Independent Banker - November 2018 - 47

54%
of bank respondents
call fintechs
a potential partner
to be very flexible to ensure that we were
comfortable both with the legal contract
and the information security. "
Fintechs bring more than tech
For Unruh of NBKC, working with fintechs
is not only " smart " but necessary. " This is
not entirely a generational or age issue, but
rather it is offering solutions to consumers
and small businesses that previously did
not exist, " he says.
" Just a few years ago, a small-business
owner did not have access to working
capital in the seamless, lightning-fast and
non-burdensome manner they do today, "
Unruh adds. " First-time homebuyers,
people trying to pay down debt or establish
emergency savings did not have the
effective, incredibly easy-to-use tools that
now exist. "
NBKC has been providing home
mortgages online to all 50 states for
more than two decades through its
online channel. " Fintech companies
bring technology that will both assist
our customers and supplement what we
provide at ChoiceOne, " says Greenland.
Partnerships with Autobooks helped the
community bank's many small-business
customers who need assistance with
accounting and invoicing, and provided
an excellent user experience and great
customer service, Greenland says.
Schulte says of Mercantile Bank's fintech
89%
say partnerships
between banks and fintechs
will captivate the industry
over the next decade
Source: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
partnerings, " We've gotten into a groove in
terms of what the experience is like and what
the challenges are. You have to start like a
dating process-like a dance. Sometimes,
you have to walk away if the arrangement
isn't right. Sometimes the key is waiting
to have enough dances. " Schulte stays
abreast of the industry buzz by attending
conferences and following Twitter and other
social media to divine " which companies are
worth having a conversation with. "
Most recently, he has become a devotee
of chatbot technology, teaming up with Abe
AI to help Mercantile Bank's customers
connect on social media and Google, and by
text. " We're using a conversational interface
to reach a different market, " he says. " We
found a partner in Abe AI who had the same
philosophy about financial health being a
focus, and who could leverage existing bank
platform investments and APIs to deliver a
solution quickly with unique capabilities not
seen in the marketplace. "
While it may seem to run counter to
every business principle, Schulte and
other fintech-lauding community bankers
claim that sharing their success and their
experience with competing community
banks is a benefit. " The experience we
bring, and the repeatable model we bring
to other similar financial institutions, helps
us build a mutual success, " Schulte says.
" If we act as a reference and advocate for
you and introduce [a fintech partner] to
" You have to
start like a
dating process-
like a dance.
Sometimes, you
have to walk away
if the arrangement
isn't right.
Sometimes the key
is waiting to have
enough dances. "
-John Schulte,
Mercantile Bank
independentbanker.org Q 47
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - November 2018

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