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April 14-16, 2025 | Las Vegas
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Breakout Sessions

Learn innovative strategies, advanced techniques, and best practices from the brightest minds in banking in these actionable, how-to sessions guaranteed to build your brand and your bottom line.

How-To Strategy Sessions

All breakout sessions are presented by top experts in their fields. There are no “sales pitches.” Any speaker who “sells from the stage” will be banned for life.

Connecting the Dots: Fintech Innovations & the Future of Banking

Core Themes: UX/CX, Digital Banking, Fintech

Dave DeFazio, Partner at StrategyCorps

Take a journey beyond the ordinary, where the boundaries of traditional banking dissolve and the future of financial interactions becomes seamless, intuitive, and profoundly personal.

Join us for this engaging session, where we’ll explore the evolving landscape of fintech and its transformative impact on banking behaviors, CX, and financial advice. Get a firsthand look at cutting-edge technologies with live demonstrations of the latest fintech products and banking apps that are reimagining the way consumers engage with their finances.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How to leverage fintech innovations that enhance CX and drive loyalty
  • The latest trends in mobile banking apps that are reshaping consumer behavior
  • Techniques for optimizing digital platforms to provide seamless, 24/7 financial services
  • Effective strategies to integrate AI-driven financial advisors into existing service models
  • Best practices for financial institutions to collaborate with fintech startups
  • How to personalize financial advice using data analytics and machine learning

Overcoming Strategic Contradictions in The Banking C-Suite

Core Themes: Strategic Planning, Data & Analytics, Marketing Strategy

Dr. Sean Payant, Chief Strategy Officer/Senior EVP at Haberfeld

From account opening policies to fee structures, many financial institutions rely on common — but critically flawed — misconceptions that stifle their growth.

This session looks at the strategic risks of “conventional wisdom,” and where financial institutions’ longstanding beliefs collide with their data. You’ll see how banking providers can overcome the inertia of familiar frameworks with data-powered strategies that more effectively inform decision-making at every level.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How senior leadership teams are often misled by faulty assumptions surrounding “traditional models” and how to eliminate these barriers to growth
  • How data should be used to reconcile strategic contradictions to build a growth strategy with increased profitability
  • How to navigate the complex balancing act between short-term goals and long-term sustainability
  • How to effectively translate data into compelling offers and leverage data to target high-probability conversions
  • Actionable strategies to improve your overall marketing efficiency

Digital + Human: Delivery Strategies for the Next-Gen Branch Experience

Core Themes: Branch Strategy, Culture & HR, Technology, Retail Delivery

EJ Kritz, Executive Experience Officer of DBSI

Next-gen branch models prioritize the human experience while seamlessly integrating cutting-edge innovations to achieve a strategic balance between engagement and advanced digital technologies.

This session will give you actionable insights, forward-thinking strategies, real-world examples and case studies highlighting the right blend of touch and tech you need to keep pace with consumers’ evolving expectations.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How to design branch environments and engineer staffing models that foster meaningful connections and streamline customer journeys in today’s increasingly digital world
  • How fintech partnerships and differentiated branch concepts are turning traditional HR models upside down
  • Tools that facilitate human interactions within the context of innovative retail branch concepts
  • Reasons why your “top performing employees” might be your biggest enemy, and methods to rethink in-branch staffing personas
  • How HR can support your retail growth strategy when recruiting and hiring branch staff with lessons found in the grocery store cereal aisle
  • How innovative quick-service restaurants and influential retailers are inspiring new branch delivery concepts in banking

What Will Save Community Banking

Core Themes: Business strategy, segmentation, differentiation

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, President of SLD

For decades, community banks and credit unions have tried distinguishing themselves by saying, “We hire locally, we support local organizations, and we host local events.” They mistakenly believe that “community” means “being local.” The problem is, big banks say (and do!) the exact same things.

This session is a wake-up call for any institution positioning itself as a “community banking” provider. Based on a comprehensive study encompassing 1,500 consumers and 500 bankers, you’ll see why you must radically reimagine what “community banking” means, and how everything about your business model needs to change.

Attendees will receive a downloadable research paper detailing these insights, supported by real-world examples and strategic recommendations for successful community-focused banking.

