PrimeBank’s Digital Transformation Journey with Tyler Marshall

In this episode of the Digital Banking Podcast, Josh DeTar sits down with Tyler Marshall from PrimeBank to discuss the bank’s digital transformation journey. Tyler shares how PrimeBank recently undertook a core conversion, challenging traditional banking practices to improve efficiency and better serve their customers. This transformation allowed PrimeBank to modernize its operations, ensuring they remain competitive in a rapidly evolving industry.

Tyler emphasizes the unique role community banks play in supporting local economies. He explains how PrimeBank stays true to its roots by maintaining personal relationships with customers, even as they embrace digital advancements. This balance between innovation and community focus is key to PrimeBank’s success.

The conversation also touches on the importance of strategic partnerships and staying agile in the face of change. Tyler discusses how PrimeBank leverages new technologies and collaborates with industry partners to deliver better outcomes for their customers. This episode provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities facing community banks in the digital age.

Transcript

Josh DeTar: [00:00:00] So with that, welcome to the podcast, Tyler. I'm excited to have you, man. 

Tyler Marshall: Thanks. I'm excited to be on. 

Josh: Um, all right. So we got to start by showing people this little sign that you showed me. This is pretty awesome. You 

Tyler: know what's funny about this is there are going to be people that worked with me 15 years ago, uh, who are going to be like, Oh my God, he still has that thing.

You can actually see it's developed a little bit of a patina over the year. That's legit. 

Josh: So, I mean, the fun story behind that, as you were saying, so that's actually a button, right? And you actually turned it into even buttons that for, um, some big projects around the bank, you guys have actually worn those buttons, even as just kind of a visual reminder to yourselves and each other.

Like, Hey, is the answer to this? Well, that's because how we've always done it or because we've decided this is the right way to do it. 

Tyler: Right. Yeah. So I actually, we went through a core conversion, um, converted our core processor and digital stack and everything earlier this year. And so I had it, uh, the buttons recreated for the [00:01:00] entire staff.

And so that was kind of our, you know, moniker for the project. 

Josh: Um, so maybe go back in history a little bit and, you know, just talk about some of your experience. And so. Why, why is that so important to you to not just do things the way we've always done it? And like, what are the, what are some of the experiences that you've seen of that happening where you're like, Hey, that was an example of where we did something just because that was how we've always done it versus that was the right way to do it.

Tyler: Well, I think that just generally speaking, people don't have a They don't change until they have cause to change. And that cause takes different effects, you know, different forms for different people. I, I have spent the last, uh, five or so years helping to build, uh, DeNovo banks. Um, and the way that's done these days typically is to purchase, you know, a [00:02:00] smaller bank, um, and just kind of build it out, acquire the charter, reheadquarter it, you know, that kind of thing.

And so a lot of times, um, the banks that you get, um, they were done, they were ready to sell, you know, and so they had kind of reached a place in their development where they were sort of just holding steady, you know, and so you come in and, um, What you see is, well, it ain't broke. And so they just, it's been done that way for you, you may be looking at a 20, 30 year old, you know, procedure and ways of doing things.

And it's, you know, my perspective that the longer you've been doing something a certain way, the more likely you're not doing it the way, the best way that you could. And so, you know, as things get stale, you should definitely look at turning them over. And we're talking about, I mean, you. from going from papers and drawers, you know, signature cards and documents in drawers, you know, uh, just to image documents sometimes is kind [00:03:00] of gives you a, uh, perspective on how far back we're talking about.

Um, and then, you know, of course, dragging it all into the very new space. Sometimes it's a major paradigm shift, you know, and people are either down for it or they're not. Um, usually they are, 

Josh: but you know, one of the things that I've noticed recently too, is, um, is seeing folks get kind of defensive about.

Especially if they created said process or picked said product or whatever it may be, right? And almost this idea that that's no longer correct is like calling their baby ugly, right? Yes. And it's like, Hey, you know, that's not actually necessarily the case, right? Like, let's go back in time. So let's say, you know, whatever, let's just, you know, we use our example for the name of the podcast.

Like you picked a digital banking provider 10 years ago, right? [00:04:00] And now we're coming in saying it's outdated. It's not doing the things. And you're the person who picked it and you're still, The bank today. Right. And you're sitting there going, well, no, I, I picked that. Like, I don't, I have to defend that.

And it's like, no, I'm not, I'm not saying like, if we go back 10 years ago, you may have picked the absolute best thing at the time, knowing what you knew now then, right. Or you put this process in place 10 years ago and knowing what you knew then and having the tools that you had 10 years ago. Absolutely.

That was a very, very good idea. It's just not anymore. Yeah. And it's okay that it's not anymore. That's nothing against you personally, nothing against the institution. It's just times have changed. 

Tyler Marshall: For sure. Yeah. Change is the only constant, you know, in, you know, in life, but definitely in, in our industry.

And so, um, you know, embracing that, leaning into that. And you and I talked a little bit, I, I think that the changes that have taken place have been for the better. You [00:05:00] know, uh, almost entirely, you know, what we, the way we do things now is so much more effective and efficient and, um, customer centric, you know, um, the, all these advances in technology and processes and all these things, um, have all made the customer experience, you know, just better and better and better.

Uh, which is the goal. It's the whole point. 

Josh: Yeah. Let's maybe, um, I, I'd love for you to kind of set that foundation first. So. If you had no roadblocks whatsoever, right? From process, the policy to, um, you know, technology, you name it. Like there's no, there's no barrier for you. I mean, what are you trying to accomplish and what are you trying to do as a community bank?

That's like such a part of your soul. 

Tyler Marshall: Well, I think community banks, um, play an integral role in the communities that we serve. I think just [00:06:00] fundamentally what we do, um, uh, forms kind of a backbone. Um, we The way we allow people to accomplish what it is they need to do personally, professionally, the way they run their business, you know, they dream of doing this, want to take on that, you know, the next challenge, the next goal.

And we literally support them, um, in those endeavors and we keep them safe. You know, we keep their, their money safe, which is chief among our responsibilities. Um, and so, and I think we're uniquely positioned to do those things better Um, I think you size out of, of that model where you, you know, your customers, you, you know, their needs and their challenges, their, uh, kind of priorities, but you know them personally, you know, their family, you know, their business, you're, you're probably a customer of their business, you know, and things like that.

