The mobile banking and paperless habits bank customers picked up during the pandemic are here to stay, and financial institutions are working to strengthen their digital offerings, speakers at an American Banker conference said.
Many consumers are taking to the highways and the water for safe getaways during the pandemic — powering one of the few bright spots in lending. However, bankers warn that boomlets usually come with distinctive credit risks.
HSBC, Bank of the West and Fannie Mae are among those offering green mortgage bonds, financing commercial clients’ efforts to rein in carbon emissions and developing other novel products that help customers tackle environmental challenges.
Ulule is working with Bank of the West to build name recognition. It hopes to collaborate with other banks and credit unions as it vies with larger companies such as Kickstarter and GoFundMe.
The new consumer deposit product will provide customers a snapshot of the carbon impact of their purchases and offer other incentives to entice the environmentally conscious.
Many of the cultural changes instituted by Hisham Salama, one of American Banker’s 2020 digital bankers of the year, have led to a more agile tech team and higher customer satisfaction scores.
The bank is working with a Swedish fintech to offer a tool that lets account holders track how their spending choices might be contributing to climate change. The tool may never be a big moneymaker, but it could help the San Francisco bank attract customers and recruit employees.
Bank of the West intends to stop making indirect auto loans and will instead focus on financing purchases of boats and recreational vehicles. It’s just the latest example of a regional bank pouring more resources into the powersports sector.
Software creates a portfolio for bank customers that could be designed to support, say, efficient energy sources or refugees and avoid investments clients consider objectionable.
