29: Shelly Loftin: The New Message of Retail Banking

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On this episode of The Manage Your Message Podcast host Jim Karrh speaks with Shelly Loftin, Senior Vice President for Retail Banking, Payments, and Lending at the American Bankers Association.

Shelly is a rising star in the banking world; she began working in community banks at age 15.

Over time she rose through the ranks at several banks to include the roles of chief marketing officer and then chief administrative officer. Today she describes her life as dominated by “branding, banking, and boys,” including two sons.

Retail banking is a very dynamic industry. The players are dealing with a number of trends, pressures, and expectations that are also common to other professional services companies, including:

  • Improving the retail customer experience. Banks are competing with upstart fintechs, trying to drive deposit growth and cross-selling
  • Data integration, and systems that don’t talk to one another
  • Talent, especially a clear view of that the “banker of the future” looks like
  • Regulation, historically “the gift that keeps on giving” for banks

A decade after the financial crisis, consolidation is picking up dramatically in the banking world with more M&A activity. Jim and Shelly discussed the difficult and crucial “people aspect” in bank M&A.

Jim and Shelly also talked about the pressures on the customer conversation in banking, especially as banks have different strategies for their branch networks. As Shelly recounted, “Fifteen years ago when I worked in the teller line, I cashed checks and took deposits.” Now each bank is working to craft a differentiated customer experience. Frontline employees need a mix of social skills, risk evaluation skills, and the ability to answer questions about technology.

Links:

Find Shelly Loftin on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellyloftin/

Follow Shelly on Twitter

https://twitter.com/shellyloftin

Check out the ABA Bank Marketing site

https://bankingjournal.aba.com/marketing/

ABA Banking Journal Podcast

https://bankingjournal.aba.com/tag/podcast/

Learn more about Jim Karrh

https://jimkarrh.com/

Follow Jim on Twitter

https://twitter.com/jimkarrh?lang=en

Connect with Jim on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkarrh

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https://jimkarrh.com/ or email jim@jimkarrh.com

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