The Resonance Test 95: The Intersection of Technology, Trust and Retail Banking with Eric Sobie

Eric Sobie, SVP, Head of Consumer Sales and Strategy at Heartland Financial USA, Inc., joins Chris Tapley, VP, Financial Services Consulting at EPAM, to discuss the importance of customer relationships and trust in retail banking. Having spent the majority of their respective careers within financial services, Eric and Chris pull from decades of experience guiding banks through waves of technological disruption and transformation. As the duo discusses, even in today’s rush toward automation, optimization and the embrace of all things AI, it’s still important for banks to strive to elevate the customer experience beyond mere transactions to generate true engagement and loyalty. 

This means building relationships and understanding the needs and goals of each customer as an individual. As our experts discuss, the true challenge is about figuring out how to do all this at scale without overburdening frontline employees. And that’s where today’s emerging technologies have a role to play. As Sobie notes, “Banking has got to this point in time where we’re bridging the gap between digital and brick and mortar… At the end of the day, people may come into the bank because of your name… or because of your digital experience. But they stay because they trust the people that work there. That’s where the future of the industry is going to be focused.”