And so, um, there are a lot of advantages to, you know, banking that [00:07:00] way. And so I think we, from that perspective, we reinvest in the communities that we serve. That's our, that's our purpose. 

Josh: Yeah, you know, again, if you listen to this podcast, you're no stranger to it. I really believe in support that model.

It's just, it's cool to hear you talk about that because, you know, then you have to unpack everything else, right? Where it's like, hey, At the end of the day, all we really and truly care about is we want to do good for the communities that we serve in, right? We want to financially empower the people that live, work in our communities.

Um, and you know, we, we want them to be account holders of our financial institutions so we have the opportunity to serve them in that manner, right? And so you have to kind of back everything else out of that. And, um, you know, that's where we start talking about, okay, well, what is your, you know, what is your role in that?

And what are the things that are both helping and hurting your ability to accomplish those goals? And to your point, like that's changing. And so that world just looks very different. [00:08:00] Um, you know, we were kind of talking just Before we started recording about, you know, there's, there's been a really huge change in banking just since the advent of the internet.

But I think we had both agreed that there's an even bigger change coming than just the change we've seen over the last, you know, 25, 30 years. And so. You know, you said you think that this actually is a good thing, right? Because it's going to help you do more of what you were just talking about. The thing you actually care about, right?

Nobody cares about doing a core conversion or, you know, creating policy documents. You care about what's the impact that's going to come out of that. You have to do those things to be able to do, have the impact. So as the world is changing and giving you more opportunities to do the good Like, what do you see is kind of coming that's going to help you to focus more of your energies on the stuff you want to do versus the stuff you have to do?

Tyler: Well, I [00:09:00] think, you know. The innovations, there are a few things that I'm excited about in terms of the way in which things are kind of evolving. I think all these innovations technologically, um, uh, over the last couple of decades, I think bottom line, the effect is it's easier for people to do their banking and it's.

And, you know, uh, I think one of the things that I'm excited about is the way, you know, as the digital stack evolves, um, what's cool to me is that there are all these different, um, industries and kind of, uh, uh, purposes for which these, um, FinTech companies are creating solutions. Um, and the innovation around those is driven from within the industry or the friend group or the club or organization or whatever it is.

They're the ones driving that innovation toward what they need. And so [00:10:00] our job as the bank is to make sure that we can talk to all those different solutions in a way that keeps us kind of the hub. And, you know, so that's exciting. I think the, the innovation that's been. Being done across all these different, you know, stacks is being done by the people that should be, what do I know?

What do we, as the bank know about what, you know, your mortgage company or your, you know, escrow or whatever the case may be, you know, your, the, what you need for your kids, you know, the, the different solutions out there to kind of manage your. Allowances and all these kind of different things, you know, we can't and shouldn't be as your bank, the innovator behind all of that and the way things are kind of shaping up.

We're not. Our job is to accommodate and plug in and talk to all these different solutions that you offer. Use for all these things. And I think that's really exciting because there's no limit to that model of innovation around all these solutions. [00:11:00] Whereas there definitely is, and would always be if it was just the banks doing it, 

Josh: you know, I, uh, hopefully, obviously, uh, haven't been around for a hundred plus years, although if I have, I'd like to think that I aged pretty well.

Uh, you know, I wasn't, I wasn't around before, um, you know, really internet being a part of banking. And so if you think back to just, you know, the days where the only interactions you had with your financial institution were in person, um, there was a limiting factor to that, right? Like the only times that I had interactions was, I mean, there was even a time where you, you, Truly had to physically go into the branch.

There wasn't even, you didn't even call them. Right. And so we went from that to at least being able to call, but still the interaction points were, you know, probably, um, fewer and further between than they are today. If you consider just logging into digital banking [00:12:00] and, and, you know, uh, an activity with your financial institution.

So it's, it's fewer and further. But they were probably a lot more meaningful and impactful, right? If I drove, um, you know, 20 minutes away from the farm to go to the bank, like it's cause I needed to have a conversation, I needed to do something. And I probably spent a few minutes to make sure that, you know, that was a meaningful, um, part of my day too.

And so to your point, like now we're at a place where we actually have more ability to engage with them more often, um, without a lot of those barriers. But at the same time, if we don't kind of capitalize on the way that those are actually being done, then We're missing the opportunity. And I think the point I'd like to have you talk a little bit more about is, is that point of, so again, if you go back that 100 years and I had to physically go into the branch, right?

Banking in terms of like the products and [00:13:00] services that we offer hasn't changed a lot since then, right? It's everything around us that has changed. So, you know, if you're kind of doing things the way you've always done them as a bank and you're thinking like bankers and hiring bankers to your point, like you're not a technology company, right?

You're not on the tip of the spear of innovating in terms of digital engagement, right? So now you're kind of reliant on an ecosystem. How do you navigate that? And sorry, that was like, I probably gave you like four different topics to think about that rant, but like, what does that mean to you? 

Tyler: Well, I think, um, you've got to approach the, that progression, um, proactively.

I think that, uh, you've got to think strategically in terms of You know, your partnerships, your vendor partnerships, you know, we, [00:14:00] as a community bank, don't build these software platforms, um, don't maintain them. That's not, you know, proprietary platforms are, are not, you know, an option for us from an expense standpoint.

So that strategic partner vendor partner that you choose to go with on core processor, digital banking, all that kind of stuff is probably the single, single most important, you know, Decision that you make along those lines. And I think you're, you know, looking for a partner who is thinking the way we are, the way this conversation is going, you know, you're looking for, you know, a like minded partner along those lines that's constantly, you know, developing and iterating and bringing things in.

Um, and, and is also aware that they can't do all of the innovating and developing. So they're focused on, um, you know, playing well with others, you know, being able to plug in all the different things, build custom things that you need, you know, and all that. And so [00:15:00] that's gotta be the mindset for both you and your, you know, uh, critical vendors that provide these things, but also there should be, you know, a planning years ahead, you know, for the next year or two, there's gotta be a roadmap, you know, that you're continuously updating and, you know, staying.

A breast of, you know, all the things that are becoming available and when they're becoming available and watching, you know, I think there's this inflection point that you get to as different, uh, features and solutions and things come available where, you know, the. need for it, like from your clients, the appreciation, the need, the interest in it meets the point where you can afford it and where, you know, it makes sense to spend that money.

