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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Launched in 2019, Piermont Bank aims to blend the best of modern banking and agile fintech. Piermont Bank’s peer banking approach provides customers with technology-enabled, human-delivered solutions, opting for dedicated bankers over “1-800 numbers or chatbots.”
Last month, Piermont Bank celebrated three years of innovation. The woman-founded and entrepreneur-led financial institution currently has more than $420 million in total assets, and offers an end-to-end, digital banking-as-a-service platform with more than 40 fintech clients already onboard. More than 50% of Piermont’s loans since inception have been made to low- and moderate-income communities, as well as women- and minority-owned businesses.
The genesis of building Piermont was actually really simple. A lot of entrepreneurs would tell you they had this grand vision. For me, it was actually just very two practical reasons. The first was seeing the impact and the speed of impact that fintechs were making on consumer banking … The second reason was: I’ve been in banking for 26, 27 years. (And I’ve seen) the same pain points repeatedly from both the customer (side) as well as internally as an operator … So basically I said, “Okay if I could start with a blank slate, how would I build this? How would I build a fully digital-native, totally tech-enabled bank to do commercial banking faster and more efficiently?
On the evolution of financial services in recent years
My industry, historically, doesn’t change. It doesn’t go that fast. These days, I say that if the CEO is still working off their three-year strategic plan, if it’s in their third year, the board should fire that person. I mean, are you still even relevant in terms of your products (or) the way that you’re delivering these products? So I think the biggest change is just the speed, the speed of change, the speed of innovation.
I was taught and it’s still true banking is a risk management business. So it’s a little bit counter-intuitive if you think about it, this so-called “innovation.” But you absolutely can innovate in a risk management business.
On the advancement of women into leadership roles in financial services
I find myself able to make the biggest impact in the day-to-day: hiring based truly on skill sets and meritocracy, being gender-blind, age-blind … I know that sounds weird but, as an executive, as somebody who is doing the hiring, as somebody who’s doing the promotion, if I can just say, is this person the best person for the job? That’s more than half the game. I know that doesn’t sound very inspiring or trailblazing, but it is actually the day-to-day that makes a huge difference. Empower women, give them the job opportunity, give them the opportunity to rise to the occasion. That’s how we get there.
How does technology help financial advisors do their jobs better? What does it mean to be “customer-focused” when it comes to financial health? And how does an organization successfully pursue a commitment to financial inclusion as a company, while simultaneously supporting and reinforcing a commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion within a company?
We talked with Christina Walls, Chief Marketing Officer of intelliflo, about intelliflo’s evolution into a comprehensive digital investment platform. We also discussed the firm’s determination to help its clients leverage technology to reach more customers from more diverse backgrounds and investment sophistication levels. Toward the end of our conversation, we talked about the key role of equality in the diversity and inclusion conversation, and what can be done to bring more women into leadership roles within fintech and financial services.
Why was intelliflo formed a year ago? What is the strategy behind the combined company brand?
Christina Walls: What makes what we’re doing at intelliflo so exciting is how we’re addressing the challenges that financial advisors around the world have using technology to expand access to advice. That’s why our parent company, Invesco, combined five digital wealth companies into a single, API-driven platform – intelliflo – so we can offer financial advisors a holistic digital platform designed to serve investors throughout the entire advisory lifecycle. Our technology delivers the digital tools financial advisors need to better serve modern investors and widen access to financial advice.
What was your role in bringing together the five previously separate companies and modernizing the marketing function?
Walls: Validating the opportunity for five companies to come together as one new global brand, culture, and market proposition in the U.S., U.K., and Australia was the first step. Next, the marketing team built a modern, omni-channel marketing function that delivers against global and local business needs. We focused on training colleagues for new jobs and recruiting talent We also embedded new processes and a MarTech stack including sales enablement and CX/EX listening platforms that align with our modern, 360, digital CX/EX experience mindset versus traditional marketing funnel acquisition methodology.
Our new global brand is bold, personable, and challenges the status-quo. The experiences we deliver for all consumers of our brand – colleagues, clients, or partners – need to “feel” different. Every decision we made underpins our business purpose and strategy. The new marketing function was repositioned from previously reactive and tactical to a strategic, commercial, and customer-focused partner for the business.
What were some of your biggest challenges and successes during this project?
Walls: The biggest success is seeing our efforts help advisors grow and improve their clients’ financial health. Advisors are increasingly challenged to accomplish more with less resources; they need open, digital, and cloud-based technology to serve clients of all ages and sophistication levels. With intelliflo, advisors can meet clients where they are, including across digital channels, providing a personalized experience with greater collaboration and communication.
Since March 2021, we have seen increases across all marketing metrics. For example, one omni-channel solution campaign led to a 73% rise in sales YOY in January 2022.
The biggest challenge was planning and executing a new global brand launch during the pandemic and virtually building a new marketing function, business culture, and relationships. I’m so appreciative of the hard work of all my colleagues at intelliflo, who are passionate, proud, and dedicated to our business purpose; without them we wouldn’t be where we are now.
Why did you help intelliflo evolve from D&I to DEI?
Walls: In today’s world, diversity and inclusion can’t work without equality. Companies with D&I policies do a great job of recruiting people from diverse backgrounds, welcoming and celebrating those differences, and making them feel included in the organization, but with all evolution comes revolution.
At intelliflo, our culture relies on ensuring every colleague, regardless of their background, race, gender, etc. is included, has an equal share of voice, and is confident to challenge any level of seniority of the business for the greater good of delivering our business purpose – widening access to financial advice. We must all focus on equality; it is the critical bridge between diversity and inclusion.
As part of our newly created employee value proposition and DEI focus, we’ve recently formed a DEI ally network. We are dedicated to educating colleagues and building greater awareness for all colleagues, customers, clients, partners, industries, and communities, from the inside out.
What more do you think can be done to support women in fintech?
Walls: Progress has been made, but there’s still much work to be done. This isn’t just about delivering a gender metric. For the industry to change we need to highlight the value women bring, especially when it comes to diversity of thought. We should increase access to funding for women-led fintechs, hire more women at all levels of the business, widen access to professional networks in the industry, implement more policies, and continue reporting gender equality metrics, like the pay gap.
Male allies are also important. I’m fortunate to have many male allies at both intelliflo and Invesco and am personally dedicated to continuing the great work all genders have pushed forward in advocating women and removing biases for future generations to forge a gender equal world.
