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INT.017 Charles Potts.vtt

English

{{00:00:05}}
William Mills: Hi, I'm William Mills,
and I'm at FinovateFall in New York

{{00:00:08}}
with my good friend Charles Potts.

{{00:00:09}}
How you doing today, Charles?

{{00:00:11}}
Charles Potts: I'm awesome, William.

{{00:00:11}}
Always great to see you.

{{00:00:13}}
Sorry we have to fly all the way to
New York to do this, but let's let's

{{00:00:16}}
get together at home sometime, okay?

{{00:00:18}}
William Mills: We'll definitely do that.

{{00:00:19}}
And for those of you that don't know,
Charles is Executive Vice President

{{00:00:23}}
and Chief Innovation Officer of the
Independent Community Bankers of America.

{{00:00:29}}
Let's talk about your personal
journey in fintech and some of the

{{00:00:32}}
lessons you learned along the way.

{{00:00:36}}
Charles Potts: As a, college student
working at a bank, one of the first

{{00:00:39}}
things that I recognized is I had an
opportunity to really solve problems.

{{00:00:44}}
And and when we think about where we
are in this journey with technology

{{00:00:48}}
and fintech in general the real
important thing is we focus on the

{{00:00:52}}
problems that we're trying to solve.

{{00:00:54}}
And I think that is something I
learned early on in my banking

{{00:00:57}}
career that I took with me into a
number of the companies that I I

{{00:01:02}}
helped work with or build and grow.

{{00:01:04}}
And that is let's try to avoid
shiny objects and let's focus on

{{00:01:09}}
what are the real challenges and
opportunities we're trying to address.

{{00:01:13}}
William Mills: How has this prepared
you for your current role, and

{{00:01:17}}
maybe tell us a little bit about
your current role at the ICBA.

{{00:01:21}}
Charles Potts: Yeah, as the Chief
Innovation Officer, I have the pleasure

{{00:01:24}}
of running an organization whose
primary goal is helping early stage

{{00:01:28}}
technology companies figure out how to
work with community banks here in the U.

{{00:01:32}}
S.

{{00:01:33}}
and, equally important help the
community banks understand what kind

{{00:01:37}}
of capabilities and solutions there
are out there that they can take

{{00:01:42}}
advantage of to really address a lot of
the challenges they have in servicing

{{00:01:46}}
not only inside their bank, but the
communities and customers that they have.

{{00:01:51}}
And and that really starts with
what has been a very well received

{{00:01:58}}
accelerator program, the ThinkTech
Accelerator which brings these early

{{00:02:02}}
stage companies to market and has
evolved into us running a full time

{{00:02:06}}
operation in Atlanta, Georgia where we're
building out our ICBA Innovation Center.

{{00:02:12}}
To be able to run these kinds of programs
and bring these kinds of companies.

{{00:02:17}}
More routinely on a year round
basis to, to the forefront with

{{00:02:22}}
the community banks that we serve.

{{00:02:23}}
So how's it been going?

{{00:02:25}}
It's been going really well.

{{00:02:26}}
We had our first in house
program graduate a few weeks ago.

{{00:02:30}}
We had tremendous success.

{{00:02:32}}
We learned a lot about...

{{00:02:34}}
Running our own initiatives, we continue
to listen to our bankers very closely

{{00:02:39}}
into what they're trying to do and what
they need, and we use that to continue

{{00:02:45}}
to refine our own ability to go out and
find the kinds of companies that can

{{00:02:49}}
help our banks, which leads us to be at
something like Finovate here in New York,

{{00:02:54}}
where we get a chance to meet with a lot
of these market leading entrepreneurs.

{{00:02:58}}
And and engage in them engage
with them to understand how they

{{00:03:03}}
can help our community banks.

{{00:03:05}}
So I

{{00:03:05}}
William Mills: meet you in front
of ours, one said there's an old

{{00:03:08}}
proverb: may you live in interesting
times, and another friend told me,

{{00:03:12}}
that's not a proverb, that's a curse.

{{00:03:14}}
So what the heck is going on right now in
banking and fintech, and what's going on?