Um, and you know, Or something like FedNow as an example, I think FedNow will eventually run the table on real time payments or they have [00:16:00] the, I'm kind of going out on a limb there, I should say, I think they have the capacity to, um, and, but you're, you want to make sure that around things like that, that the rules have matured.

You know, around it as well. And so there's kind of this inflection point that where you're constantly looking and listening and learning and watching and just paying attention. And then you're like, Oh, this is it. I'm in, you know, on each of these different things, but you've got to be thinking that way and planning that way.

I think, 

Josh: um, I D so now you've reciprocated and given me like 12 things to try and think about your last conversation, but, um, I want to come back to you kind of. Um, you know, how do you, how do you allocate budget to kind of meet this changing world? Right? I definitely want to come back to what your views of instant payments and specifically fed now is going to do to the industry.

But before I do, I wanted to go back to [00:17:00] one other thing that you were talking about. Um, you know, as you were saying it, I don't know, it's just, I got this like mental picture in my head that I don't know if I'd ever really thought about it this way before you were talking about it. Could you imagine going back to a very like paint yourself the quintessential like bank CEO, um, maybe even just 30 years ago and going up to them and going, Hey, just FYI, your most important relationship Make sure that your bank is connected and serving your customers.

The best is going to be the person that helps you put it on a cell phone. Right. Right. They'd be like, you're smoking crack. You're so crazy. Like, yeah. But in just 30 years, like that's true. Right. I mean, You kind of alluded to it. I mean, you're, you're probably your number one. I will argue, and this is not just, you know, the dude who works for a digital banking company.

Um, but I will argue that today your digital banking vendor may be your fundamentally [00:18:00] most important relationship because they are the face of your brand anymore. Right? Like we were saying, The number of times I interact with my financial institution via digital banking versus every single other channel combined is like orders of magnitude different, at least for me personally.

Tyler: Sure. Well, and I, you know, the ways that that has changed. So I think, you know, you You still need branches from my perspective, in my studies, you need branches, but the nature of the interactions that take place in those branches have completely changed. They are no longer transactional in, in the vast majority of markets.

Um, they are, uh, consultative, you know, they're, they're still coming in, but it's not to, you know, deposit their check. They can't remember the last time they did that in person, you know, or whatever the case may be in terms of just teller transactions and things like that. Up to an inclusive of opening accounts, a lot of that, but they come into the bank to [00:19:00] talk to somebody to have you look at this with them and talk through it and figure out and get advice, you know, from a subject matter expert.

And so you still need to be there, but that it looks totally different. But then also, you know, when it comes to planning for. You know, disaster recovery, business continuity, things like that. Your digital stack is now better be, in my opinion, my professional opinion, better be at the top of what you plan to, you know, your maximum downtime on that better be pretty short because that's the way that your customers are actually interacting with your bank, you know, on a day to day basis.

Josh: Um, What? So how does that kind of influence for you? Actually a little bit of background. So one of the things we didn't talk about in your intro is your Like original thought process for career path and you went to school for marketing, right? And so I I always think that that's a really fascinating personality to talk to in [00:20:00] banking because kind of like what we were talking about earlier of sometimes like we just this is the way we've always done it and You know the world of banking hasn't necessarily changed for whatever reason in Now, my personal humble opinion, like marketing is this, you know, weird like outlier for community financial institutions.

And it's almost like a dirty four letter word type of thing. And it doesn't get done very often. Um, and it definitely doesn't get done to the level of some of the new fintechs and some of the new, um, you know, uh, just different entrance into financial services, take banking out of the equation, right? Um, And so we're getting left behind in that sense.

But so from your perspective, as somebody who, like, thinks with a marketing brain, how are you thinking about what is this kind of next evolution look like? How does digital play into that? And how do we need [00:21:00] to be thinking about marketing, um, in that whole equation? 

Tyler: Well, I think that, um, now more than ever, Uh, consumers of any good or service are, uh, interested in who you are as an organization, I think they care about your core values, you know, what, what you're about, and I think a lot of, you know, Setting the table for that is telling the story of, you know, how you view yourself and your core values and things like that as an organization.

I mean, it does matter. Um, I remember my economics teacher in high school. Um, um. Like we're not willing to do business with somebody who, uh, with an organization that does people dirty or, you know, whatever the case may be. And so I think now more than ever, it's important to tell the truth. And I think that's what we do as a, as a society nowadays.

Um, is, you know, uh, I just like we're not willing to do business with somebody [00:22:00] who, uh, with an organization that does people dirty or, you know, whatever the case may be. And so I think now more than ever, it's important to tell the truth. You know, the community who you are. And so the approach that, that we take a lot, um, and have had success with is finding ways to participate and engage in the community, whether it's, you know, charitable organizations or local high schools, we host, uh, we just happen to be right across the street.

Um, uh, our Austin branch just happens to be right across the street from, um, a local high school that has a huge football program. Um, and we host a tailgate for every one of their home events. Um, and it's a blast, you know, we got food, the food sponsors and, you know, all these different cool things that we can do, but, you know, And of course, we, you know, post and we create content to help them, you know, on all their kind of stuff.

But just that tie in gives an indication of who we are [00:23:00] as an organization. So that's just kind of one example of that. And then, you know, I think. That marketing is another thing that's easier to do than ever. You know, we've got all these channels where we can, you know, present ourselves and our products and services and all these different ways, you know, and interact with, you know, uh, customers via email.

I think email has been a really good channel in community banking. If you cultivate it and you don't misuse it, so you're not getting You know, junked and spam or whatever. If you can open up that, you know, direct connection with your, uh, client base, um, and only use it for important stuff, you know, messaging over, you know, uh, advertising kind of thing that that's a, that's a really important channel.

Um, and then I think you've got to be present on the social platforms and, and things like that. 

Josh: You know, it's funny. Um, I was kind of thinking about [00:24:00] this, what you're talking about too. It's like. Again, you know, I have to, I have to almost treat myself as an outlier. Sometimes if I use myself as a, I don't want to try and be like the conduit for the masses in our industry, right?