This session will teach community banking executives:

  • Why clinging to traditional geographic definitions of “community banking” is a recipe for disaster
  • How to successfully pivot from a product-centric mindset, and align your brand around digital consumers’ shifting definition of “community”
  • New affinity-based segmentation strategies that enable institutions to grow beyond their historically geographic borders
  • Modern marketing tactics and niche modeling techniques that build like-minded communities
  • The technological competencies needed to effectively target unique consumer segments

The Next-Gen CMO: Essential Skills & Leadership Strategies from Marketing Visionaries

Core Themes: Marketing Strategy, Leadership

Eric Fulwiler, Co-Founder & CEO of Rival

Everything about the competitive landscape is changing at hyper speed — from technological and cultural shifts, to demographic trends and consumer preferences. How do you keep up? How do you continue to hit your KPIs and increase marketing ROI amid all these massive changes?

In this session, you’ll learn the habits and hacks used by some of the biggest names in the marketing world, including CMOs from Mastercard, Proctor & Gamble, and the NBA. Drawing on research and interviews with over 100 CMOs, CEOs, and private equity VCs, you’ll learn what the next-gen CMO will look like, and the new mindset required to be successful in today’s ultra-competitive marketing world.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • The key management and leadership skills that will determine whether tomorrow’s next-gen CMOs are successful and effective
  • How to build consensus and communicate more effectively with your CEO, other members of your C-suite, and your board
  • Insights and best practices from leading CMOs and marketing thought leaders in and outside of the financial services category
  • How CMOs must position themselves to be effective in the future, and resources CMOs need to future-proof their role

Harnessing Emerging Technologies as Catalysts for Growth

Core Themes: Digital Transformation, Disruptive Tech, Fintech Innovation

Surjit Chana, Harvard Advanced Leadership Fellow & Board Director at Beneficial State Bank

Emerging technologies are revolutionizing the retail banking space, rapidly reshaping consumers’ expectations and how they interact with financial institutions.

This session will take a comprehensive look at the significant opportunities and the complex challenges of key emerging technologies. You’ll understand how these massive technological leaps are completely disrupting traditional banking models, forcing financial institutions to adapt at speed and scale.

You’ll see use cases and real-world applications showcasing how emerging technologies can be effectively deployed to systematically to maximize their impact.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How emerging technologies like like AI, generative AI, blockchain, and quantum computing are lowering costs, increasing revenues, and uncovering new opportunities
  • A strategic roadmap focused on adapting business models to leverage emerging technologies
  • How to ensure your core systems and data infrastructure are robust, scalable, and capable of supporting advanced technological deployments
  • Ethical considerations and safeguards that must be in place when utilizing AI and other emerging technologies
  • How new innovations and transformative technologies are reimagining customer engagement and enhancing customer interactions

Generative AI in Banking: Practical Applications for ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot

Core Themes: Artificial Intelligence, Marketing

Ben Udell, SVP/Digital Innovation & AI at Lake Ridge Bank

ChatGPT grabs all the headlines, but Microsoft Copilot is quickly finding a foothold in the financial sector. Both can dramatically supercharge your organization’s productivity, but which one is right for you?

Presented by an actual banker and the Forum 2024’s top-rated speaker, this session will walk through the strategic decisions and regulatory implications you’ll face, along with real world applications you can apply immediately, regardless of the platform you choose.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How to build a generative AI strategy within the current regulatory framework
  • Tips and tricks to establish AI policies, build your pilot team, and keep humans in the loop
  • How you can use AI for internal initiatives — e.g., identifying and addressing compliance issues, and building training programs for bankers to support marketing campaigns
  • How to train your AI using readily available sources — like your website — to focus results with greater accuracy, consistency and predictability
  • How to craft AI prompts that yield the outputs you expect while eliminating bias and “hallucinations”

Branding for Growth: Navigating M&A Success

Core Themes: Branding, M&A, Strategic Planning

Gina Bleedorn, President & CEO of Adrenaline

Amid the massive wave of consolidation in the banking sector, effective branding has emerged as a critical component ensuring the success of mergers and acquisitions.

