Innovation Spotlight: BankMobile
Dan Armstrong, Managing Director and Chief Digital Officer, BankMobile
In his role as chief digital officer, Dan Armstrong is responsible for co-leading BankMobile Labs, which houses BankMobile’s technology development team focused on user experience and innovation. In this interview, he discusses how BankMobile has taken ownership of its technology to provide a curated consumer experience. In early March, BankMobile announced its acquisition by Flagship Community Bank in Clearwater, Florida, for $175 million. Previously, it had been a division of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based Customers Bancorp.
Who helps execute the innovation strategy at BankMobile?
We have BankMobile Labs—a whole division of programmers, business systems analysts, graphic designers, onboarding and fraud specialists and more, all in-house. We also have a student labs division in New Haven, Connecticut, managing the BankMobile Disbursements business and the BankMobile Vibe app for students. We have so many people charged with innovation, and it’s pretty much the core of our consumer proposition.
How does BankMobile keep a pulse on changing consumer expectations?
I suppose the same way other banks do: media, conferences, trends, recommendations, reading and participating on panels. We have a very strong strategy of testing other fintech products in the market, too, to see what we can learn about making a better customer experience.
When it comes to implementing a fintech solution, would you rather buy, build or partner?
In May 2015, BankMobile set up a fintech software and services development division, so we build 90 percent of our technology in-house. We do have vendors for elements of our solutions, like cards, remote check deposit, photo billpay and P2P payments, as well as risk, fraud and credit-scoring—but they are all integrated into our in-house technology, platforms and apps. We don’t put vendor/partner technology directly in the hands of customers, as we strongly like to create and curate the customer experience, and differentiate where possible.