Independent Banker - November 2022 - 64

affects all processes and aspects at
the bank, which means letting go of
some old services and systems. If
the bank has had no real experience
working with financial technology
partners and has systems that are
several decades old with many
manual processes, this may come as
something of a shock.
In 2016, $4 billion-asset Leader
Bank, N.A. in Arlington, Mass.,
partnered with fintech nCino
to create a digital platform for
its commercial lending process.
Matthew J. Pierce, Leader Bank's
chief lending officer, admits that
even though the community bank's
work culture is highly innovative
itself, even he found letting go of old
systems challenging.
" It's an investment you're making, "
he says, " and there's going to be a
change to your department's culture
of operations, and there's a little bit
of pain to it. But after a year's worth
of investment in the platform, into
breaking habits and doing everything
within nCino, and testing and beta
testing different functionalities, there
was a huge payoff. "
And the best people to encourage
that change, says Billy Yarborough,
regional vice president at nCino, are
bank leaders. " If they can drive that
message home from a leadership
standpoint, deliver the why of why
we're making this big change and
why we're doing it now, " he says,
" then ultimately, [it results in] much
better adoption and user experience. "
2
Understand what
you do best
Before even starting to speak
to fintechs, Ehrhardt recommends
that community banks look inward.
" One of the top tips I give bankers
is that the vendor's way of doing it
is not [necessarily] the right way, "
he explains. " That doesn't mean
you shouldn't listen to change,
but you need to make sure you
understand what you do best and let
us, the partner, know that, so that
64 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q November 2022
Matthew J. Pierce,
Leader Bank
we enhance what you do. We need to
figure out what makes you you. "
Yarborough agrees. He says it's
about finding the right fit, and
sometimes that means taking the
time to get the bank ready. The right
technology partner will wait.
Don't chase the shiny
Ehrhardt's second tip is not to
focus on the shiny object-in
other words, the change that will
3
bring the best return on investment.
" We say, 'Let's change what you hate
the most. What is something everyone
dislikes?' " he explains. " It may not
have a huge return on investment, but
what's something everybody can get
behind and say, 'If we could fix that
tomorrow, we'd all be happy'?
" And that's where we typically
start, " he continues. " Because that
gets trust and buy-in. So then we
can tackle the things that will bring
a better ROI. But if you go right after
the ROI one, it's usually too hard. "
" It's an investment
you're making,
and there's going
to be a change to
your department's
culture of
operations, and
there's a little bit of
pain to it. But after
a year's worth of
investment in the
platform ... there
was a huge payoff. "
-MATTHEW J. PIERCE,
LEADER BANK, N.A.
Independent Banker - November 2022

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