The Buzz on Bank Automation News

As interest and investment in cryptocurrency spikes this year, banks and financial institutions (FIs) must decide whether and how to become involved, or potentially lose revenue and customers if they opt out.

This is the message from Lawrence Pruss, senior vice president at Memphis, Tenn.-based Strategic Resource Management (SRM) in this week's episode of "The Buzz" podcast. SRM is a consulting firm for FIs and others in areas such as digital transformation, operational efficiency and payment technology.

Show Notes

As interest and investment in cryptocurrency spikes this year, banks and financial institutions (FIs) must decide whether and how to become involved, or potentially lose revenue and customers if they opt out. 
 
This is the message from Lawrence Pruss, senior vice president at Memphis, Tenn.-based Strategic Resource Management (SRM) in this week's episode of "The Buzz" podcast. SRM is a consulting firm for FIs and others in areas such as digital transformation, operational efficiency and payment technology. 
 
Banks and FIs can boost their revenue by offering crypto trading and custody services, among other services,  Pruss tells Bank Automation News. "The opportunity isn't just defending their deposits, but there's opportunities to drive non-interest income in terms of trading revenue," he says.   
 
There is also potential to attract new customers and increase customer engagement, Pruss notes, as well as help to retain existing clients. "That's an opportunity — when you've got those eyeballs on your mobile banking app — to be able to offer across all other sorts of products and services, maybe even education" on cryptocurrency, he tells BAN, which is still lacking in many cases. 
 
Banks and FIs have been contacting SRM regarding its new service, Cryptocurrency and Blockchain for Financial Services, which advises on the use cases of crypto and blockchain technology and how to set them up, to be sure they're not written out of the script, Pruss says. Decentralized finance, which has sprung out of cryptocurrency and its underpinning blockchain technology, connects lenders and borrowers while facilitating other financial transactions, all without the involvement of a bank. 
 
"We've got some real concern from our clients in terms of being disintermediated," Pruss says. "All of a sudden, you realize it's a very competitive environment."

What is The Buzz on Bank Automation News?

The new podcast covering current trends and intriguing topics in automation and beyond courtesy of Bank Automation News, the definitive source for insights and news surrounding automation in financial services.

Formerly Bank Innovation, since 2009 Bank Automation News has been at the forefront of tracking the evolution of digital banking. With the future of innovation pointing to opportunities in automation, we have transitioned the focus of our coverage to continue to provide insights and information that guide industry professionals to better results.

Automation is the next frontier of financial services technology. It will improve or transform most banking processes from customer experience to compliance, lending solutions and investment. Automation technology will create the greatest transformation at financial institutions since the digitization of financial services in the wake of the Credit Crisis. Banks that are not already investing in automation technologies must begin shifting their focus to remain competitive. This transition requires investment in training and educational resources.

Bank Automation News is the first and only news and education source dedicated to fostering this emerging segment of financial services technology.