This session explores the multi-faceted role brand strategy plays in facilitating growth throughout crucial stages in the M&A lifecycle — from pre-merger preparation, to post-merger integration and execution. Walk through real-world examples with banks and credit unions that have recently completed a merger, and see how they leveraged branding strategies to bolster growth before, during and after the M&A process.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How to incorporate branding early into M&A planning to support future mergers and potential acquisitions
  • Actionable insights into branding considerations in your ongoing M&A strategy
  • How to navigate the complexities of combining organizations with a unified vision and integrated brand strategy
  • How to align strategies, cultures, and brand expressions in each phase of M&A
  • How to ensure loyalty and minimize attrition with a robust M&A communications strategy
  • How to build a cohesive brand identity that resonates with stakeholders and drives a competitive advantage

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Fusing Marketing Strategy with Next-Gen Tech to Personalize Digital-Banking Experiences

Core Themes: Marketing, Personalization, CX

Carlos Carvajal, CMO of Q2

Relationships that were once built and nurtured offline continue migrating deeper into the digital-first world. Facing this relentless pace of innovation, financial institutions must now fuse new technologies with proven marketing tactics in order to deliver deep, personal touchpoints that drive results.

In this session, you’ll learn how to align successful marketing strategies with the latest technological advancements, including a clear roadmap to forge deeper digital relationships and future-proof your brand.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How to integrate proven marketing strategies with modern technologies and new digital banking innovations
  • How to effectively leverage AI and data analytics for personalized marketing, predictive analytics, and customer service automation
  • How to map and optimize the customer journey, with real-world examples of marketing strategies that personalize digital banking experiences
  • How to elevate, align and differentiate the brand experience you deliver across branch and digital channels
  • Tactics that will attract and engage younger generations

The Secret Financial Lives of Americans in 2025

Core Themes: Economic Trends, Financial Wellness & Literacy

Based on a groundbreaking study exploring the hidden realities of Americans’ finances, this session examines the deep disconnect between the public personas that people project and the financial realities they privately face, revealing significant gaps in the banking industry.

You’ll take an uncensored look into the double lives people lead when it comes to their finances, and uncover the emotional and practical challenges they face regarding money. With fresh insights for 2025, banking leaders will see new potential revenue streams and learn new marketing strategies to help people with these unspoken needs.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • Eight major financial needs of Americans that are often ignored and largely unaddressed
  • The harmful habits and adverse behaviors people struggle with that fuel their financial stress and insecurity
  • What Americans want from their banking providers — and what they are willing to pay for, but which aren’t being offered
  • How financial institutions can innovate in both small and large ways to meet the needs today’s consumers

 

Ben Zeidler
Co-Founder of Nonfiction

Gunny Scarfo
Co-Founder of Nonfiction

Branch Renaissance: Driving Acquisition, Cross-Selling & Engagement

Core Themes: Branch Strategy, Retail Design, Branding & Marketing

Juliet D’Ambrosio, Chief Experience Officer at Adrenaline

According to pundits, digital channels were going to kill bank branches. But consumers are now using branches more than any other channel to open accounts and acquire new products. In fact, three out of four consumers — including Gen Z — say branch access is critical when choosing their PFI, and Gen Z consumers are now using branches 3x more frequently than Baby Boomers.

Don’t miss this session examining how branches are reasserting their role as an essential channel where banking relationships are initiated and sustained. You’ll see how this resurgence is driving a fresh wave of attention and investment, and why financial institutions investing in their branches report above average growth rates between 6% and 10%.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How to transform the branch channel from a transaction center into a catalyst for acquisition and cross-selling
  • How your retail strategy must adapt to fewer visits that add more value as the branch experience shifts from transactional to advisory
  • How to use “zonal planning,” experience design, merchandising, and staff to choreograph customer journeys and optimize dwell times
  • How to maximize the effectiveness of in-branch marketing and brand content by orchestrating the right delivery of the right message at the right place and time
  • How to optimize your video content and manage your playlist according to cadence, frequency, and market segmentation

Instant Payments: Riding the Wave Into the Future

Core Themes: Payments Strategy & Technologies

Rusiru Gunasena, Senior Vice President at The Clearing House

Instant payments are set to explode, catapulting from $22 trillion to $58 trillion by 2028. Join a panel of leading experts from the payments space as they explain what retail financial institutions need to know to capitalize on upcoming trends in the instant payment landscape.

