4th Quarter 2024 Spotlight - forbinfi

This quarter, we are excited to introduce you to forbinfi, an Iowa-based full service web development, marketing and IT agency exclusively serving the financial sector. By partnering with over 100 financial institutions coast to coast, forbinfi has established itself as an expert in the ever-evolving online space for community banks and credit unions.

“Building secure, compliant and custom websites is our specialty. Our relationships with the financial institutions we serve and the solutions we offer are of the utmost importance - which is why our proprietary CMS is built for banks, leveraging feedback directly from the financial institutions we partner with.” - Bailey Ronnebaum, Business Development Manager

forbinfi websites offer unique content, custom design, a user-friendly CMS, secure hosting, compliant standards, analytics, third party integration, lead generation forms and more - all with a dedicated team during the site build and an account manager once launched for continuous touch bases.

But they don’t stop at websites, forbinfi also provides a suite of services designed to support the unique needs of financial institutions. From digital and print marketing to branding solutions and IT support, their team of experts is equipped to handle all your needs in-house, no matter the scale.

At forbinfi, they understand the unique challenges faced by financial institutions and are dedicated to helping you grow your online presence, create impactful marketing campaigns, and maintain robust security and compliance standards. Whether you need a new website, a comprehensive marketing strategy, logo designs, rebranding or IT solutions, they are here to help you succeed in an increasingly digital world.

Learn more: Website

Contact: Bailey Ronnebaum

3rd Quarter 2024 Spotlight - Midwestern Securities

This quarter, we’re pleased to introduce you to an Illinois-based independent broker/dealer and Registered Investment Advisory firm that is passionate about helping community-based financial institutions.

Meet Midwestern Securities.

They are a community-minded firm, owned and operated by financial professionals that understand the value that community banks and credit unions bring to their communities. Their team also appreciates the challenges community-based financial institutions face in attracting and retaining customers/members.

“ If you’re not offering what consumers need, there are a lot of competitors lined up to take some of that money and some of that relationship away from your institution, and from your community. It doesn’t have to be that way if you have a robust retail wealth management program.“ - Anne Schutt, VP of Business Development

Partnering with a firm like Midwestern Securities can help you meet the long-term financial needs of today’s consumer and enhance your institution’s value proposition, while potentially improving your financial performance and competitive position in the market. So, whether you have a thriving investment services/wealth management division or you are just starting on your journey to building new streams of non-interest income, Midwestern Securities can offer the expertise and personalized service that can help.

Learn more: Website & PODCAST

Contact: Anne Schutt

2nd Quarter 2024 Spotlight - Baker Hill

Most bankers we know are looking for new ways to generate growth, reduce risk, and improve productivity and profitability. If that’s you, you’ll want to learn more about Baker Hill.

Baker Hill, headquartered in Carmel, IN, is a provider of cloud-based, end-to-end loan origination, risk management, and analytics software. For 40 years, they have been helping banks & credit unions optimize their entire loan origination process. They combine their expertise in technology with expertise in banking to continually evolve loan origination.

Their NextGen® platform is a configurable, single unified platform that streamlines loan origination and portfolio risk management for commercial, small business and consumer lending, delivers sophisticated analytics and marketing solutions, and is the expert solution for relationship management, CECL and analytics for financial institutions.

"Given the vital role that banks and credit unions serve when it comes to financing loans for the businesses in their local communities, choosing the right partner for loan origination and risk management is one of the most important decisions a financial institution can make," said John Deignan, president and CEO of Baker Hill. "Our team is proud to deliver world-class products and services to help institutions successfully navigate the dynamic financial services marketplace and solve their most pressing business challenges.

They are a trusted provider to more than 20 percent of the top 150 banks and top 25 credit unions in the nation. Moreover, Baker Hill is an amazing company, with an incredible team.

Baker Hill is lending evolved.

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Learn more: Website
Contact: Mitch Woods

1st Quarter 2024 Spotlight - Wysh

If you are looking for a new way to attract and retain deposits, take a closer look at Wysh.

