

Digital transformation is the word in the financial world.

How are we balancing the need for both digital and non digital facets within the lending process?

On this episode of Leaders in Lending, Nathaneal Tarwasokono, President & CEO at Firstmark Credit Union joins us to talk about how Firstmark is digitally transforming their own way and how disruption is altering the financial world as we know it.

Bricks and Clicks

Bricks and Clicks, a term coined by FirstMark Credit Union, is the balance between the necessary digital and human touch points of the new hybridized banking process.

Here’s how Tarwasokono is leading the way:

Transactional/Relational

Tarwasokono has found that most consumers begin their first engagements with their desired brand digitally.

With account opening and loan application easier than ever these days, he’s realized that online engagement is best for transactional interactions.

As the consumer ventures deeper into the technology and needs guidance with the more complicated aspects of the product, they typically seek consultation either over the phone with a representative or in-branch.

Tarwasokono describes the in-branch experience as relational and believes that every successful user experience should strike an equal balance between transactional and relational interactions.

So how does FirstMark ensure that balance?

Certified Financial Coaches

When customers call or come into the branch, they’re usually seeking advice.

It’s become integral to the FirstMark customer service process that their in-branch staff become certified financial coaches.

Coaches are there to help educate their customers, empowering them to make the right financial decisions by assisting with everything from budgeting to saving for retirement.

When it comes to making complicated, long term life decisions, consumers are finding the human touch experience invaluable.

However, consumers aren’t the only ones making use of the new opportunity.

FirstMark’s employees are enjoying the benefits of career advancement, moving from administrative rote work to higher value, consultative work and ultimately getting their customers more of what they need.

Consumer lending

Credit score and collateral has been the traditional way of proving whether or not a consumer should or should not be approved to borrow money consumer lending. Many financial institutions are finding that these methods are outdated and exclude a large portion of eligible borrowers.

Qualifications

The story, according to Tarwasokono, is what’s most important to understand when measuring the reliability of a prospective borrower.

Artificial intelligence is aiding that mission by collecting all the information needed to truly understand that story. 

For every situation where a consumer has a poor, but steadily improving credit score, there is a consumer with a good but steadily declining credit score. 

If you’re able to digitally uncover that information using AI and pull together those factors, you’ll be able to make far more informed decisions.

For many community-based organizations like FirstMark, building an AI of this power is not in the budget.

Finding the right partner, Tarwasokono says, one who’s moving down the same path, is the best way forward.

Product Selection

With the rise in Fintech partnerships, credit union products, in particular, are becoming more specialized.

Instead of focusing capital on supplying the consumer with everything, smaller institutions are leveraging their partnerships to provide a single or select group of niche yet powerful services.

Selective

In the modern age, consumers expect excellence.

Attempting to be everything for every consumer for small, community-based banks, spreads resources too thin.

However, if it’s played too small, the institution won’t be meeting the needs of the marketplace.

That’s why choosing one or two products to specialize in enables focused attention on the core features of the business while maintaining flexibility so that there’s no dependence on a sole product.

Buy Now Pay Later

As shopping grows increasingly digital, brands are making a point to supply financing options for their bigger investment purchases.

Now that financing is starting to move to a point of sale context, which usually comes in the form of the “buy now, pay later” option, consumers can start shopping before even thinking about financing.

Community Relations

The banking industry right now is being greatly disrupted and credit unions are well positioned to add value to their communities.

Tarwasokono urges these institutions to reflect on which partnerships and tools can they leverage to answer the ultimate question: How do we continue to give back to the community?


Upstart_LeadersinLending_CoverArt_FINAL-01

Stay tuned for new episodes every week on the Leaders in Lending Podcast