The session will outline key use cases for customers — from merchant funding and digital wallets, to payroll and real estate transactions — highlighting key trends, opportunities, and specific segments to target that will accelerate adoption of instant payments.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How retail financial institutions can connect to the RTP network and make instant payments work
  • How instant payments allow for a faster, more seamless experience, and reduce uncertainty over potential fraud
  • When we can anticipate U.S. cross-border instant payments, and how this innovation will revolutionize international payments
  • The future of Request for Payment (RfP) capabilities
  • How instant payments are being used by SMBs to increase cash flow and decrease payment delays

Forum 2025 Growth Strategies: Turning Ideas Into Action

Core Themes: Culture & HR, Change Management, Leadership

James Robert Lay, Founder of Digital Growth Institute

Everyone who attends The Financial Brand Forum typically heads home with pages full of notes brimming with big ideas, innovative strategies, and new opportunities. But how do you synthesize all these transformational concepts into your institution’s strategic growth plan? When you get back to the office, how will you help your team embrace and adopt everything you’ve learned?

This session will show you how to navigate the complexities of change within your organization to unlock new exponential levels of growth. You’ll learn how to turn quickly turn Forum 2025 insights into action, with practical tools and strategies you can implement immediately.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • Practical tools and a growth framework that empowers teams to adapt quickly to emerging trends and new technologies
  • How to inspire your team to adopt a fresh perspective, resist inertia, and break free from their status quo routines
  • How to get your entire organization to embrace change, and maximize the return on your investment of time and money at the Forum 2025
  • The critical role Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Adaptability Quotient (AQ) play when leading teams through complex change
  • How to leverage connections with other Forum attendees and ensure success after the event

Titans of Deposits: Best Practices for Unlocking Growth

Categories: Marketing Strategy, Deposit Growth

Nathaniel Harley, CEO & Co-Founder of MANTL

Deposits are a critical strategic priority for retail banking providers. But how will financial institutions grow deposits in 2025 as they navigate the shifting rate landscape and tricky macroenvironment?

In this session, you’ll learn best practices from banks and credit unions that are generating billions in new deposits across a wide range of asset sizes. You’ll see how these “Titans of Deposits” are finding success in an increasingly aggressive deposit-gathering market, including tips for increasing customer LTV, deepening wallet share, and improving customer retention.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How to overcome major deposit growth obstacles in 2025 without relying solely on APY-centric offers
  • Digital marketing and acquisition strategies — from national to local — to attract diversified deposits at an attractive price per dollar
  • Key benchmarks to evaluate the ROI efficiency of your deposit strategy, including tech and marketing spend
  • The role automation should play in the business deposit account opening process to raise commercial deposits at scale
  • How to optimize touchpoints for deposit growth by turning service channels like branches and call centers into sales channels
  • Table stakes for account opening technology in 2025, and how to overcome legacy infrastructure challenges

Optimizing Onboarding ROI for Checking & Debit Accountholders

Core Themes: Product Marketing, Onboarding, Cross-selling

David Schultz, CEO & Founder of Media Logic

Inadequate and ineffective marketing in the early phase of the customer lifecycle can lead to suboptimal engagement and drastically lower LTV. To increase deposits, spend, and retention, early activation is crucial. Financial institutions have only 90 days to maximize the potential of new relationships. After that, the window of opportunity with new accountholders closes fast.

This session will take a hard look at onboarding strategies specifically in the checking + debit category, including the truths and consequences senior banking executives must know. We’ll outline marketing campaigns and communication plans based on years of experience developing, testing, and refining onboarding strategies for numerous financial institutions.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How to yield maximum ROI and LTV from new checking relationships in the first 90 days
  • How to drive top-of-wallet status and improve long-term debit cardholder loyalty
  • Integrated digital marketing techniques and multi-channel communication strategies that reinforce your value proposition, generate excitement, and drive early desired actions
  • Best practices, segmentation models, and key metrics for optimizing the onboarding journey and improving new accountholder satisfaction

Growth Opportunities & Challenges in the Cannabis Banking Market

Core Themes: Cannabis Banking, Compliance & Regulations, Growth Strategies

Delene Gilbert, VP/Cannabis Banking at Prism Bank

In the fast-growing cannabis industry, there are massive opportunities for banking providers willing to step up as trusted financial partners. But this market is not without its challenges.

