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Penny Lee, president and CEO of the Financial Technology Association, is pushing back on some claims banks and their trade groups have recently made about financial technology companies, for instance that fintechs don’t meet consumer financial protection standards.

More than 50 million people are caught up in modern slavery, according to the U.N. Hidden crimes like human trafficking and elder abuse are more common than most people think. Ian Mitchell at The Knoble, who led crime detection at several financial institutions, works with banks to find signs of abuse and help law enforcement to help victims and catch perpetrators, including among Super Bowl crowds.

Matthew Pincoski, director of engagement systems at Ent Credit Union in Colorado Springs, describes some of the ways he and his team have been using low-code and no-code software to do things like create next-best-offer messages for customers.

Enlightenment can be found in everyday activities like work, says Thane Lawrie, author of the book, The Buddhist CEO. Lawrie explains some of the Buddhist ideas that, when practiced, can make people better leaders, colleagues and family members.  

Mike Abbott, global banking lead at Accenture, predicts the trends that will change the way banks operate in the coming year, including a rate environment that hasn't been seen in more than a decade, a comeback for branches and soaring credit delinquencies.

About half of small businesses nationwide are now classified as financially unhealthy: They have difficulty paying bills on time, inadequate cash reserves or insufficient insurance. Eytan Bensoussan, founder and CEO of NorthOne, a neobank for small businesses, shares his thoughts on how banks and fintechs can help these customers survive.

The founder and CEO of the fintech Tomo Credit says the popular form of credit helps consumers perpetuate bad habits.

A panel of experts discuss the midterm elections, the FTX blowup and the legislative and regulatory policy implications that both will have in Washington.  

Theo Lau and Brad Leimer, who run the consultancy  Unconventional Ventures, have come up with three predictions for banks’ future. They also have advice on what financial institutions need to do to make the best-case scenario a reality.  

If Web3 is real, where do banks fit in — if they do? Alex Tapscott, managing director of the digital asset group at Ninepoint Partners and co-author of the book Blockchain Revolution, explains how the internet has evolved and how banks might take advantage of the latest iteration of it.

About 75% of military recruits arrive at a training base with no bank account and have to be bussed to a local bank to open one, says Jill Castilla, CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond. The bank’s team is building a platform that will help service members save and build credit.

Technology has turned the art of deposit pricing into a science, say Betty Cowell and Rohan Shah, experts at Simon Kucher & Partners. They also predict when the large banks will raise their rates.

Half of Americans haven’t saved enough to cover three months of expenses. Personal finance expert Orman says everyone should have 12 months of emergency savings, and she’s working with a fintech, SecureSave, to help workers build a nest egg.

“Animal welfare scores low in priority at many financial institutions” in the U.S., says Merel van der Mark, animal welfare and finance program manager for Sinergia Animal, an organization based in Brazil that has been maintaining a ranking of how banks around the world perform on several measures of ethics with regard to animals.

Consumer Bankers Association president and CEO Richard Hunt is retiring from the organization this summer, and in a wide-ranging interview he offers his thoughts on the future of the banking industry, the direction of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and what how banks can compete against less-regulated fintechs.

DJ DiDonna, founder of The Sabbatical Project, says the breaks help companies avoid staff burnout and recruit and retain high-performing employees. That may be why double the number of Best Fintechs to Work For offer sabbaticals this year.

Ian Khan, futurist and author of the forthcoming book "Metaverse for Dummies," shares a vision of virtual workplaces where young developers, designers and other talented staffers will want to meet.

One reason: lack of digital IDs, say Mary Ellen Iskenderian of Women’s World Banking and Janet Truncale of EY.

The acquisition of the small-business lending marketplace Boefly and partnerships with the loan software company nCino and the construction lending fintech Built are among the efforts helping the New Jersey bank compete with fintechs that have gotten good at serving niche markets, says Frank Sorrentino, its CEO.

The bank was one of the 11 that collaborated with Google in 2020 on a plan to introduce checking accounts through Google Pay. Josh Williams, chief banking officer and head of partnerships at Seattle Bank, talks about what the company gained from that experience and what he looks for in potential fintech partnerships.