Gender is only one example of equality. Many other traditionally underrepresented groups also need a voice. We must hold ourselves and each other accountable to eradicate these biases and promote greater DEI for everyone.
We recently caught up with Vivienne Hsu, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer with Sokin, a U.K.-based, global financial service provider and payments company. Originally slated for our Women’s History Month commemoration, our conversation includes both Hsu’s thoughts on “the State of Women in Fintech” and gender diversity in the industry, as well as her insights on Sokin, its contributions to fintech innovation, and what we can expect from the company in the future.
Joining Sokin in 2021, Hsu was previously co-founder and Partner at Anabasis Partners, an international marketing and communications advisory firm. Before that, Hsu spent more than seven years as an executive with Cognito, a London-based PR, marketing, and communications agency.
Can you tell us a little about Sokin and its place in the fintech industry?
Hsu: Sokin is a global payments fintech that is the first to offer a consumer subscription model for unlimited transfers for a fixed fee. We believe in straightforward, transparent currency exchange and money transfers and allowing as many people and businesses to have access to the global payments ecosystem. We are ethically conscious and focused on the positive impact we can have as a business, putting financial inclusivity and eco-friendly innovation centrally to our purpose while working to democratize and simplify the global payments process.
How long have you worked at Sokin? What do you enjoy most about being a part of its leadership team?
Hsu: I’ve been with Sokin since January 2021 and enjoy being part of a very fast-paced business that is constantly growing, innovating, and evolving. I’m surrounded by hard-working and exceptionally talented people where I continue to learn so much. The leadership team is experienced, grounded, and strategic, but also fun which makes being part of it such a privilege.
What are the biggest responsibilities you have as CCMO? Are there any accomplishments as Sokin’s CCMO that you are most proud of?
Hsu: The biggest responsibilities I have as CCMO is to build the Sokin brand and keep our name front-of-mind within the global payments and innovation industry. We have an incredible story to tell – one that really holds people at its heart – and great products and services to get out to market with.
I’m immensely proud of the team we have built and how quickly we have managed to scale the Sokin brand globally. We’ve nurtured our flourishing sports club partnerships very effectively and continue to enter new markets at pace with an extremely exciting proposition.
How has the pandemic impacted the work you do as CCMO?
Hsu: The global pandemic changed how we work, but not what we need to do to deliver it. If anything, the change in working environment has forced us to innovate and collaborate in new and diverse ways. For example, as a global organization with a workforce across the world, we do not let time zones or geographies hold back progress.
Being able to build a good team culture and the creative spark is the only area which has been harder to achieve as our people are not always together. But overall, it’s not negatively impacted my role or the work we do at Sokin.
How would you characterize the “State of Women in Fintech and Financial Services” in 2022?
Hsu: The industry has improved, but there is still a lot of work to do. When I started out, it was not uncommon for only one or two women to have a seat in the boardroom. This, of course, has changed due to a shift in workplace attitudes and, as a result, we are seeing more women than ever moving up the ladder. However, this must only be seen as the beginning. It’s still not an equal men-to-women ratio, but it’s getting better.
Evidently, more attention and emphasis have been placed on supporting women in the finance industry over the years. I have seen more female leaders and experts working in finance and fintech compared to 10 years ago. It’s wonderful to see the glass ceiling starting to crack and I hope it grows in momentum.
What do you think the industry is doing right in terms of promoting gender diversity? What do we need to do better?
Hsu: I think fintech and financial services are having the conversation and pushing the agenda for gender diversity, which is really the first step. We need to get to a point where equality is part of a natural and organic system, not a forced issue as it is now – much like a box to tick.
I hope in the coming years we will not have to talk about gender diversity in the same way we do now, but instead it becomes something that’s actioned without question.
What can you do in your role as CCMO to help advance gender diversity?
Hsu: I think I can help in my role as a CCMO – and also as a senior female leader – by setting a good example, supporting, and mentoring others and driving a strong DE&I team and agenda at Sokin. Being part of a progressive and innovative company helps immensely, but also we have a culture where everyone’s opinion matters and can be shared which really can drive quick and necessary change.
It’s also about giving women the opportunities they need to succeed. The best way to create a rope ladder for other people to climb is to include them in your own journey. I’ve been exceedingly lucky to work with lots of incredible people over the years who did just that. By doing so, they pulled the best out of me which I did not see in myself. Before I knew it, I was involved in activities which, to me, seemed impossible, but those around me saw things differently. I will always be grateful for this, and I hope I can support the talent of today in the same way.
It may sound simple, but by doing so you naturally open opportunities and further responsibilities for those in your team. Providing an accessible platform to learn is fundamental in supporting others through their professional careers, especially in fast-paced industries such as fintech in which there are an plenty of chances opening every day. It’s about giving people both the confidence and, most importantly, access to pursue them.
Sokin is involved in multiple new initiatives. What excites you most about the direction of the company right now?
Hsu: I’m most excited about how the company is innovating and the way we are building our ecosystem and partnerships. It’s unlike any other organization I have worked! Sokin is at the forefront of several innovations such as taking payments into the metaverse and web 3.0, alongside what we can do with our existing and new partners.
Having only launched our Global Currency Account in August 2021, Sokin has rapidly expanded into 32 territories, and welcomed more than 120,000 Sokin customers with a further 175,000 currently on the global waiting list. At the end of 2021, we had transferred over $100 million around the world, delivered a multilingual app with five accessible languages, doubled the size of Sokin’s global workforce, partnered with five top-class football clubs including our first NFL team, and launched our exclusive sponsorship community, Sokin – Money Goals. To achieve this in a matter of months is astounding.
In short, we are leveling up global payments with the ambition to become the provider of choice for global transfers and currency exchange around the world. And I wholeheartedly believe we can and we will achieve this.
Founded in 2012, SmartAsset is an online hub for consumer-focused financial information and advice. The company reaches approximately 75 million people each month via its educational content, personalized financial calculators, and other tools. SmartAsset also powers SmartAdvisor, a nationwide marketplace that helps connect consumers with financial advisors.
We caught up with Ms. Lapides to discuss her goals as Chief People Officer, the evolution of human resources and talent management in the tech industry, and how a smart “People strategy” can help companies grow.
Why did you decide to take the opportunity to be Chief People Officer for SmartAsset?
