Independent Banker - May 2023 - 21

PORTFOLIO INNOVATION STATION
Why you need a digital back office
By Charles Potts, ICBA
or back-office functions, intricate
interdependencies exist to ensure
smooth operations, and when one
element is disturbed, processes may
bottleneck and fail. It's a lot like that
classic " I Love Lucy " chocolate factory
episode where the conveyor belt
just keeps pushing forward, spilling
over and making a mess of what was
meant to be a streamlined scenario.
So, when it comes to introducing
new technology into the back office,
I understand when bank teams
express trepidation over adding
a new element to the mix. But in
today's environment, digital solutions
are transforming how community
banks do business, and in many
ways, back-office automation is the
low-hanging fruit for taking that
first or next step. It's a way to test
the digital waters without upending
the customer experience, and when
implemented well, it can introduce a
host of new opportunities for all areas
of the organization.
In fact, back-office offerings will
make a bank's investment in digital
transformation all the more valuable.
By reverse engineering what you're
looking at in your operations to
determine how problem areas
can be solved by what you do at
the front portion of the process,
you will invoke a soup-to-nuts
approach that takes you from the
customer-facing solution to the end
processing scenario. This holistic
view will confirm you are creating
an efficient and comprehensive plan
that maximizes your investment
in innovation.
And fintech solutions can help
banks in linking those front- and
F
back-office experiences. For example,
KlariVis, an enterprise dashboard
and analytics solution, supports
community banks in ensuring that
the information provided from
transactional operations gives way
to strategic customer insight. Or
consider Beauceron Security and how
the cybersecurity knowledge it brings
to staff helps them be more vigilant
in supporting customers. Solutions
like these are deployed to help
uncover opportunities in the linking
of internal knowledge with external
experience. In short, they help
banks to assess what they already
have to better empower customerfacing
activities.
With our next ThinkTECH
Accelerator program (icba.org/
thinktech) focused on deposit
gathering and retention and real-time
and instant payments, new solutions
are emerging that will continue
to test the connections between a
bank's external- and internal-facing
capabilities. Join us for a virtual
or in-person visit to explore how
these emerging technologies can
help you create a streamlined digital
experience for both your customers
and internal teams.
Because what we do in the back
office affects the customer experience.
So, let's avoid becoming the Lucys
of our proverbial assembly lines
and ensure all pieces of the process
are addressed by innovation. When
implemented strategically, a bank's
innovation investment will deliver
a streamlined, digital approach that
both increases efficiency and enhances
front- and back-end experiences.
Charles Potts (charles.potts@icba.org)
is ICBA executive vice president and
chief innovation officer
independentbanker.org // 21
Illustration by Iluros/Adobe
http://www.icba.org/thinktech http://www.icba.org/thinktech http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - May 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - May 2023