{{00:03:20}}
Charles Potts: Sure, look there's no
doubt that the economic factors have a

{{00:03:26}}
lot of people a little anxious a little
wary about jumping into new initiatives.

{{00:03:34}}
So there is a, there's a good
opportunistic view by most of the

{{00:03:40}}
member banks that we serve to really
evaluate what's happening with

{{00:03:44}}
technology and what's happening
with the communities they serve.

{{00:03:48}}
Likewise, a lot of the technology
companies are also You know, really

{{00:03:52}}
tightening their focus, which is the
right thing for them to be doing.

{{00:03:55}}
And what that what that really says to us
is this very interesting time is look, we

{{00:04:02}}
gotta be a lot more diligent about about
the kinds of companies that we work with.

{{00:04:08}}
They need to be very keenly
focused on solving problems.

{{00:04:13}}
We can't have a lot of just as we
say a lot of shiny objects out there.

{{00:04:18}}
They have to be really...

{{00:04:20}}
Keenly focused on addressing the
needs of the community banks.

{{00:04:22}}
So it it is forcing all of us to be a lot
more sharper and diligent and thorough.

{{00:04:29}}
It's causing a lot of banks
to wait a little bit more.

{{00:04:34}}
And at the same time, we have all
sorts of interesting things happening

{{00:04:37}}
with the regulatory agencies and new
technology like AI tools that are

{{00:04:42}}
causing properly both the banks and
the agencies to really take a good

{{00:04:49}}
introspective look at what is being done,
how can it be done, and putting in the

{{00:04:55}}
proper guidance to make sure that the
customers and and the businesses that

{{00:05:01}}
are served are properly taken care of.

{{00:05:04}}
William Mills: Now you hosted, at
FinovateSpring, one of the more

{{00:05:07}}
interesting panels on banks and fintechs
and how they can better work together.

{{00:05:12}}
What's your takeaway from that?

{{00:05:14}}
From that conversation.

{{00:05:15}}
What can banks do better to be more
effective with the financial sector?

{{00:05:20}}
Charles Potts: Here's the good thing
banks are in the risk mitigation

{{00:05:24}}
business not the risk adverse business.

{{00:05:26}}
So they're used to dealing with mitigating
risk and what's really evolved since

{{00:05:32}}
spring's Finovate is continuing awareness
on the bank's parts to take a lot more

{{00:05:40}}
care in their third party risk management.

{{00:05:45}}
Some now say fourth party risk management.

{{00:05:48}}
This is this is really sharpening the
focus of the banks on knowing what

{{00:05:54}}
they're really good at and knowing
what the vendors the fintechs are

{{00:05:58}}
doing and and putting more more
concentration of efforts in making

{{00:06:05}}
sure high quality, high value solutions
are being brought into the banks.

{{00:06:10}}
William Mills: And in closing, what is
the one thing that people watching this

{{00:06:15}}
conversation, what do you want them
to take away from this conversation?

{{00:06:19}}
Charles Potts: We serve, my, my team,
my part of the organization serves

{{00:06:23}}
two really important constituencies.

{{00:06:26}}
Obviously our community banks and
the fintechs that we work with.

{{00:06:30}}
And for both of them awareness, knowledge,
education get involved with the things

{{00:06:38}}
that we're doing that help you meet.

{{00:06:40}}
Each other, both the banks and the
fintechs so that they can learn,

{{00:06:44}}
so they can understand what's out
there, how best to go to market,

{{00:06:48}}
how best to service the needs.

{{00:06:50}}
This is the time when everybody
should be doing a really good job

{{00:06:56}}
of being educated on the power and
possibilities of these collaborative

{{00:07:01}}
opportunities to work together.

{{00:07:03}}
William Mills: Awesome.

{{00:07:04}}
Charles, I really appreciate your
time today, and this is William Mills.

{{00:07:07}}
I'm Charles Potts at
FinovateFall in New York.

William Mills: Hi, I'm William Mills,
and I'm at FinovateFall in New York

Sorry we have to fly all the way to
New York to do this, but let's let's

And for those of you that don't know,
Charles is Executive Vice President

and Chief Innovation Officer of the
Independent Community Bankers of America.