Meghan Lapides: SmartAsset’s mission of helping people get better financial advice really spoke to me. Planning for your future is incredibly important and many people start late. Being part of a company that helps people think smartly and early about financial planning is something that aligns with my personal mission of helping people. When I met the leadership team and members of the People team, I knew this was the place for me. Their passion and intelligence combined with our CEO’s vision was the right combination of factors that confirmed my decision to join SmartAsset.
Is SmartAsset your first fintech? Is there anything unique about building a People strategy in fintech compared to other tech companies you have worked for?
Lapides: Yes, SmartAsset represents my first professional experience in the fintech space! One of the things I love about Human Resources is that when you change companies you get the opportunity to learn an entirely new industry. I love what I do, so I find it exciting to be doing what I love and applying my expertise in a completely new environment. I’ve been lucky to work in multiple different industries, including enterprise SAAS, consumer, and professional services, as well as different fields, such as advertising, public relations, technology, and fashion, so I’ve embraced these opportunities to learn something new. When I was considering my next move, I was interested in companies that were in the fintech space and also mission driven – SmartAsset was both of those things! I also wanted another professional opportunity to be a part of building something great, impactful, and meaningful. I’m thrilled that SmartAsset checked all of those boxes and honored that they selected me to oversee and scale their People department.
How has talent acquisition and management changed over the years that you have been involved in human resources?
Lapides: It’s wild to think about it now, but in my first recruiting coordinator role, we didn’t have an Applicant Tracking System. We used paper files to track candidates and I typed the labels for those files on a typewriter! We went from antiquated processes like that to new intelligent systems that help source great candidates and mitigate bias while offering data collection and analysis to iterate and improve on processes that make the most impact. “Data Fuels Our Decisions” is one of SmartAsset’s core values, and I’m happy that today’s HR systems allow us to make informed decisions in an efficient and timely manner.
When I was thinking of going into HR after studying to be a Marriage & Family Counselor in college, I spoke to a family friend who was the COO of a huge company about whether or not it was the right move. He told me that “Personnel was not for me. I was too creative for that.” We still joke that I have spent the last 20 years proving him wrong.
I’ve been lucky to work for progessive, people-centric organizations, but I’ve seen a huge increase in flexibility and creativity when it comes to managing talent. But more than that, especially post-pandemic, the People team not only has a seat at the table, but also we are key influencers in setting the strategy for the company’s most valuable resource: its people. The intersection of the business and our people is where our team sits and the two can’t be successful without the other. Highly engaged, happy and healthy employees build strong businesses. Businesses that allow people to make an impact internally and externally are the ones that attract the best talent. I am energized by being able to spend my time focusing on building a strong business and a culture that gives our Assets the best chance of success and allows our employees to grow.
What is most important to you in terms of leadership development within a company?
Lapides: Openness and shared vision. We all know how important mission, vision, and values are in building culture – but it’s very important for leadership to have a shared vision on what leadership looks like and how you can support each other to be successful from both the top down and the bottom up. I also think in order for a company to be truly successful – and have a highly engaged workforce – you need to have the openness to create a place where people can come as they are, lead as they are, and celebrate diversity in all forms.
What role can diversity and inclusion policies play to help drive growth and expansion?
Lapides: When you are creating products and services for the world, you need to look like the world you are creating it for. Studies show that the more diverse companies are, typically the more successful they are. But DEI is way more important than financial success. It helps DEI and company expansion to remove barriers to entry, reduce bias, open your recruiting pipeline, and create a safe, open, and equitable culture. When it comes to retaining your best talent, companies must ensure that their workplace allows people to be themselves, engage in real world events and issues, and also create a culture of belonging.
SmartAsset made the decision to remain a remote-first company. This helps our DEI strategy because it removes geographical barriers and helps us to be more accommodating of diverse work styles. Being a remote-first company further allows us to hire talent more quickly to support our rapid expansion given the fact that there are fewer geographic barriers.
What are some of the challenges a People strategy faces as businesses get bigger? How do companies overcome or manage them?
Lapides: Scaling a company is a huge challenge. Processes that worked at 50, 100, or 200 employees don’t always hold up at 500, 1,000, or 2,000. People teams also tend to run lean at a startup, so it’s really important to put talent behind that team – especially as you scale – to ensure the needs of your employees are met and you can get ahead of big projects and initiatives.
Are there any other issues you think might be worth highlighting about your new role?
Lapides: SmartAsset is a remote-first company, which is incredibly exciting because it allows us to hire the best talent wherever they are in the country. However, that comes with challenges as well. We are looking for opportunities to focus on asynchronous workflows to allow people to do their best work in their own time zones, but also have the ability to collaborate across different teams. We are focused on allowing the flexibility for both independent work and cross collaboration, and creating an environment that allows people to build relationships, focus on what is important, further build our culture, and continue to do great work.
As part of Finovate’s continued celebration of Women’s History Month and female-led fintech, we are taking a moment to showcase the women whose companies demoed their latest innovations at our Finovate conferences last year.
Hanna Wu
CEO and Co-Founder, Amplify Life Insurance, FinovateFall. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded in 2019, Amplify helps people build wealth through permanent life insurance.
Katherine Regnier
CEO and Founder, Coconut Software, FinovateSpring. Headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and founded in 2007, Coconut Software provides a platform for financial institutions to help them improve customer digital and in-person engagement.
Janice Diner
CEO and Founder, Horizn, FinovateFall (Best of Show winner). Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and founded in 2011, Horizn helps banks accelerate digital banking knowledge, fluency, and adoption for both customers and employees.
Laurie Rowley
CEO, Icon Savings Plan, FinovateFall. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded in 2019, Icon Savings Plan provides portable retirement savings plans, the next generation in workplace savings.
Ana Inés Echavarren
CEO, Infocorp, FinovateFall (Best of Show winner). Headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay, and founded in 1994, Infocorp offers a smart digital platform that provides banks with fast and flexible solutions to deliver superior customer experiences.
Lindsay Holden
CEO, Long Game, FinovateFall (Best of Show winner). Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded in 2015, Long Game is a gamified finance app that helps banks acquire new customers and increase engagement with their current Millennial and Generation Z customers.
Ksenia Yudina
CEO, UNest, FinovateFall. Headquartered in Hollywood, California, and founded in 2020, UNest is the leading provider of financial planning, savings, and investment tools for parents to help their children reach their dreams.