Cause I work in the industry. So I think like we do and Those kinds of things. But it's just like you think about how much direct mail used to be a big part of community financial institutions marketing, right? And it still is. And I love when I talk to marketers for financial institutions like, Oh yeah, but like if you get something in the mail from your bank, like, you know, it's important.

So obviously you're going to open it. Contrary me. Anytime I know, see, it's from my bank. I immediately run it through the shredder. I don't even bother to open it because I know that I have everything set up digitally to manage my life with my financial institution. So the only thing that could possibly be sending me Is like something that regulatorily they were just required to mail me a piece of paper for which fine, then it's literally just [00:25:00] updating me on something that like the apple terms and conditions.

I'm probably never going to read in the 1st place or 2. It's something marketing, right? 

Tyler Marshall: And it's probably Sorry. What do you think? And they're going to Google it. They're going to Google it. If they're curious about what's going on. So if I meet somebody at an event, you know, and, and I share my card or my LinkedIn or whatever the case may be, they're going to Google me.

And so it's about being intentional about owning that story. What, what is it that they're going to see? And you know, you've got a brand, whether you like it or not. And it is online, whether you like it or not. So it's, it's really not a matter of choosing whether you're going to do that. It's choosing whether you're going to own it or somebody else's.

And so I think that's kind of the main thing is taking control of, you know, because that's, what's, that's, what's going to happen if I, even if I put your mail in the trash and I think, Oh man, I wonder if there was something going on. I'm going to Google, I'm going to go to your website, you [00:26:00] know, whatever the gear.

Facebook, whatever the case may be and see if you've posted about it. 

Josh: Um, you know, you, you said you're allergic to buzzwords, but we got to talk about one of them and that's AI, right? Um, and what I think is also coming, whether we want to realize it or not is the way people Google is about to change too.

Right. I can tell you for me, it has absolutely changed. Right. Um, so, um, I go to chat GPT now to ask more, like if I'm Googling, like just someone's website, then I may just Google what is their website, right? If I want to go to their webpage, but if I actually want to learn something about them, I will actually use chat GPT anymore.

Right. And so I'm, I'd be really curious to see how many financial institutions have done the exercise of like asking chat GPT. And I'll put you on the spot, Tyler, like, have you [00:27:00] gone to chat GPT and been like, Hey, what, what do consumers think of prime bank? Hey, why should I join prime bank? Hey, what is prime bank's value proposition?

Right? Like that would be a fascinating exercise to go through. Is to go ask chat GPT because I can guarantee you like that is the next evolution of search for consumers 

Tyler: For sure. Well, and you can see you know, even just on a Google search now They've got that little bot which I think is sort of in beta But may not be but that little bot right below the surf bar Search box.

That's intent. That's in essentially doing the same thing. It's kind of pulling back a meta kind of a I response to it from all those different sources. And so I have not. I need to just out as a matter of due diligence. I'm glad that you mentioned that I'm actually gonna make myself a note.

But yeah, but it's the same deal. It's, you know, you can either participate or not, you know, but it's, it's going to happen [00:28:00] in spite of you. So you better, you know, be in control of the narrative there. 

Josh: Yeah. Well, 

Tyler: and 

Josh: I 

Tyler: think 

Josh: too, that's why, like I made kind of, for those of you who, If you are not watching the actual video recording of this episode, like I made a very on purpose visual facial display when Tyler mentioned social media and you got to be on it.

Cause that again, it's like marketing is a dirty four letter word in financial institutions and like, um, social media is even the four letter word in that, um, so many times. And, yeah. And it is, it's one of those like, okay, that's great. You know, you don't do social media in your personal life or you don't believe in it or we've never done it before.

So we're going to stay off of it. I hate to break it to you, but consumers are there, whether you like it or not. And I think I even made, I don't remember if I made it on a, on a podcast or just in a conversation, but I was talking to somebody about Tik TOK the other day too. And I was like, Hey, look, whether you like it or not.

Right. [00:29:00] Um, whether you like it or not, whether the government trusts it or not is going to kill it off or not. It doesn't matter. Kids are on Tiktok, right? And they're just kids. Um, I mean, people are on Tiktok. American consumers are on Tiktok and they are searching for information on financial services.

It's one of the top searched for things on TikTok. People don't believe me when I say that, but people are looking for it. And there's some decent information out there on TikTok. There's also a lot of hot garbage and just really bad advice. Yeah, but it's out there and it's prevalent. And so whether you like it or not, and Whether you want to admit that, like, this is one of those things that just because we haven't done it before, it's not a good excuse of why we're not going to do it now.

Like, you've got to get on social media. 

Tyler: Agreed. Agreed. And the [00:30:00] other thing is, you don't have to do it like everybody else. Does it, and so we, you kind of mentioned in the intro, how I'm allergic to buzzwords. You will never get on my LinkedIn and see me using words like dynamic. And, you know, like always had a one, had an amazing day talking with these dynamic leaders from body data and I'm not belittling or putting down.

That's just not my personality. You know, I'm sure they mean that when they, The same headline, same wording, same sort of buzzwordy stuff over and over, um, that, that is not meaningful for me or for my organization, but I, this, you know, executive team is, you know, re we are real people and we talk like real people in the bank, you know, speaks with that voice of real people, you know, you don't have to.

You know, I'm in that camp where I roll my, like cross my eyes, like when I see all these posts and just so like, you know, those [00:31:00] organizations that just are good, good, good, good, good, good. Like constantly, every person they ever hired, everything they ever participated in, every check they ever wrote kind of thing where you're, they just beat you to death.

You know, we have an option. We have. We have the ability to make the decisions to do it the way we want it in the way that's meaningful for us. And I would encourage banks to do that. But you, like I say, it's happening whether you like it or not. So you can either be there and participate, you know, control it or let it control, you know, you know, let the Metaverse, whatever you want to call it, control what the narrative is about your, your bank.

Josh: You know, that, that brings me to something I really wanted to talk to you about because it's, it was so apparent in some of our conversations and you've kind of touched on it a few times throughout, um, our episode today is. It's just this concept of fun, right? And if just being real people and, you know, Tyler and I were talking before we actually hit record today just about, um, [00:32:00] I made the comment of like, look, I guarantee you, you can find the most stereotypical, like quintessential stodgy looking old school banker.

