Talwar, who is leaving his job as chairman of Goldman's consumer bank this month, explains his philosophy on innovating within a large organization, making a digital-only unit work within a 150-year-old institution, and how he deals with skeptics.

American Banker Podcast

Harit Talwar reflects on six years leading Marcus by Goldman Sachs

CEO Christopher Maher explains how the New Jersey bank selected the 20 branches it plans to shut down by year-end and details the types of apps, video banking capabilities and "super branches" into which it will plow the cost savings.

Where OceanFirst is spending its windfall from branch closings

Robert Le, an analyst at Pitchbook, explains where banks could get cut out of transactions and where they still could play a role.

Decentralized finance a threat to banks, but also an opportunity

Vast Bank in Oklahoma now has an app that allows customers to do their banking and buy and sell eight digital currencies. CEO Brad Scrivner explains his motivations, his comfort level with cryptocurrency volatility and what else the app can do.

A small bank's journey into crypto

The Los Angeles credit union started out by creating a self-service bot it named Royce. CEO David Tuyo discusses Royce's contributions and other ways artificial intelligence is improving efficiency.

University Credit Union goes for advanced degree in AI

Theo Lau and Brad Leimer, authors of "Beyond Good: How Technology Is Leading a Purpose-Driven Business Revolution," discuss financial companies like Sunrise Banks and Tabb Bank that are working toward dual aims of making a better world and turning a profit.

Fintechs and banks on a mission

The Birmingham, Alabama, bank has developed artificial intelligence-based systems that can flag suspicious activity and guide customer service representatives. Amala Duggirala, the bank’s chief operations and technology officer, describes the AI work she and her team have been doing.

Regions gives its service reps and fraud fighters AI tools

Pressure is mounting on banks to rein in overdraft fees. The behavioral psychologist Wei Ke says there are programs they can put in place that would be fairer to account holders and still generate income.

How banks can quell the overdraft fee backlash

Distributed ledger projects in banking are few and far between — many have stalled and others remain experiments. Robert Townsend, who has worked with banks around the world and written a book about blockchain technology, explains some of the ways financial institutions could be using it, for instance in small-business lending and supply chain finance.

Blockchain is untapped resource for banks, MIT professor says

The average American’s financial picture is bleaker than government data suggests, according to the former comptroller of the currency. Research from his new organization, the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, has found that unemployment is higher and household wages are lower than reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

U.S. workers worse off than they appear: Gene Ludwig

Vanessa Colella taught earth science and biology to middle schoolers through Teach for America before becoming Citigroup's new chief innovation officer. Her experience in the classroom still sticks with her today.  

From high school teacher to Citi's innovation head

Many big companies have made pledges to diversify their workforces, treat minority communities more fairly and clean up the environment to burnish their images, says Meredith Benton, CEO of the consultancy Whistle Stop Capital. But few are willing to share data to prove it's all more than a PR campaign, she says.

Activist accuses financial firms of 'woke washing'

Like many banks, TD had to move swiftly to spin up new self-service tools tied to chat channels, e-signatures and PPP lending. Innovation chief Michael Rhodes will continue the faster financial approval and development cycles that COVID necessitated.

How the pandemic has changed tech rollouts at TD Bank

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican, leads a new congressional caucus aimed at educating members about fintech issues. She believes her state could serve as a model for regulating digital assets.

How Wyoming's new senator is spreading gospel of financial innovation

The Providence, R.I., bank partners with tech companies like Apple and Microsoft, it has 25 fintech partnerships and it rewards employees for new ideas, says CEO Bruce Van Saun.

How Citizens Bank is keeping pace with fintechs, Big Tech

Thoughtful discussions about current topics, moderated by American Banker editors.