Yamini Bhat
CEO and Co-Founder, Vymo, FinovateSpring, FinovateFall. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded in 2013, Vymo offers a sales acceleration platform for financial services firms like Berkshire Hathaway, AXA, and BNP Paribas.
The following is a guest post from Annette Evans, VP of People and Culture, Global Processing Services
This month we at GPS are joining the #BreakTheBias campaign for International Women’s Day 2022 and adding our voice to encourage the fintech community to actively speak up about gender bias in the workplace and outside of it.
Assessing the current status of the fintech industry – given that progressive mind-sets and innovation are the lifeblood of our sector – you may assume fintechs would be pioneers of gender diversity.
Whilst progress is certainly being made, the reality is our sector still has a long way to go.
As the GPS-sponsored Diversity for Growth Report in partnership with Findexable uncovered recently, the representation of women in fintech is not as diverse as one might expect.
Two data points stood out to me in our survey. Firstly, there is a consensus that a lack of gender balance means men’s ideas dominate across every stage of the fintech value chain. Secondly, rapidly scaling companies are struggling to balance diversity commitments with the challenges of building teams in new regions at scale and speed.
On the positive side, fintech firms appear to unanimously agree that a commitment to being fully inclusive makes business sense. They understand that well-managed diverse groups outperform homogenous ones as diversity leads to a higher collective intelligence, better decision-making, and accelerated innovation.
Many also understand that it makes commercial sense as having more women in technical positions leads to more customers because it means creating products which are tailored with women in mind. Women understand how women think and what they need.
It seems strange, therefore, that there is still a gender diversity issue in fintech.
When I speak to leaders across our fast-growing global GPS ecosystem of fintechs, schemes, and banks, I nearly always hear the same thing. The bench of candidates being presented for senior or critical technical roles is rarely diverse, limiting hiring choices.
But recognizing this issue does not solve it. It simply pushes the challenge back to recruiters to try and resolve.
The challenge recruiters face is that the pool of fintech talent we are all recruiting from, whilst growing, is still small compared to other sectors.
We all continue to recruit from the same talent pool, which is problematic, not just from a gender diversity perspective but also for diversity as a whole in all its guises.
This is where I say we all need to apply the #BreakTheBias lens. For recruiters to be successful in providing a more diverse range of talent, leaders need to be more open-minded about where the talent may come from.
Change is happening, but real change takes time. Whilst diverse talent is entering the talent pool at the entry level, it will take time for them to gain their experience and work their way up to bring diversity to more senior levels.
In the immediate term, companies need to review their business culture and ask potentially tough questions around why so few women choose to work for their company. Do you create an environment where talent in all guises can shine? Or does it unconsciously favor those who already fit the mold? If someone thinks or acts differently, how are they treated? Businesses who fail to ask these questions risk losing out.
It is only by shining a mirror on ourselves that we can discover the knowledge we need to take action to try and address diversity challenges. We have to listen to be given the opportunity to change. Change can take a long time, but it will take even longer if it is delayed, ignored, or hidden.
As the organizers of this year’s International Women’s Day state, knowing that bias exists is not enough. Action is needed to level the playing field. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day.
From the very first FinovateEurope, women have led and helped lead live demonstrations of how companies were using new technologies to tackle the financial challenges faced by businesses, families, and communities. As part of that inaugural event in 2012, women from Cardlytics, ETRONIKA, Figlo, Ixaris Systems, Kabbage, Liqpay, Mootwin, Striata, and ValidSoft were on stage delivering the message of fintech innovation.
As Women’s History Month gets underway – and with International Women’s Day, March 8, right around the corner – we wanted to highlight some of the women who will be demoing their company’s latest fintech innovations this month at FinovateEurope 2022. Catch all of our FinovateEurope demoes during our Digital Kickoff on March 15, and on March 22 and March 23 for the live event in London.
Liron Diamant
Fintech Executive, Anodot. A payments expert with more than ten years’ experience in fintech startups, Diamant has a focus on building payments platforms and managing relationships with international banks and payments companies.
Daria Dubinina
CEO and Co-founder, Crassula. A strategist and entrepreneur as well as a CEO and founder, Dubinina has spent more than ten years specializing in payments, e-commerce, and business development.
Patrycja Karwat
IT Security Specialist, BNP Paribas Poland. Presenting in partnership with Secfense, Karwat has more than five years of experience in cybersecurity and banking. Previously, she spent more than four years in various technical roles with Deloitte including as Senior Analyst and Quality Assurance Tester.
Katalin Kauzli
Co-founder, Business Development Director, Partner HUB. With experience on both the principal and advisor side of business operations, Kauzli has 10+ years experience in a variety of roles, including assisting startups seeking equity in Hungary and managing corporate finance assignments.
Mariam Malwand
Product Owner, Topicus.Finance. Educated at Amsterdam’s Hotelschool Den Haag, Malwand brings founding and managing director experience to her work as Product Owner at Topicus Finance.
Yasmina Siadatan
Sales and Marketing Director, Dynamic Planner. With knowledge and experience across core marketing areas from analysis and communication to digital content and sales, Siadatan has helped drive awareness of Dynamic Planner and its brand throughout the retail investment industry.
Ana Luísa Silva
Head of Marketing, ebankIT. Silva brings more than seven years of experience in marketing and communications to her role at Finovate Best of Show winner ebankIT. She holds advanced degrees from the EAE Business School and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.
FinovateEurope 2022 is only a few weeks away. If you are an innovative fintech company with new technology to show, then there’s no better time than now and no better forum than FinovateEurope. To learn more about how to demo your latest innovation at FinovateEurope 2022 in London, March 22 and 23, visit our FinovateEurope hub today!
Making its Finovate debut nearly seven years ago (as 3E Software), Teslar Software has become a valued strategic partner for community financial institutions across the United States. The firm’s portfolio management solutions aggregate and automate both lending and deposit operations into a single system, enabling them to scale and enhance processes throughout the institution.
Just this week, the Springdale, Arkansas-based company announced its latest partnership, teaming up with Tennessee’s Legends Bank who will use Teslar’s full suite of automated workflow and portfolio management tools to streamline and centralize its commercial lending business. Legends Bank joins The First, Jefferson Security Bank, and Bank First – community banks that have announced collaborations with Teslar over the past few weeks and months.