There's still a person at the end of the day. They still want to have fun, right? They still want to laugh. They still want to smile. Right. And whatever it may be that brings that out. And we do, I felt like so many times we get so wrapped up in what, what we think the world expects us to be. Right. Because I am an executive at the company, I am expected to have this personality.

Well, one of the things my organization knows is I sure as hell am probably not that personality. Like I'm transparent to a fault. I'm going to keep people informed. There's no secrecy. Like I'm going to come to a meeting and you know, I'm going to totally derail the thing because something was funny and we're just going to have fun.

And you know what? The agenda didn't get met, but you know what? We all had a good laugh out of it and just because that's what we are. Like we are just, at the end of the [00:33:00] day, we are people. And we're trying to navigate this one life we get this one shot we get on this rock hurtling through space. Um, what are you going to do with it?

Right? And I don't know about you, but I do know about you. Like I want to have fun while I'm here. Like I want to have fun. I want to have genuine conversations. I don't need this like weird thing between us of expectations. And people want to do that with your bank too, right? Like they want to do business with somebody like you said that they.

That is a part of their community that they have fun with. 

Tyler: Yeah. One of my favorite trends that has taken place, at least in Austin, and I know it's probably not true everywhere, um, is just sort of this casualization a little bit. Um, you know, over time, customers don't want to walk in and talk to a suit.

They want to walk in and talk to a person. They want to interact with a person through whichever channel they come through. Um, and so, uh, you know, some of the funniest things that ever happened to me, [00:34:00] um, were in a room with a stodgy old banker and a big boxy suit, like the funniest things anybody ever said, the craziest, you know, off the wall stuff happened, you know, and so they were people in there, you know, with a personality kind of thing, and so I think it's a positive trend that, um, It's we're normalizing being ourselves, you know, um, obviously there is some.

You know, it needs to be a nod to, you know, decorum and propriety at a certain point, like, you know, that kind of thing. But that doesn't, you know, it's like at your 

Josh: core to be a nudist. I don't know if I really want you in the boardroom like that. 

Tyler: Exactly. Right. Knock yourself out after work, you know, kind of thing.

Other than that, you know, uh, and so I think that's a great trend and, uh, I love to see. 

Josh: It's 

Tyler: kind of 

Josh: freeing though too, right? Like it's a lot more fun. I don't, I don't feel like I'm always walking on eggshells. Um, you know, we were talking about this internally [00:35:00] recently, and I was kind of having the same conversation with somebody else about, um, like the whole, um, anytime we go out in person, we have a fun little thing that we always, it's a long story.

I'll spare you. Maybe I'll tell you later if you're curious, but so our team always wears a pair of red matching chucks everywhere we go. Right. Nice. And. And I was having a conversation with somebody internally and we were actually headed to, um, a fairly stereotypical like Midwest bank. And we were talking about like, do you change your style of dress for the bank?

And we were like, no, like this is, this is who we are. We are who we are. And that'll tell you a lot about our organization. And you either align to that or you won't. And if you don't, then that's actually probably a good thing too, because we don't want to get into a, you know, a toxic relationship later because we pretended to be something that we weren't.

Anyway, the long and short of it, Tyler, what I thought was so cool was we show up to this [00:36:00] meeting. We're onsite. We go into the boardroom and one of the first people I meet is a woman executive of the bank, arms bare, full sleeves of tattoos. Full show. Nice. And I was like, yeah, these are our kind of people.

This is gonna be great. This is gonna be great. We had an awesome time. Because it did. It just, it totally, even just that recognition. She even made the comment about the red chucks, right? I'm seeing the tattoos on her arms. And we just immediately, like, all the guards dropped in the room. And it was a very different type of conversation.

Tyler: And think of all the energy. So think of all the energy we're recouping because we're not expending it, you know, focusing on what outfit we should have worn, potentially purchasing, laying out time and energy and resources, purchasing the appropriate clothing to, you know, go and be not ourselves.

someplace, you know, think of all that energy that we kept that we can just put back into better, [00:37:00] you know, better endeavors. 

Josh: I had no idea we were going down this path with this podcast, but that's the point though, right? Like, again, I think this is why I love doing this. This podcast is cause I just get to have real conversations with people.

Like there's no agenda. We don't go into this with a script. Like I didn't give Tyler 10 pre canned questions that I was going to ask him beforehand. Um, and, and I think that speaks to what you were talking about in, in even, you know, I put into your intro was just, we just want to communicate on a human level.

Right. And absolutely. There are certain levels of professionalism that need to be a part of that. That's a part of the human dynamic, right? But at the same time we just, we do, it's so much easier when we can just come down to a level where we both feel comfortable to just be ourselves, have a conversation.

And two, I think that's where you start to identify again, like what you were talking about, like you're genuinely curious about people's unique ideas and perspectives. And if you kind of go in with that [00:38:00] wall up, People are going to be a, you know, far more reticent to actually share those things with you and you're probably going to learn and grow a lot less because of it.

Tyler: Agreed. Yeah. And you know, if you are not, you know, as a, as a marketer, you know, things are evolving quickly, um, in our industry. And if you are not getting to know people, how do you know what they want and need, what challenges they're facing, you know, what their priorities are, you know, that kind of thing.

And so. I think it's vitally important to have that, you know, real, you know, honest connection there. 

Josh: Well, and like you were saying too, I think that when that is the internal culture of the bank, right, that permeates externally. And I agree, you know, one of the things I wanted to come back to is you were talking about, um, you know, the good that community banks do in the community and how you guys do, um, you know, the tailgate for the high school football games and stuff like that, like that's.

That's not [00:39:00] you trying to accomplish anything other than, that's just what you want to do. Right? Like you even said, like you're like, I'm a total like football geek. Like there's a new level of excitement in my household because it's football season coming up. Right? Like, so that's genuine. That's organic for you.

And I always kind of make the comment when we talk about marketing for community financial institutions and talking about the good that you do. It's not like a big oil company coming to me and saying, Like, our number one priority is the environment, and we care about, like, like, like don't. Let's be honest here.

You're digging up dead dinosaurs trying to put that into my car. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for it. Like, I'm a sports car guy. I like to burn gas, but just level set with me. Like you're not here to save the environment. You're here to protect the fact that at some point you're going to run out of that old dinosaur juice and you're trying to figure out how do you make as much money until that point happens and then have some sort of [00:40:00] transition plan after it so you can continue to make money.