You may remember hearing about this quarter’s Solution Provider from our wrap-up of Finovate Fall. In fact, they won Finovate Fall Best of Show.

Wysh, a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual, is a life insurance carrier that has come up with a simple product, called Life Benefit, that gives financial institutions a way to add value to deposit accounts (either savings, checking, brokerage or CDs) by linking an automatic, no-fee life insurance benefit to those accounts.

This graph offers an example of how life benefit would work. (provided by Wysh)

Life Benefit will embed micro life insurance coverage equal to 1-10% of account holders’ deposits and sits above their account balance. As your customer grows their deposits, they are growing a life insurance policy at the same time.

There is no customer sign up, opt-in, medical exam, underwriting or user claims process required — if they have an account, they get the benefit. Anyone aged between 18 and 79 would be eligible and the benefit is paid directly to the account upon the account holder's death. Maximum benefit is $10,000

Over 100 million Americans don’t have adequate life insurance protection, and Wysh is committed to partnering with financial institutions who wish to differentiate themselves by helping address a tangible and growing need. You can see why they were the talk of everyone at Finovate.

Learn more: Website
Contact: Brian Wieloch

4th Quarter 2023 Spotlight - FinovateFall Demos

Jim Perry (l) spoke about diversity, equity and inclusion with David Penn (r) during a Fireside Chat at Finovate Fall 2023 in New York City.

Last month, I had the opportunity to speak at Finovate Fall in New York. One of the highlights of the event was Finovate’s signature 7-minute demos. Finovate's mission is to cut to the core of innovation. They do the legwork by reviewing hundreds of services and solutions from across the fintech spectrum, then distilling them into a handful of demos featuring exciting technology with real-world applications. There were 70+ amazing demos of new technologies in just two days - here are four of my favorite.

Wysh - Wysh is reimagining how people think about financial protection. Wysh is a life insurance carrier that recognizes life insurance isn’t often thought of as exciting, engaging, or inclusive. But with life insurance seamlessly delivered through traditional banking in a never before seen way through Life Benefit, Wysh is empowering consumers directly and through institutions to not only begin protecting themselves and their families, but to build confidence in their financial future.

Plinqit - Plinqit is a mobile-first platform and fintech company helping banks and credit unions generate deposits, attract new customers, and expand their retail footprint while helping people live their best financial life. The Plinqit platform is the first savings platform of its kind to bring together automated savings, data-driven financial wellness content, and virtual account management.

Debbie - Debbie is the Noom for debt payoff. Their program uses behavioral psychology and positive reinforcement to incentivize borrowers to pay down debt and connect them to better loan offers – their users have paid down on average 3x more debt ($450/month) and saved on average $100/month. They are working with financial institutions like MSUFCU and LFCU to help them engage their current member base, improve the decline funnel, and acquire young, motivated members through their loan offer and savings network.

Trust & Will - Trust & Will simplifies estate planning with attorney-approved, state-specific documents, aiding hundreds of thousands since 2017. Their secure platform, compliant with SOC 2 and HIPAA standards, offers affordable ways to create or settle estates. AARP and top financial institutions endorse them as the official estate planning provider due to their mission of securing every family’s legacy.

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I expect we’ll be doing a more complete profile of some of these companies in 2024. If you were at Finovate Fall and there was a standout demo that we missed, let me know.

3rd Quarter 2023 Spotlight - fullthrottle.ai

fullthrottle.ai is an end-to-end, first-party data-powered technology company that helps marketers identify, curate, and target audiences. They are helping bank and credit union marketers identify and resolve website visitors into first-party addressable households of real, in-market leads — without relying on cookies, IP addresses, or mobile identifiers. Once identified, fullthrottle.ai helps deploy omnichannel marketing to immerse these identified households with targeted marketing campaigns.

In a recent Advertising Week article, their Chief Product Officer explained:

Brands must move on from third-party data sources and focus instead on a more reliable supplier: their own first-party resources. By becoming data farmers instead of scavengers, brands can keep and maintain useful data resources while at the same time constantly generating new information to bolster their campaigns.