We caught up with Teslar Software’s Solutions Specialist, VP, Amy Berger to talk about the company’s recent progress in helping banks improve their commercial lending operations, and which trends in financial services she expects to dominate in 2022.
Tell us about yourself and your experience in financial services.
Amy Berger: My experience in financial services has been in the banking industry, with a focus on business lending. I began my career with a commercial finance company, but have spent nearly the last 20 years in community banking. I’ve worked as a commercial lender, in credit administration, SBA lending management, and have extensive M&A experience. I’ve consistently been active with the credit system side of things.
I first became acquainted with the fintech space when centralizing commercial and consumer lending functions for a bank. That was actually the first time I came in contact with Teslar Software, a provider of portfolio management tools that aggregate and automate lending and deposit operations for community financial institutions. Years later, and I have come full circle, joining Teslar Software as the VP, solutions specialist.
What are the biggest challenges and opportunities facing business lending today?
Berger: The most notable business lending challenges and opportunities fall into the same bucket: the need for community banks to understand the needs of and be responsive to their customers and businesses within their communities. This raises potentially tricky questions such as how to efficiently provide those services while still delivering speed and a high touch service approach for your customers.
Bankers were forced to really address this question head on over the last two years and many have embraced technology in meaningful ways. With modern technology, banks are discovering how to provide both convenient, digital experiences and a personal connection to customers within commercial lending. I only expect this trend to grow this year and beyond.
How does Teslar help institutions support their small businesses?
Berger: Teslar Software aggregates and automates lending and deposit operations processes into a single system, enabling institutions to improve efficiencies and seamlessly scale. With Teslar, banks are able to spend less time on tedious, paper-based processes and more time growing their portfolios and building more meaningful customer relationships.
Teslar is laser focused on helping institutions provide a fully digital experience across commercial and SBA lending. We truly believe there is a significant market gap here and, if approach correctly, such digitization can empower banks to grow and compete with greater visibility and speed.
What advice do you have for women looking to grow professionally in this male-dominated industry?
Berger: Stay true to what you’re passionate about and don’t be afraid to contribute. Ask questions. Raise your hand. Use your voice. This may sound quite simple, but it can make all the difference for women looking to grow and thrive in the industry.
What financial service trends can be expected in the new year?
Berger: Thanks to the range of options made available by fintechs, digitization is no longer just for the large national banks; it’s now within everyone’s reach. It’s prime time for community and regional banks to fully embrace digital transformation wherever they can. To effectively do so must involve integrating systems to streamline business processes and deliver products and services quickly. The community banking space has proven time and again the value they provide, and I don’t expect that momentum to slow down any time soon.
Asked what she was most proud of after a year as CEO of IDology, a GBG company and a leader in identity verification and fraud prevention, Christina Luttrell gave a big tip of the hat to her team.
“Without a doubt, I am most proud of what our team has delivered to IDology customers and the difference they have made,” she said. “For example, our dedicated fraud team recently spotted a new fraud vector utilizing tumbled email addresses and collaborated with IDology’s product innovation team to build, test and deploy a capability that mitigated the risk head-on, within weeks. Their dedication to serving our customers is energizing and I’m humbled by their contributions every day.”
In over 10 years at IDology, Luttrell has significantly advanced the company’s technology, forged close relationships with IDology customers, and driven the development of technology innovations that help organizations stay ahead of constantly shifting fraud tactics without impacting the customer experience.
We caught up the IDology’s Chief Executive in the wake of the company’s victory at the Finovate Awards, where IDology was named “Best Identity Management Solution.”
IDology won Best Identity Management Solution at the Finovate Awards this fall. What is unique about IDology’s approach to fraud fighting and identity verification?
Christina Luttrell: First, thank you for the honor. I am exceptionally proud of my team and thrilled about upcoming innovation we’ll be introducing into the marketplace.
Regarding the IDology difference, it’s based on our philosophy and relentless focus on customer success. From a business value perspective, we facilitate more revenue with less friction and fraud while enabling compliance. What makes IDology unique is how we go about it. We always consider ourselves a product company with a solution offering that utilizes vast and diverse data sources, acquiring deep fraud expertise, and building our consortium network for collaborative cross-industry fraud insights and combining all of these elements into one single integrated flexible platform called ExpectID.
We pioneered multi-layered identity verification by fusing physical and digital identity attributes. When we conceived identity verification orchestration and built the ExpectID platform we wanted to go beyond basic data matching to leverage thousands of diverse, high-quality data sources, correlate multiple identity attributes such as location, device and activity-based data, and use advanced algorithms and rules engines to analyze and evaluate risk factors. We were especially intentional to empower customers to customize a nearly infinite number of identity attribute combinations to gain more control of data and better understand risk.
We are innovating the ExpectID platform to new levels with anti-fraud machine learning layers, adding cross border verification, enriching data intelligence and launching more mobile capabilities so our customers can keep ahead of fraud and stay ahead in their business.
Can you discuss the importance of data diversity in the identity verification process and the challenge of achieving it?
Luttrell: Single sourcing identity data for verification is dangerous. With massive breaches, entire identity data pools have been compromised, packaged and sold on the Dark Web for new account fraud and account takeover schemes. This can be especially problematic when financial institutions use the same data sources for identity verification as they use for credit risk analysis.
Diversifying data from multiple streams and sources, whether public sources or digital attributes, such as email or mobile phone providers, and fusing them together, enables a more complete identity profile and deters schemes, such as synthetic identity fraud. The challenge isn’t so much in accessing identity data feeds, but in designing and orchestrating effective technologies and skill sets to create decision engines with precision and accuracy that can quickly adjust as fraud and consumer behaviors shift. Doing so takes years to develop, deliver, harden, and prove.
What role do configurability, flexibility, and orchestration play in an identity verification regime?
Luttrell: Our research shows that 90 percent of businesses view identity verification as a strategic differentiator. However, that competitive advantage is only realized when businesses are empowered to verify who they want, when they want, and which attributes they want, with economy and precision.
As a result of COVID and its implications on businesses and consumers, the identity attribute data and fraud landscapes are changing at faster rates than ever before, resulting in a growing number of elements that need to be tweaked, tuned, and verified to validate a consumer’s identity.