But like, don't try and put this facade around. It's because you care about the environment, right? So that just feels disingenuous. But when a community bank comes to me and says like, Hey, we do the things that we do because we. I'm like, yeah, no, that checks out. Like that, that math's for me. 

Tyler: Right. And it's not a, it's not a, uh, move.

Like, it's not a, like, we were going to do that anyway. You know, it, but it, so it's just a matter of, you know, being willing to show, you know, to the community, you know, just examples of, of who you are and connect with them. 

Josh: Yeah. Well, and like you said, and if you're having fun and doing that, right. I think fun.

Is even just almost an interpretation of genuineness, right? Like when you feel like you're being really, really genuine and yourself, like you kind of have fun doing that. And when people see you having fun, [00:41:00] they assume that like, Oh no, like, If Tyler's this energetic and he's having this much fun and he's smiling this much about this, like that, that's probably pretty true.

That probably checks out here. And so if they feel like, Oh, you know what? The bank is having a lot of fun with the way they're communicating. Like that's, that's kind of cool. Maybe there's something to that. Like, why, like, what are they doing? Why should I care? Um, yeah, I think that is a really big part of, um, our internal culture.

that that is, that is something that is changing and that the external world is really looking for. Like you said, like they, they want to see that, that genuineness, they want to see the, you know, corporate social responsibility. That's not just a thing. It's not just a saying, like people genuinely care about it.

And to your point, like they vote with their dollars over it. Um, so what are you doing to both do that in a genuine way? And then two, like, Show it. But like you said, [00:42:00] it shouldn't be some, it's so obvious that all the bank is ever doing is just showing, Oh, you know, we, we did the, you know, the one that drives me nuts.

I think you'll like this. The one that drives me nuts is I see it all the time on the LinkedIn and I've, I've made the joke too. That's like, I know, I know as a marketer, if I want to like take my LinkedIn stats through the roof, I know how to do it. I'm just not going to do it because I see a lot of it.

And it's the, look at this random footage that some random stranger caught of me helping this little old lady across the street and I'm like, dude, that's so staged. Knock it off. So staged. And 

Tyler: that's exactly 

Josh: the 

Tyler: brand of BS. That, you know, it's like, I wish there was like some other, I wish there was a series of buttons, you know, everything from like rolling your eyes to progressively, you know, 

Josh: this is obnoxious BS.

Like just get this out of here, [00:43:00] like it's so obvious what you're doing. Yes, but yeah, but the, the genuine side of fun, I think that is, that is what consumers are looking for and they are getting, um, new tools to be able to help identify that and see that. And I think it's having an impact and I think that is a big part of, um, kind of the change that we've been talking about.

But kind of talking about change. So, you know, you talked about kind of two other big things that I wanted to come back to. Let's start with a little bit of the so we're talking about. There's been this huge technology shift and this big shift in the expectations that consumers have with not just thinking, but just interactions as a whole through technology.

How does that influence It's the budget at the bank. How do you guys actually start to change your thinking and say, you know, my technology budget 10 years ago may have been, I'm just making stuff up, a million dollars. And so therefore [00:44:00] this year it grows with inflation. So it's, you know, 1. 9. 0 to 3 million.

Is that, or are you saying no, no, everything has changed. It's gotta be 20 million. How does that impact your budget? I 

Tyler: wish that was my budget. 

Josh: Yeah.

Tyler: I think it starts with. You know, I talked a little bit about that inflection point where, you know, the need, you know, uh, and the cost and the rules and all the things kind of come together and you just, you know, that this, there's this point where it's time to jump in. Um, and so I think it starts with knowing what's coming.

Um, And knowing your clients, first and foremost, you've got to have what your clients need. So you've got to understand what they, uh, how, how are they running their business? You know, how are they running their households? What challenges are they facing? What are kind of the, um, pain points that they're experiencing and the solutions, you know, that can, uh, cure those.[00:45:00] 

And so it's knowing your clients, but then, uh, also knowing what's coming down the pike and watching as things develop. Um, so you can kind of, uh, plan, you know, you can't, you know, if you haven't gone to a, uh, Uh, a trade meeting like an or like a, I don't know, a conference, uh, you, the cores, each of the cores have their, you know, user conference every year, you know, kind of a big information sharing kind of event.

And then you've got kind of the ancillary, um. Organizational, um, meetings that take place every now and then, um, TBA, IBAT, for example, or Texas organizations. Um, and then each of the, you know, companies that offer the different solutions has their own kind of newsletters that you can join and, you know, events that you could attend and that kind of stuff.

And so if you've not done that, In a couple of years, then you're too late on something like you're, it's going to [00:46:00] cost you more. You're going to scramble to get ready for it where you wouldn't have, you know, so it's just building that pipeline in that, um, kind of roadmap a couple of years in advance and a lot as all those things kind of align.

Um, and so the budget doesn't always have to grow year over year. I mean, most solutions nowadays are volume based, and so they're going to grow. Just organically. Um, but you may have a year where you can, you know, add some value pretty cheaply, or you may have a big year where you bring on some major solution that, you know, increases, you know, your your, your, that line item, 25 percent kind of thing.

Um, and so it just kind of depends on the solutions and how they're evolving. Um, but there better be a plan and that plan better reach out, you know, a year or two and you, you're, you're kind of charting your costs, you know, as you go along. 

Josh: I like that you talk about the kind of inflection point [00:47:00] though, because I think one of the other things that, you know, we have to be conscientious about is hype cycle.

Okay. Um, and just because it's the thing that everybody is talking about, um, doesn't necessarily mean that it needs to be the thing that your entire budget needs to restructure around. Right. And so for me, it always kind of comes down to, does this actually provide real meaningful benefit and value to our consumers, right?

Or is this going to just fall into the hype cycle? And I probably overuse the analogy. There's probably more that I can think of, but it's. It's an easy one is, um, you know, the crypto craze stuff, it is absolutely still here, right? That's a whole nother podcast to talk about, um, the longterm impacts in place.

