Over 150 bankers and vendors gathered virtually February 8-9 for the 25th Annual Bank Technology Conference & Showcase. Following opening remarks by KBA Past Chairman Kurt Knutson, President of Secure Network Technologies Steve Stasiukonis kicked things off with a talk on the Dark Web and how to access its controversial content. Stasiukonis demonstrated how and where data that is stolen and breached winds up on the dark market. He said that “crimeware” is big business now. Hackers with very little technical background can acquire kits on the dark web.

The annual conference included several concurrent sessions over the two-day event.

• How Do Hackers Hack-Methods Used Against Your Bank?
• Where’s Your ROI? How to Get the Biggest Return from Your Digital, Core and Payments Solutions
• Cybersecurity: It’s Not Just For IT
• Building a Culture in Cybersecurity to Safeguard Your Community Bank
• Tracking Your Data: Data Location and Flow Diagrams
• Reporting Critical Information Security Areas Upstream
• The $370B Small Business Opportunity for Banks: A Unified Strategy for Payments, Lending & Digital
• Remote Capture: A No-Hassle Approach to Provisional Credit
• Five Steps to Digitizing Your Bank in 2021 and Creating an Online Culture for Success

“The Rise of Full-Service Digital: How the Law of Least Effort is Driving the Future of Relationship Banking” was an enlightening presentation by Lee Wetherington of Jack Henry. Here’s what we know. Digital is no longer optional, self-service is not sufficient, and the unpredictable is becoming more probable. The pandemic has broadened the range of proficiencies among digital banking consumers. According to a J.D. Power Coronavirus Pulse Survey, roughly 12% of U.S. consumers now use digital banking a little more often, 16% a lot more often, and 4-5% are using it for the first time. Each of these segments reaches the limits of self-service at very different times and places inside digital channels. Fortunately, there’s been a recent sea change in the “economy of action” and the associated “costs of effort” in and across options available to banking consumers. With the advent of “personal digital,” high-quality engagement and personal service can be rendered in real-time at the limits of self-service no matter where those limits are encountered in digital channels.

Eric Cook, WSI, closed the conference with his thought-provoking presentation titled, “The Genie is Out of the Bottle — Connecting and Engaging with the New Consumer in a Post Pandemic World.” People staying home to shelter in place, businesses closing, and a massive shift to online services across all industries have caused today’s consumer to change their behavior — and chances are they won’t ever go back to the “way it was,” even if they could. Community bankers had to quickly adapt to staff working from home, no more lobby traffic, increased mobile banking usage, and embracing a “digital experience” whether they wanted to or not. As we look towards the future, will our customers be forever changed in how they interact with us? Most experts say “yes,” and it’s up to us to figure out how to market to and build relationships with our customers in this new post-pandemic world using online tools and social networking strategies.

There was also a KBA first-ever interactive trade show with 16 exhibitors.

Thank you to our sponsors: GOLD: KBA Insurance; SILVER: CalTech, DCI; BRONZE: Network Box USA, Artic Wolf

The 2022 Bank Technology Conference and Showcase will be held February 7-8 at the Wichita Hyatt Regency Hotel.