At the same time, we found that 70 percent of Americans think companies collect personally identifiable information (PII) online about them without their knowledge. Needless to say, consumers want to provide as little PII as possible. They also express intense dislike for encountering unnecessary verification steps and will abandon account creation if they feel the identity collection process isn’t secure or is overly complex. All of these factors point to real challenges for businesses.
The ability to build, customize and evolve their identity verification programs to suit the unique requirements, risks and opportunities of their industries, use cases, customers, and compliance needs – and defend against ever-evolving fraud schemes – is critical for businesses.
The ideal identity verification solution empowers businesses to customize and fully flex transparent validation checks, workflows, and attributes economically, at any time throughout the customer journey. When looking to mitigate fraud, either upfront in the customer journey or upon re-entry, the desired solution will provide a high level of flexibility to validate customer leads without sacrificing risk protection and compliance or generating front- or back-end friction.
A superior solution will enable businesses to pick and choose, mix and match identity attribute proofing and curate workflows, based on their unique needs.
Last but not least, the orchestration of multiple systems and services is key. At IDology, we’ve embedded flexibility for seamless orchestration across services and systems to our solution for over 14 years. Coordinating with many data sources and services, while offering deep “home-grown” analytics based on hundreds of combined years of experience in fraud and identity can enable businesses to onboard legitimate customers without friction while keeping the fraud out. Our orchestration platform is a one stop shop for managing KYC / CIP, validating emails, geo location, phone numbers, identity signals, and access to the largest consortium network in the country, offering dynamic and seamless escalation for methods such as document verification-based smart rules controlled by the business.
One of the more important developments in AI technology is the idea of explainable AI which enables the results of a solution to be understood by human agents. Is explainability a similarly important concept in the world of digital identity verification?
Luttrell: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are hot buzzwords that often seem to be used interchangeably. Although widely used, there are major misconceptions about what these words actually mean. True AI means that a machine knows what to do with zero human interaction. When companies talk about using AI today, they’re really talking about using machine learning, which is an application of AI in which the system is “trained” by feeding it huge amounts of data and allowing it to adjust and improve.
As an early adopter of machine learning, we believe it plays an important role in building trust, removing friction and fighting fraud. By applying machine learning to the identity verification process, we have the power to analyze massive amounts of digital transaction data, create efficiencies, and recognize patterns that can improve decision making. At the same time, we recognize that machine learning alone is not enough.
Counter to the many benefits of utilizing machine learning are risks in its propensity for bias, lack of data transparency, and absence of governance. While machines are great at detecting trends that have already been identified as suspicious, a critical blind spot is their inability to detect novel forms of fraud. This is why we believe in a hybrid of machine learning and human intelligence.
Since 2016, we’ve supplemented machine learning with our fraud review team and today, continue using data, technology and expertise to meet the business needs of customers by verifying identities with high locate rates, low friction and less fraud. With the powerful combination of machine learning and human fraud expertise, we can analyze large amounts of data at scale while leveraging the intuition and expertise of our fraud review team to detect novel fraud, govern AI models to eliminate bias and reduce risk, and provide closed-loop data transparency.
Among the more recent challenges to identity verification is synthetic identity fraud. How significant is this problem and what needs to be done to combat it?
Luttrell: Synthetic identity fraud (SIF) continues to trouble businesses, causing financial institutions alone $50-$250MM in financial losses each year. The growth of this type of fraud can be attributed to its effectiveness for criminals and how difficult it is to detect.
Although there are no silver bullets, eradicating SIF requires businesses to monitor diverse data sources and employ multiple layers of integrated identity intelligence supplemented with system-specific SIF attributes, such as location, device and activity factors. This, along with dynamically evaluating a combination of cross-industry fraud data, machine learning, and human intelligence, has the potential to help businesses pinpoint instances of SIF.
You took over the top spot at IDology a year ago. What are you most looking forward to in your second year?
Luttrell: Going into the new year, I am excited about multiple things. For starters, GBG’s acquisition of Acuant opens up all kinds of possibilities to serve our customers with new innovation. I am also excited about global identity verification and making ExpectID the ultimate cross-border verification platform for easy and flexible international compliance and privacy from one single system. From tokenized identities to blockchain and advancements in machine learning, we are going into the next year with momentum and energy from the bottom up.
Speaking of accomplishments, you were recently named Woman of the Year at Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards. What does this recognition mean to you? What advice do you have for women who are pursuing leadership opportunities in technology today?
Luttrell: I have a great deal of gratitude and am humbled by the recognition. I see the recognition as a reflection of the excellence and talents of the entire IDology team. It also shows that I’ve been blessed with meaningful mentors along my career journey. At IDology in particular, dedication to our customer’s success is a value that has served me and the company well.
The advice I would offer women, and anyone for that matter, is to place the customer at the center of everything you do. Lead with confidence, but balance it with humility. Set and focus the business goals, persevere and stay positive. At the end of the day, we are all in this together so the kinder, the better.
Supporting more than 30,000 advisors, representing more than three million end-investors, and servicing more than $1 trillion in assets across its platforms, intelliflo has delivered SaaS-based solutions for the financial advisory industry since its founding in 2004.
Headquartered in the U.K. and recognized as one of the leading technology platforms for financial advisors in the country, intelliflo announced earlier this year that it had successfully integrated five advisory solution businesses – Jemstep, Portfolio Pathway, RedBlack, i4C, and intelliflo U.K. – under the Intelliflo brand. The move to consolidate its advisory services was designed to enable the company to better compete with rivals like Finovate alum Envestment.
We chatted with Jennifer Valdez, intelliflo’s President of the Americas, to discuss the company’s rebrand and how the wave of digital transformation has impacted the financial advisory space. We also talked about the role of women in financial services and the importance of changing mindsets as a key step on the path toward positive change.
What was the driving force behind intelliflo’s recent rebrand?
Jennifer Valdez: Earlier this year, Invesco brought together its five separate software businesses to form the new intelliflo, a single, API-driven platform to run the end-to-end advisory experience. intelliflo’s technology is comprehensive, representing a broad spectrum of capabilities including financial planning, practice management, digital account opening, reporting, as well as trading and rebalancing capabilities. The open architecture drives new levels of flexibility, efficiencies, and personalization across financial advice, empowering organizations of all sizes with digital tools to better serve modern investors and widen access to financial advice. intelliflo supports over 30,000 financial advisors worldwide, representing more than three million end-investors and over $1 trillion in assets serviced on the platform.