I think of crypto and, and I'm going to park my feelings and stuff on that aside, but just from the standpoint of, I remember when, you know, Elon Musk is. It's making statements that send dogecoin through the roof and it's on every late night [00:48:00] show and SNL and you name it, right? I remember how many financial institutions were coming to me and being like, we have got to offer buy, sell, hold crypto and digital banking.

And I was like, why? Like you've got to articulate to me why just because it's on, you know, You know, the late night shows and just because Elon Musk is talking about it, that's not a good enough answer. Like, how are you going to use it to provide value? How is it going to align to your strategic objectives?

Right? And fast forward to today, and that's I don't think I've had that conversation once this year. Right? Well, so if you invest a bunch of money into it without a plan for how to actually operationalize it to provide value, then you wasted budget, you wasted effort on hype cycle. So how do you balance those things internally for you guys?

Tyler: You know, hype, hype is, it matters, it's for, [00:49:00] it gets it on your radar, so yeah, maybe I go look at it. It's like, wow, you know, uh, maybe there's something here. You go study it, you get up to speed on it, that kind of thing. Uh, has a single client of yours asked for it? Has anyone expressed interest in it from inside the house?

Do you have, you know, and depending on what the solution is, what, what the feature is, you know, do you have a pipeline for entry into that market? You know, do you have a gateway? Client or connection or whatever. That's going to open up that market for you. If you want to, you know, open up something totally new.

Um, if the answers to all of those are no, then for what, you know, there's got to be a use case, there's got to be a justification. For it, there are opportunities here and there, you know, and they're on a smaller scale, typically in my experience for you to kind of create the need, you know, where you just kind of [00:50:00] introduce some little tweak or thing here and there, but opening up and hold new business line, you had better have a rock solid, you know, justification for it.

And I think, you know, I've seen banks kind of go down rabbit holes and waste. You know, money, you know, trying to be leading edge on something when there was not, you know, uh, the use case or the right connection to open up the, the, the entry into that market. 

Josh: You know, that brings up a good point too, um, that I think if your answer.

So let's go back to my example of just the, you know, buy, sell, hold of crypto, right? If your answer when I ask you, why are you doing this is because it's all over the news and it's hype and I don't know if it'll actually provide a lot of value or anything, but we see this as a way to demonstrate to consumers in our market that we're leading edge.

So we're going to market the ever living crap out of this thing. [00:51:00] We're going to use it to hopefully generate some hype cycle for ourselves. Then I'm like, okay, cool. Like at least you have a strategy around it. Right. And you understand its place. But if it's just because, because there's an interesting balance of doing things.

The way we've always done them or doing things just because everyone else is doing them like neither of those are actually the right way of doing things. You gotta evaluate for yourself. Is this the right thing for us? 

Tyler: Sure. And they're, you know, demonstrating that you're, you know, Tech forward, there are lots of different ways to do that, but you know what I like to demonstrate profitability because the other thing, the other thing that's kind of different now, just in the last couple of years after the SVB stuff is, you know, our performance is on clients radar at a level that it never was before.

And we talk about all of those. You know, um, the ability to move [00:52:00] money in real time through these platforms. It's fantastic. There's no longer a lot, you know, in the situation that there's a liquidity issue or the. Perception of a liquidity issue. There's no longer a line outside the bank of people, you know, uh, waiting to get their money.

I, I read an article, um, that SBB was wiring out 3 million a minute at the height of that run. And so my thought is, you know, if I'm flushing money down the toilet, you know, and pulling away from the bottom line to give it a perception about something I'd rather. Give the perception that we are solvent and that we're performing well.

Um, and that we're also, you know, giving you what you need, but that's, you know, it's a matter of. theory on that. 

Josh: No, that's okay. So that's a good, so that was one of the other things that I wanted to come back to. I really wanted to get, you know, you brought up one of the things that you feel, um, and keep me honest here in my [00:53:00] recollection of kind of how you were talking about your, I mean, you were talking about the things that we're going to like fundamentally change our industry when you talked about instant payments and fed down.

So yeah, what are your thoughts on that? on the impacts, the pros, the cons. How are you looking at kind of this next evolution of money movement? 

Tyler: Well, um, I think it has the potential, um, to supplant, you know, Both wires and ACH and to take, you know, payments, you know, through all the other, you know, there are a zillion different payments, you know, platforms out there.

I think it could kind of take those to the next level. And it also opens up all these different use cases for, you know, these payments. Um, and so who knows is my answer. My educated response is who knows, but there's going to be, you know, a shift there. And, um, you [00:54:00] know, we, as a bank have got to be mindful from a risk standpoint of the ease and speed with which, you know, deposits can leave the bank, you know, gathering deposits is, you know, You know, a major challenge for all of us right now, especially in light of those, you know, kind of recent events.

And so those are all the things you have to balance. Um, but I want to be there. I'm excited about it. And so that's one where we're looking for our inflection point. I think, you know, uh, banks are, Platforms are able to, a lot of them are able to send, but not receive right now. I'm, I'm waiting for the rules to kind of, that's the thing for me is I want, I want the rules to, uh, evolve and kind of all the underpinnings for fed now to really take more solid shape.

And so that's what I'm kind of watching for. And then, you know, uh, Hearing from my client base, making sure that I'm not, you know, spending money. I don't. Need to, you know, [00:55:00] pursuant to our previous conversation, but I think it's exciting and who knows all the different ways that it could change things.

Well, I think, 

Josh: um, sorry, I want to just clarify one thing because I think you said it the other way of what you meant. But I just want to clarify that are more people signing up to receive only versus send. Or were you saying you think people are signing up to send more? 

Tyler: Well, I was talking about the platforms, the ones that I've seen, it seems like what the, the digital banking platforms are doing first is the ability to send.

So like, if I were to, to bring it on, um, that would be where it starts. And then that, um, uh, receiving would come later, but I don't, I don't know it. I mean, obviously you're, you're able to, I guess push rather than pull is what I'm trying to say. It looks like push is what's available. Rather than pulling.

Josh: Gotcha. Yeah. So, um, [00:56:00] I'll give you my, my take on a couple of things here. Um, so yeah, as far as institution adoption, the institution adoption is significantly outpaced on receive only versus send. And then the FedNow network is a push payments network, but they are going to enable request for payment.