Let's talk about your personal
journey in fintech and some of the

Charles Potts: As a, college student
working at a bank, one of the first

things that I recognized is I had an
opportunity to really solve problems.

And and when we think about where we
are in this journey with technology

and fintech in general the real
important thing is we focus on the

And I think that is something I
learned early on in my banking

career that I took with me into a
number of the companies that I I

And that is let's try to avoid
shiny objects and let's focus on

what are the real challenges and
opportunities we're trying to address.

William Mills: How has this prepared
you for your current role, and

maybe tell us a little bit about
your current role at the ICBA.

Charles Potts: Yeah, as the Chief
Innovation Officer, I have the pleasure

of running an organization whose
primary goal is helping early stage

technology companies figure out how to
work with community banks here in the U.

and, equally important help the
community banks understand what kind

of capabilities and solutions there
are out there that they can take

advantage of to really address a lot of
the challenges they have in servicing

not only inside their bank, but the
communities and customers that they have.

And and that really starts with
what has been a very well received

accelerator program, the ThinkTech
Accelerator which brings these early

stage companies to market and has
evolved into us running a full time

operation in Atlanta, Georgia where we're
building out our ICBA Innovation Center.

To be able to run these kinds of programs
and bring these kinds of companies.

More routinely on a year round
basis to, to the forefront with

We had our first in house
program graduate a few weeks ago.

Running our own initiatives, we continue
to listen to our bankers very closely

into what they're trying to do and what
they need, and we use that to continue

to refine our own ability to go out and
find the kinds of companies that can

help our banks, which leads us to be at
something like Finovate here in New York,

where we get a chance to meet with a lot
of these market leading entrepreneurs.

And and engage in them engage
with them to understand how they

William Mills: meet you in front
of ours, one said there's an old

proverb: may you live in interesting
times, and another friend told me,

So what the heck is going on right now in
banking and fintech, and what's going on?

Charles Potts: Sure, look there's no
doubt that the economic factors have a

lot of people a little anxious a little
wary about jumping into new initiatives.

So there is a, there's a good
opportunistic view by most of the

member banks that we serve to really
evaluate what's happening with

technology and what's happening
with the communities they serve.

Likewise, a lot of the technology
companies are also You know, really

tightening their focus, which is the
right thing for them to be doing.

And what that what that really says to us
is this very interesting time is look, we

gotta be a lot more diligent about about
the kinds of companies that we work with.

They need to be very keenly
focused on solving problems.

We can't have a lot of just as we
say a lot of shiny objects out there.

Keenly focused on addressing the
needs of the community banks.

So it it is forcing all of us to be a lot
more sharper and diligent and thorough.

It's causing a lot of banks
to wait a little bit more.

And at the same time, we have all
sorts of interesting things happening

with the regulatory agencies and new
technology like AI tools that are

causing properly both the banks and
the agencies to really take a good

introspective look at what is being done,
how can it be done, and putting in the

proper guidance to make sure that the
customers and and the businesses that

William Mills: Now you hosted, at
FinovateSpring, one of the more

interesting panels on banks and fintechs
and how they can better work together.

What can banks do better to be more
effective with the financial sector?

Charles Potts: Here's the good thing
banks are in the risk mitigation

So they're used to dealing with mitigating
risk and what's really evolved since

spring's Finovate is continuing awareness
on the bank's parts to take a lot more

care in their third party risk management.

Some now say fourth party risk management.

This is this is really sharpening the
focus of the banks on knowing what

they're really good at and knowing
what the vendors the fintechs are

doing and and putting more more
concentration of efforts in making

sure high quality, high value solutions
are being brought into the banks.

William Mills: And in closing, what is
the one thing that people watching this

conversation, what do you want them
to take away from this conversation?

Charles Potts: We serve, my, my team,
my part of the organization serves

Obviously our community banks and
the fintechs that we work with.

And for both of them awareness, knowledge,
education get involved with the things

Each other, both the banks and the
fintechs so that they can learn,

Charles Potts, Executive Vice President & Chief Innovation Officer, Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), shares his journey in banking and innovation and what he’s doing now at ICBA.