Businesses that invest in their first-party data — in the tools and infrastructure needed to collect, store, and analyze that data — will achieve a state of data independence and be able to survive any new policies or changes to the AdTech landscape.

We first met fullthrottle.ai through Craig Young, their Regional Vice President. He has a combination of 20+ years of advertising experience in advertising agencies, corporate communications, print media, online and television. Connect with Craig to learn how fullthrottle.ai’s patented technology can help you optimize your current marketing efforts.

Learn more: Website
Contact: Craig Young

Book a meeting with Craig

2nd Quarter 2023 Spotlight - Data Driven Partners

Founded in March 2020, Data Driven Partners is a software technology company based in central Arkansas. I met the company’s founders at Arkansas Bankers Association’s 2023 Annual Convention last month. The company is Woman- and Veteran-owned and they know that accessing and understanding data is key to forming business strategy and building relationships.

Being answer seekers and solutions finders, they have developed a one-of-a-kind relationship-based platform that helps financial institutions search relevant data, identify sales opportunities and improve efficiencies for leaders, lenders, and compliance officers.

Data Driven Partners’ flagship product, Lending Leads, connects the dots between loan officers, borrowers and lenders. This cloud-based, user-friendly platform provides competitive intelligence and is designed to improve efficiencies for leadership, commercial and residential lenders, compliance officers and business development professionals. On the market since March 2021, Lending Leads is being used by 16 Arkansas-chartered financial institutions, and is now available in markets throughout the United States.

They have also created BALLIT to equip state bank association leaders with an easy way to identify banks by size, geography, and political boundaries to coordinate lobbying efforts with their membership. When bills are on the floor and outreach is needed, BALLIT can quickly identify financial institutions and politicians who should be talking.

Learn more: Website
Contact: Mallory Van Dover

Schedule a demo on Lending Leads or BALLIT

1st Quarter 2023 Spotlight - CentSai

CentSai is a financial wellness platform that teaches finance through storytelling, quizzes, and videos in an authentic, jargon-free way. They help consumers navigate their financial lives from a place of knowledge and fun rather than fear. Built by former journalists, CentSai creates high-quality content to help explain finance from stories, videos, and quizzes. CentSai's catalog has thousands of financial media resources and is continually being expanded to reflect the ever-changing financial landscape.

Sample of CentSai’s content.

They believe that storytelling paired with action is the most effective way to teach personal finance. Their SaaS platform, CentSai One, allows financial professionals to harness all of CentSai's media assets as if they were their own. It is a valuable tool for bank and credit union marketing professionals who need content for their financial education initiatives, but have limited resources or support.

Learn More: Website
Contact: Arindam Nag

4th Quarter 2022 Spotlight - Array

Array is helping banks and credit unions innovate and grow with a variety of embedded tools, private label sites and APIs that you can customize and deploy rapidly. Their “My Credit Manager” makes it possible for you to embed credit tools into your mobile app.

With more US consumers than ever actively seeking to improve their credit, Array fintech gives your end users a reason to return to your platform. Array’s embeddable tools will help your customers or members understand, maintain and manage their credit through credit alerts, monthly reports and score simulators.

Whether your users are coming back to stay on top of their credit, or they need to be guided toward a specific goal, Array’s embedded tools make it easy for them to return.

Learn More: Website
Contact: Josh Wein

3rd Quarter 2022 Spotlight - Sundin Marketing

Sundin Marketing, led by Kristen Sundin Brandt, is a full-service marketing and advertising agency helping businesses achieve success by putting ideas into action. What started as an agency that specialized in financial services marketing has become the creative home for a range of small businesses.

With four decades of experience working for large and small financial institutions, credit unions, insurance and mortgage companies, you can count on Sundin Marketing and their full range of services to help you boost business, ROI, and loyalty.

Learn More: Website
Contact: Kristin Sundin Brandt