What tips do you have for clients beginning to embark on digital transformation projects?
Valdez: Before starting any major digital or business transformation project, it’s critical to pause and really think through the pain points you’re trying to solve. This includes listening to your internal team members, advisors, and clients. Technology simply for technology’s sake won’t be effective or productive; you must be solving a true business problem that will move the needle and better position your organization for meaningful change and success. Once that direction is clearly defined, then it’s time to engage your technology partner(s) to ensure you are fully maximizing technology to support your future vision.
Why is it so important for women to have a seat at the table? What steps can individual organizations and the industry as a whole take to ensure greater representation?
Valdez: Representation matters, and in order for organizations to accurately and comprehensively represent all audiences, these groups must have a voice (and vote) when making decisions. This doesn’t mean just women, but all traditionally underrepresented groups such as people of color and those in LGBTQ+ community.
As a collective industry, we can all choose to do more to raise awareness against bias and stand up for equality, giving everyone an opportunity to thrive. Challenging current mindsets is the pathway to driving positive change.
How have the last 18 months changed the industry?
Valdez: The past year and a half have significantly impacted the financial advice space. Financial advisors are not regularly sitting across the desk from their clients, which challenges them to determine how to continue to meet investors’ needs and help improve their overall financial health. At the same time, investors are increasingly wanting tailored advice, so financial advice professionals are being challenged to deliver a high level of service in a new digital way.
While this has been difficult, it’s also created an opportunity for the industry to embrace modern technology in new ways, digitizing workflows and back-office capabilities to help increase efficiencies and reduce costs. Streamlining the advisory experience in this way is not only beneficial for the financial advice professionals, but also the end investors – it enables quicker, more transparent communication and collaboration all around, while also driving greater personalization.
Can you share a recent professional accomplishment and/or a goal you hope to accomplish?
Valdez: Being asked to lead the Americas for intelliflo has been a significant personal milestone. I’ve always recognized the importance of financial advice and have been passionate about helping investors strengthen their financial wellness. In my role, I get to lead an amazing team that executes on our company’s mission to widen access to financial advice.
At intelliflo, we firmly believe that financial advice should be accessible to all, not just the wealthy. That’s why we’re dedicated to providing the digital technology necessary to make this a reality, helping advisors improve the financial lives of their investors. I’m excited for what’s to come.
How do you see the advisory experience evolving this year and next? What role does technology play?
Valdez: Looking toward the end of this year and into next, I expect more financial services firms to embrace a hybrid advice model, a strategic, flexible mix of digital and human advice. Such an approach enables advisory firms to meet investors whenever and wherever they want to be met, while also allowing these firms to deliver products and services more efficiently and effectively.
Another significant benefit of a hybrid advice model is the ability to close notable product gaps. Many firms have clearly defined offerings for those who want full advice and for those who are primarily self-directed, but more choice should be made available to those investors that fall somewhere in between. With a hybrid strategy, financial services firms can cost effectively provide products and services that meet the needs of every investor on the continuum – and in their engagement models and delivery channels of choice.
Technology is key to making the shift to a hybrid model successful. More firms will forgo bespoke software solutions in favor of a single platform that can support the end-to-end advisory experience, allowing them to boost efficiencies. Leveraging open architecture and sophisticated APIs will be critical in helping to optimize margins, reduce costs, and enable greater personalization across the advisory experience.
Founded in 2010 by Anthony Thomson and Vernon Hill, Metro Bank was the first new high street bank to go live in the U.K. in more than 100 years. Currently led by CEO Daniel Frumkin, the institution offers banking services to both retail and business customers, buttressed by its acquisitions of SME Finance in 2013 and of the loan portfolio for P2P loan marketplace RateSetter in 2021.
We caught up with Sophie Gorman, Lead Product Owner with Metro Bank to learn more about how the institution leveraged its hybrid, digital, and physical model to better serve both individuals and small businesses. We also asked Ms. Gorman about the meaning and importance of agility in banking and what women can do to succeed in the male-dominated world of finance.
Tell us about yourself.
Sophie Gorman: I have worked in the financial services space for almost 10 years, spanning roles at several banking organizations in the U.K. like Silicon Valley Bank and Lloyds Banking Group. During this time, I gained valuable experience across a wide range of customer segments and channels.
For the past three years, I have been a part of the Metro Bank team. Metro Bank is the first new retail bank in the U.K. in over 100 years; we launched in 2010 and now serve more than two million customers with leading banking services. At Metro, we’re bringing together digital and physical experiences to provide a personalized approach to banking, challenging the big banks and traditional players.
I’ve worn several different hats at Metro, and I now serve as lead product owner. I am responsible for delivering new digital products and services across our mobile and online banking platforms to help small businesses manage their finances. I am excited to continue to build out Metro’s business banking division, delivering value to our customers by leveraging existing and new technologies to make their financial lives easier.
How can banks embrace agility from an organizational level?
Gorman: It’s easy to believe your institution needs to deliver every feature from day one, but such thinking is actually counterproductive to embracing an agile approach. It’s important for banks to be able to pivot and tweak their offerings based on factors like user feedback, market research, and usage trends from the get-go. Such an approach to agility ensures the organization can evolve and innovate more quickly, ultimately proving to be more helpful for developers and stronger for overall team morale.
How do you support small businesses, especially those who aren’t ready to work with accountants?
Gorman: We are committed to empowering small businesses with easy, convenient digital tools to manage their finances. Recently, we’ve been focusing on providing internal bookkeeping capabilities to help businesses that may not work with accountants. One of the services our partner Sensibill provides is digital expense management, which helps our small business customers digitally capture, store, and organize their business receipts with plans to expand the services to include invoices.
The spend data captured by Sensibill helps us know and understand our customers better, which allows our bank to surface more relevant products and services based on their unique business needs. We are committed to leveraging this data to enrich our customer segments and deliver services to help our business customers grow. Our data is starting to demonstrate insightful trends that can help inform decisions.
I’m especially excited about our team building open banking APIs to allow customers to integrate transactional data with their accounting providers. With this functionality, customers can seamlessly share transactions in real-time. And as these businesses grow and become more sophisticated, they’ll be able to easily take advantage of additional tools.
Tell us about Metro Bank’s hybrid model.
