Independent Banker - September 2022 - 20

PORTFOLIO
for community banks.
" Fifty-eight percent of those aged
13 to 37 are interested in purchasing
items directly from their [social
media] feeds, " said Tede Forman,
vice president of payment solutions
at service provider Jack Henry &
Associates. " It really creates the
opportunity for financial institutions
to retain their customers and keep
them within the financial services
space by offering integration for social
payment capabilities. "
Solutions including Zelle, a bankbased,
closed-loop digital payments
network, and CHUCK, an open
network for instant payments from a
consortium of banks, bring with them
a frictionless payments experience
emanating from the bank's digital
banking app. While Zelle is accountto-account,
CHUCK is receiverplatform
agnostic, allowing the
recipient to take in a payment via the
app of their choosing.
" Customers needed to be able to
send money on these networks, " says
DJ Seeterlin, chief information officer
at $1.3 billion-asset Chesapeake Bank
in Kilmarnock, Va., which offers Zelle
and is in the process of launching
CHUCK. " We know customers want
to be able to do these things with low
friction, but they are also worried
about the risks of dealing with a
nonbank company, so we provide
them with the safety and security of
their bank, while still giving them the
ability to make the payments easily. "
Security is all
Safety and security repeatedly arise as
key factors in customer decisioning.
In fact, a 2020 Deloitte study found
that more than 75% of consumers
consider banks and credit card
companies to be the best positioned
to offer a financial superstore app,
compared with technology companies
or social media platforms. These
" We know customers want to be able to do
these things with low friction, but they are also
worried about the risks of dealing with a nonbank
company, so we provide them with the safety and
security of their bank, while still giving them the
ability to make the payments easily. "
-DJ SEETERLIN, CHESAPEAKE BANK
findings point to security as a key
differentiator for community banks in
the realm of social payments.
" The opportunity for banks is to
create a safer environment, a safer
process, " shares Mickey Goldwasser,
vice president of marketing and chief
of staff at payments provider Payrailz,
the white-label P2P solution that
powers CHUCK.
" You're not going to replace Venmo,
but enough people trust the bank that
they would use the product. So, now
more and more folks can engage in a
social payment. "
Putting customers first
As community banks consider the
right approach for creating a digital
payment experience within their
institution, how they assess their
customers' needs matters. Whatever
strategy they employ should align
with customer behaviors.
Starting by analyzing existing
data may lead them on the path to
identifying the appropriate solution
for their banks.
" I recommend monitoring the
transaction trends to determine
which social apps your customers
are sending or receiving transactions
from and what the growth rate on the
various apps is to determine what
education and product offerings they
can provide, " advises Giorgio.
Seeterlin concurs: " We can't
overlook the importance of
understanding where the customer
needs to be. We need to try to
understand what their needs are,
really identifying what problem they
are trying to solve and implementing
on that. "
In factoring in all these variables,
community banks will land on
solutions that not only respond
to customer expectations around
social payments, but also solidify
their connection with their
customers and deepen the overall
banking relationship.
" As community banks continue to
offer services that support consumer
behavior in payments, " says Forman,
" you'll see a shift in folks either
wanting to continue to stay with
financial institutions, or potentially
bringing them back. " 
Colleen Morrison is a writer
in Maryland.
20 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q September 2022
Independent Banker - September 2022

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