This session takes a deep dive into how retail financial institutions can navigate the intricacies of compliance while crafting a powerful go-to-market strategy. We’ll explore how to carve out your niche and engineer a differentiated brand with a value proposition that speaks directly to the cannabis industry’s unique needs.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How to make compliance and transparency core elements of your marketing strategy, and position your expertise as a competitive advantage
  • How to take a proactive approach to regulatory changes and stay ahead in this evolving landscape
  • How to target various subsegments of the cannabis industry — from growers to dispensaries — and craft messages that resonate with each
  • How to leverage data analytics to track trends, target the right segments, and refine your marketing strategies
  • How to leverage partnerships with key players in the cannabis space to co-market your services and offer comprehensive, value-packed solutions

Beyond Google: Digital Marketing Strategies for the New Realities of AI-Powered Search

Core Themes: Digital Marketing, SEO, Artificial Intelligence

Wil Reynolds, Founder of Seer Interactive

The online traffic financial institutions once got from Google is drying up. Why? Because Google has abandoned the old rules of online search, choking off your pageviews along with it. What worked in 2020 simply doesn’t work anymore. This raises the real question: Does Google even matter anymore?

In this session, you’ll see how your digital marketing strategy need to adapt as consumers increasingly turn to AI platforms like ChatGPT to find the answers they need, and find out why banking is most likely to be disrupted by this move to AI search.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How your marketing and acquisition strategy is impacted by massive shifts in digital channels
  • How changes in consumers’ digital behaviors are disintermediating Google, and how consumers are really getting their banking advice now
  • How to track your visibility in AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT, and why smaller banks might do especially better in this world than they did with Google
  • How to catch competitors using low-quality AI tools to generate content, and how to make sure you don’t replicate their mistakes and break out of this ‘sea of sameness’

The Hidden Growth Engine: Internal Marketing to Drive Brand Advocacy & Revenue Growth

Core Themes: Culture & HR, Internal Marketing, Branding

Kerry-Ann Stimpson, CMO at JMMB Group

The best brand ambassadors aren’t customers, they are your own employees. But great employee advocates aren’t born, they’re made. That’s why financial brands need to ‘market’ to their employees internally the same way they market to consumers externally, if not more so.

In this session, you’ll learn how to implement a framework for a successful employee brand advocacy program that drives deposits and loans, and how to affect behavioral shifts in employees that enable them to become your brand’s raving fans.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • Techniques to audit employee alignment with your brand, and how to identify areas for improvement
  • How to implement creative internal advertising campaigns, branch roadshows, and promote internal brand ambassadors
  • Effective onboarding, training, and developmental programs that sensitize employees to your brand’s mission and purpose
  • Methods and metrics to measure the impact of internal marketing, and the KPIs to get buy-in from executive leadership teams

Fueling Growth, Engagement and Retention Through Digital Financial Wellness Programs

Core Themes: Financial Wellness

Join this session for insights, industry trends, and success stories showing how banking providers generate measurable ROI from their financial guidance initiatives. You’ll see specific examples of various content activations through targeted distribution channels (i.e., organic search, social, email), showing how to position your institution as a trusted financial guide for consumers.

This session will teach banking executives:

  • How to build your online financial wellness program around empathetic, actionable, purpose-driven digital content and achieve tangible business outcomes
  • How personalized financial guidance can deepen relationships, increase lifetime value, and reduce churn
  • How providing digital financial tools and guidance can be used to prospect for user intent, attract new customers, and fill your sales pipeline
  • How empathetic financial guidance can serve as a strategic lever to enhance loyalty and drive brand differentiation
  • How to track and measure the impact of financial guidance initiatives to ensure alignment with your organization’s growth goals
  • Actionable strategies to boost search engine visibility and improve search rankings with content focused on financial advice and wellness

 

Joanne Ojeda
Brand Marketing Leader / Head of Money & Mindset at Truist

Scott Gardner

Scott Gardner
Founder/Partner at New Media Advisors, and former SVP/Digital Marketing at BofA who helped launch ‘Better Money Habits’
The Financial Brand Forum | April 14-16, 2025