Right. Request that they push a payment, but yes, it'll always be a, I said, right push network. Uh, you know, um, I'd love to, to, uh, unpack a little bit deeper when you were talking about, um, the, the kind of concern of liquidity. So if you look at kind of the payments ecosystem in the U. S. today, and if you think about it on a four part quadrant, like a Gartner magic quadrant kind of thing, right?

And on one axis you have speed and the other access you have cost, [00:57:00] right? You have, um, fast and slow, cheap and expensive. And, Today, we basically have three of the four boxes covered and the one we were missing was fast and cheap And that's where FedNow slots in right right now RTP the real time payments And To your point, right?

Like the almost concern of what happens if it's faster and cheaper for people to move money out, is there an associated liquidity risk of my financial institution? Um, but just out of curiosity, I mean, like, so let's say, let's use SVB. We won't use you. I don't want to talk about a negative scenario and use your name, but let's say SVB, right?

Like to your point. When SVV failed, you were saying like the money was already moving out. They were just using wires. Right. But it was [00:58:00] moving out at a rapid pace. So do you think the introduction of real time payments actually really changes any of that liquidity risk? I'm just, I'm, I'm genuinely curious what your thoughts are because I don't really think about it from that perspective because I don't sit in your chair.

Tyler: Well, so the reason I'm bringing it up is because, um, every channel that we open up along those lines is we've got to fully underwrite from a risk standpoint. And so that's another consideration for the bank before you go live on something. There's a whole. whole project that has to take place, you know, with risk assessment and the policies and procedures around the new platform and all that kind of stuff.

And so those are the kinds of things that you have to know. I don't think it, um, necessarily, it, it opens up another, Channel. And so it's just yet another way for people to move money out, you know, in addition to ACH wires or whatever, and people are going to use whatever they want to use, but that's the way [00:59:00] we have to approach it in a way we have to develop everything ahead of time is understanding kind of what portion of our deposit base has access to each of these features, um, that kind of stuff.

Yeah, that 

Josh DeTar: makes a lot of sense. So. I mean, you think this, uh, I think you're kind of alluding to what I was talking about too, right? Is where the quadrant we were missing was fast and cheap, and that's kind of the one we want to get to. So when you get to that one, it does kind of make a lot of other things irrelevant.

Tyler: It does. And that's a 

Josh: huge change to our industry. 

Tyler: Yeah. And I think, you know, if the rules that surround it, um, end up settling still so much more liberal than the ACH rules, I mean, ACH is its own like ecosystem, its own, I mean, just extremely complex, the, you know, the world [01:00:00] runs on it, um, but it's extremely complex.

You know, so far the rules around FedNow are looking a lot more lax than that. I doubt that's where they're going to settle. Um, but waiting to kind of see how all that frames up. Um, but definitely, definitely if it's, um, easier to use, um, People will use it. People will use it. 

Josh: Yeah. No, I think that's a good point back to, you know, what you were talking about at the start, which is just.

There is a lot of change that is happening that is not just little change. I mean, it's like shaking our foundational core levels of change. And it's not even just like one of those changes is happening in 50 years. It's like multiple are happening every year. That's a really big departure from the pace of innovation that this industry is used to.

And if you follow the moniker of, well, this is [01:01:00] how we've always done it. Given those factors alone, you can tell it ain't going to work. 

Tyler: Nope, you can hear it left behind, 

Josh: so. Uh, well, Tyler, it, like I said, it genuinely gets me excited to have people like you on the podcast who are thinking about things from these perspectives.

Um, because yeah, I'm no stranger to saying that I really believe in this industry and the impact that it's having, but it's going to take people like you that are, are thinking outside the box and thinking about things differently and saying, what does our bank need to be? In the new world of today and what does it need to be to be prepared for the next evolution of humanity?

Um, that's exciting to me. So I really appreciate the opportunity to have you come in and talk to us. Um, but before I let you go, I have two final questions for you if you don't mind. 

Tyler: Okay. 

Josh: Uh, where do you go for information? So it seems like you've got kind of like a wide swath of, things you pay attention to.

So [01:02:00] where do you go for Intel? 

Tyler: Well, I think it's important to kind of cast a wide net. And so I'm sort of a member of all these different sort of, uh, newsletter kind of deals. But we get a lot of information from our core partnership with respect to definitely, um, Staying on top of advancements in the digital space, they do a regulatory roundup.

That's, that's really good. But, um, we are members of our, uh, bankers associations in Texas, uh, TBA, Texas Bankers Association. In fact, our president, uh, Tanya serves on the board, um, at TBA. And so those are great resources in terms of what's happening, um, from a state level, um, and kind of what, uh, legal stuff, regulatory stuff is coming down the pike and, uh, the efforts that they're making to exert influence over it, you know, politically and things like that.

Um, [01:03:00] uh, IBAT, uh, Independent Bankers Association of Texas is another, um, that we're heavily involved in. Um, and so those are kind of the primary, primary sources, but like I say, I just, I'm a subscriber. So I, you know, I don't get to read every one of them, unfortunately, that's not my life and there will be, but you, they, when I'm tuned into a topic and I've, I've gotten these, you know, coming in from different areas, then I definitely will read, read articles.

And so 

Josh: I shouldn't be shocked that one of your answers was kind of the network of, um, just some of the different leagues and associations and things. Thank you. Just given your whole, like, I want to talk to real people about real things. I love that. And then last but not least, if people want to connect with you and chat with you more, if they want to learn more about prime bank, how do they do that?

Tyler: Sure. Um, so, um, prime. bank is the website. Um, I am on LinkedIn. You're [01:04:00] welcome to reach out. I'd be happy to, you know, if there's anything from my experience base that, um, That could help you. I'd, I'd love to love to chat. 

Josh: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking time out of a busy day to come and just, um, Oh, I was going to say BS with me, but you know, not BS with me.

It was fun not BSing with you. Yeah, exactly. That's awesome. It's fun. Not BSing with you, Tyler. Seriously. It really was. It's a lot of fun to be able to have these types of conversations and just like level set on a human. Uh, a human level with people about, you know, what are the, what are the things that are, um, you know, impacting our ability to do the ultimate mission, which is to provide value to our communities and people live in them.

So this was great. Enjoyed it. Thanks, Josh. Yeah. Thanks for being a guest on the digital banking podcast.