Independent Banker - November 2022 - 65

There is no silver bullet
The third tip from Ehrhardt
is not to look for one single,
magical solution. " I wish I could
say Teslar can solve everything in
commercial lending that a bank
needs, " he laughs. " But it's not true.
No one can be good at everything.
Usually, people don't have their
house built by one person. It's
the exact same reasoning. We
specialize in commercial lending.
That's all we do. I know how deposit
accounts work, but I don't write
software there. "
4
Get to know the fintechs
ICBA's ThinkTECH Accelerator program,
founded in 2019, helps community banks
build relationships with fintech companies,
and for the latter to build products designed
for the needs of community banks. It offers
banks the chance to meet one-on-one with
Do your research
Bill Loving, president and
CEO of $641 million-asset
Pendleton Community Bank in
Franklin, W.Va., remembers first
encountering Teslar Software at an
ICBA ThinkTECH event in 2019, and
he recommends other banks explore
events of that kind. It was, he recalls,
an opportunity to try the products
on offer and to find a partner whose
values the community bank aligned
with. Teslar's team had a background
in community banking and was, he
says, an obvious fit culturally for
Pendleton Community Bank.
" Use it as an opportunity to learn, "
Loving says. " You need to understand
what you're looking for, and then you
need to be honest with yourself-will
that product fit your needs? There's
a lot of bright and shiny objects out
there in this new world of fintech, so
I think you've just got to determine
what fits you best. "
Do your due diligence
That process, of course,
requires due diligence.
" Given the rise of cyberattacks,
the number of vendors has grown
by orders of magnitude, and their
services and capabilities vary greatly
based on experience, industry
pedigree and technical baseline, "
says Mark Sangster, chief of
strategy at Adlumin, a compliance
and cybersecurity and automation
5
fintechs and learn about their solutions to industry opportunities.
During a 12-week boot camp, ICBA members are invited to
participate as mentors and share their industry challenges with
Accelerator cohort companies to help mature their products and
pitches, and ultimately ensure product-market fit and longevity.
Each year, an ICBA ThinkTECH Showcase is held during ICBA LIVE,
where all cohort companies present their pitches to community
bankers across the country.
The fintech companies featured in this article all went through
the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator program.
z Teslar Software was founded in 2008 by banker and engineer
Joe Ehrhardt, creating a portfolio management system that
aggregates loan and deposit processes into a single system. It
reduces the need for IT report requests, duplicating data entry,
manual Excel calculations and Access databases.
z Adlumin, founded in 2016, is a compliance and security
automation platform that stops advanced cyber threats,
eliminates vulnerabilities and manages sprawling IT systems
with managed detection and response services.
z nCino was founded in 2011 by a team of bankers and
other entrepreneurs to create a single end-to-end cloudbased
banking platform with a 360-degree view and
built-in compliance.
6
platform. " In this hyperbolic market,
there is too much overpromising and
underdelivering. Dive into vendors'
testing capabilities with a proof
of concept in their environment
and follow up on references from
the industry. "
In addition to looking into the
fintech's background, it's a matter
of looking forward. Yarborough
at nCino recommends exploring
what research and development
technology partners are investing
in. " How are they going to continue
to grow as an organization? " he
" You need to
understand what
you're looking for,
and then you need
to be honest with
yourself-will that
product fit your
needs? "
-BILL LOVING, PENDLETON
COMMUNITY BANK
independentbanker.org Q 65
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - November 2022