Gorman: Metro Bank is bringing together digital experiences and the physical stores to provide our customers with the best possible experience for their individual needs. We recognized that customers still craved face-to-face interactions with our store colleagues and Local Business Managers in certain instances, but still wanted the optionality and convenience for digital at their fingertips. We’re in a unique position because Metro isn’t a true neo-bank, but it’s not one of the U.K.’s Big Four either. We’ve been in the market for a little over 10 years, so we’re still relatively young and growing quickly. It’s been a fun ride so far, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
How can women grow within organizations?
Gorman: For women looking to grow in the banking or technology space, I’d encourage them to lean into their transferable skills. Oftentimes women make the mistake of thinking they have to fit into a certain box based on their current role, making it difficult to transition into other roles or find opportunities in a new area. But by nurturing and harnessing those transferable skills, women can gain the confidence to apply their knowledge and diverse skill sets to other areas, continuing to deliver value to the organization in new ways and grow.
I’d recommend finding a mentor in the organization with influence outside of your immediate team to provide you with visibility and push for opportunities that will stretch you. This helped me transition into a more technology based role. I also loved reading Viv Groskop’s How to Own the Room: Women and the Art of Brilliant Speaking which has some fantastic practical tips for those suffering from the dreaded Imposter Syndrome.
We sat down with Stephanie Balint, Head of U.S. Strategy & Operations with N26 Inc. in New York, to talk about her experience in the fintech industry, and the continued evolution of technology to solve old and new problems for consumers, and create new opportunities we have yet to think of.
How you get involved in fintech?
Stephanie Balint: I got involved with fintech very early on in my career. Right out of college, I started working in investment banking, and one of my first areas of coverage was fintech, which included players within market structure, exchanges, trading, and technology platforms. By covering that space, I learned a lot about the industry, and eventually moved on to work for a fintech company because I wanted an opportunity to have direct impact in day-to-day operations and scaling fintech businesses. One of the reasons this industry stood out to me is because of the unique aspects of the business models; unlike consumer retail businesses, fintechs are less subject to short-term trends and the whims of consumer demand, and have higher margins and therefore more scalable and profitable economics.
How have you seen the industry change across your career?
Balint: I have seen the industry change immensely over the past 10+ years. When I was first getting started in 2009, there was much more of a focus on established and mature companies who were utilizing older, legacy tech stacks and serving traditional financial institutions, but starting to do so in more tech-forward ways. Over time, I saw an evolution begin to take place with lots of new entrants in the space trying to better serve retail and commercial customer needs by replacing legacy tech. It was incredible to see so many talented people, who had previously worked at older financial institutions, come back to identify a problem in the space and propose new solutions that would eventually improve financial services as a whole and bring it into the modern age.
There have been so many interesting companies founded over the past 10+ years. Many of the small fintech concepts I was watching during my banking career have grown significantly, including neobanking. This was a category that was barely considered or on the radar, and now is its own massive category within fintech – with no signs of slowing down. Q2 2021 was the largest quarter on record for fintech with nearly $31B invested worldwide across 657 deals.
Some of the innovations I’m most excited about are around what I call the “plumbing” of financial services. Things like enabling faster payments, like ACH payments, foreign money transfer, and trade settlements. A lot of companies – like Plaid, Orum, or Wise – have already brought forth incredible solutions. Behind the scenes, as a consumer, you would never know what is driving your ability to get money faster or facilitate complex transactions.
Can you tell us a bit about your current role? How is your company impacting the future of fintech?
Balint: In my current role, I am the interim GM of N26 US. With that, I oversee our operations in the U.S. market, focusing primarily on the strategic and operational side of things. This includes working closely with our legal and compliance team to manage critical business partners, selecting new partners, and overseeing customer service and banking operations. A large part of my role is creating a shared strategic vision for the entity to work towards, as well as developing roadmaps and long, medium, and short term goals to achieve our vision in the U.S.
Where do you see fintech heading in the next 12 months?
Balint: There is a very strong appetite from investors who are trying to find the interesting companies that will rise to the top. I believe there is still a huge opportunity in the “plumbing” side of financial services, particularly with B2B businesses who are working to do things like speed up payments, improve infrastructure, and provide solutions to help globalize money movement. Generally, these businesses are working to bring financial services into the 21st century and it’s fascinating to be a part of this evolution.
What more do you think can be done to support women in fintech?
Balint: At an entrepreneurial level, I think foundational change needs to occur. Encouraging female founders by providing access to capital is essential to helping generate a more diverse fintech startup economy. The issue is that historically women have been underrepresented within VC investing. There are generally not many women in VC investing, compounded by not enough representation and funding of women at a founding level, which in turn leads to underrepresentation of women in fintech across all levels over time.
Within startups, I think it’s important that leaders take steps early on to build out a team that ensures diversity across all facets of the business. Seeking individuals with various social and economic backgrounds will ultimately contribute to a stronger and more inclusive product and diversity of thought within and across teams.
For individuals, I think having strong mentorship from other influential leaders is key to building a strong supportive network that will pay dividends throughout your career.
Where did you find support in the fintech world?
Balint: I had a lot of support early on in banking. As the only revenue-generating female senior managing director, and the only one in an advisory role leading fintech as a practice, my mentor in investment banking took a keen interest in me and helped me to build my network and coverage area to do things earlier in my career than I would have been able to on my own.
Once I moved directly into fintech, I found most of my support from other peers, not necessarily women. Especially at N26, many of the early employees at the company were like-minded and we found similar comradery in terms of drive, motivation, intellect, and general interest in how to navigate a small and growing organization, think critically about things, handle tough negotiations, optimize contracts for best possible terms, and build the team. I found that support from early employees who had gone through it together with me incredibly valuable as I grew in my own career.
What advice would you give to women starting their careers in the industry now?
Balint: First, know your worth. Figure it out early and don’t be afraid to ask other people you know in the industry for comparisons/benchmarks. Demand the pay you deserve and don’t be afraid to negotiate.
Second, invest your money early and often. You may make the same salary as your peers, but if you don’t put your money to work, you’ll be left behind in the long term in terms of wealth creation.
Last, don’t be afraid to ask for things you want. I feel strongly about the “don’t ask don’t get” approach. Ask for a seat at the table, to be included in meetings, for someone to mentor you … what’s the worst that can happen? You can always move on from a rejection but you can never get back a missed opportunity.
