Name: TD Bank at FinovateFall 2023 - The evolution of commercial banking
Uploaded: 2023-09-18T12:02:41.054Z
Duration: 337.88
Description: At the FinovateFall 2023 conference in New York, FinTech Futures caught up with Chris Giamo, Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial Banking at TD Bank, to discuss the state of play for commercial banking in North America and the need for institutions to keep evolving and adapting to meet shifting customer demands.

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{{00:00:06}}
This is FinTech Futures at Finovate Fall,
and I'm joined by Chris Giamo of TD Bank.

{{00:00:10}}
Chris, how are you?

{{00:00:11}}
Paul, glad to be here.

{{00:00:12}}
Excellent.

{{00:00:13}}
Thank you so much for taking
the time out to talk to us.

{{00:00:15}}
Just get started off with this
quick introduction to yourself

{{00:00:17}}
and your role at TD Bank.

{{00:00:18}}
Sure.

{{00:00:18}}
Chris Giamo, and I'm the Head of
Commercial and Corporate Banking

{{00:00:21}}
at TD here in the United States.

{{00:00:23}}
Excellent, excellent.

{{00:00:24}}
And you're here delivering
a keynote speech today.

{{00:00:27}}
For those not in attendance, can you give
us a quick overview of the key takeaways?

{{00:00:30}}
Yeah, interestingly I was talking about
balancing investment in both human

{{00:00:36}}
innovation and technical innovation and
the importance when you're driving these

{{00:00:41}}
commercial relationships that you don't,
you're also in addition to Digitization,

{{00:00:47}}
Automation, and Technical Solutions.

{{00:00:50}}
You need that trusted advisor to
work with that business to deliver

{{00:00:54}}
those products and services.

{{00:00:56}}
Excellent.

{{00:00:57}}


{{00:00:57}}
And on the banking front, it's been
a difficult year, generally, for

{{00:00:59}}
financial services across the board.

{{00:01:01}}
We've had high inflation rates.

{{00:01:03}}
High interest rates, high
profile banking collapses.

{{00:01:05}}
What is your take on the state of play now
of banking, especially in North America?

{{00:01:10}}
It's interesting the economy
is in an interesting place.

{{00:01:14}}
I don't think we've ever seen
it's unprecedented, such a

{{00:01:17}}
rapid rise in interest rates.

{{00:01:19}}
And I think that's where
businesses are digesting that.

{{00:01:22}}
And in addition to just delivering
their products and services,

{{00:01:25}}
particularly the small business economy.

{{00:01:27}}
Which is 99 percent of all businesses in
the United States now have to look forward

{{00:01:34}}
of their financial projections on how they
operate with a higher cost of capital.

{{00:01:39}}
And that's where I think banks
and these trusted advisors

{{00:01:42}}
really play a critical role.

{{00:01:45}}
with these small
entrepreneurial led businesses.

{{00:01:48}}
How has TD Bank responded then to
the challenges that 2022 has been

{{00:01:52}}
throwing up so far, both from a
business perspective, but also in

{{00:01:54}}
terms of supporting customers as well?

{{00:01:56}}
More outreach to customers.

{{00:01:58}}
It's more important now than ever that
you keep in contact with your customer,

{{00:02:01}}
you talk to them about their planning.

{{00:02:04}}
And as I said, with many of these small
businesses, the owner, entrepreneur,

{{00:02:08}}
founder, wears so many hats.

{{00:02:11}}
They are the Chief Investment Officer,
the Chief Operating Officer, the

{{00:02:16}}
Chief Financial Officer, the Chief
Product Officer, and they almost

{{00:02:20}}
have to rely on their banks, their
attorneys, and their accountants,

{{00:02:25}}
like a de facto Board of Directors
to help guide navigate the business.

{{00:02:29}}
And in challenging times, I think
that's more important than ever.

{{00:02:33}}
Excellent.

{{00:02:33}}
As Head of Commercial Banking at ATD,
what do you think are some of the

{{00:02:36}}
key banking trends at the moment?

{{00:02:38}}
The commercial banking usually lags
consumer from a preference standpoint.

{{00:02:45}}
And, consumers every day with, Amazon
and Google and all the innovation

{{00:02:50}}
of have it now, immediately,
self service, digitized, mobile,

{{00:02:57}}
commercial banking has to fast follow.

{{00:03:00}}
I would say that, we're really focused on
prioritizing our investments to make sure.

{{00:03:06}}
that we have the cutting edge products
and services, but with the feedback

{{00:03:10}}
from our customers on what they really
need to help manage their businesses.

{{00:03:15}}
On that front as well, with the speed
of digital acceleration these days

{{00:03:18}}
and new technologies coming out almost
daily, what would you say then are

{{00:03:23}}
the kind of key challenges to keep
up with that rate of change and make

{{00:03:27}}
sure that you're constantly providing
those services for your customers?

{{00:03:30}}
I think it's connecting it and delivering
everything in a very holistic way.

{{00:03:34}}
At a bank, Fintech companies
can innovate much more rapidly.

{{00:03:38}}
That's what they do, they have experts.

{{00:03:40}}
We obviously have capabilities to
innovate and we have great product teams.

{{00:03:44}}
I think we look at it, do we
build it, buy it, or rent it?

{{00:03:48}}
And I think there's a
combination of all three.

{{00:03:51}}
Building your own, capabilities
within core platforms, but then

{{00:03:55}}
partnering with strategic fintech
companies on niche products that

{{00:03:59}}
you can deliver to your customers.

{{00:04:01}}
White label them, customize them,
and I think that's the balance.

{{00:04:06}}
And that's why conferences like this
are so critical, that you get to

{{00:04:09}}
meet and see what's going on in the
innovation world with your client's

{{00:04:15}}
feedback of what they really want.

{{00:04:17}}
Yeah, as we're here as well, Finovate
for lots of Fintechs demoing, how

{{00:04:21}}
have you approached your TV banks?

{{00:04:23}}
partnership strategy
as well going forward.

{{00:04:25}}
Have you got anything in the pipeline
as well that well, we constantly have a

{{00:04:28}}
lot of things in the pipeline, and we've
taken a multi pronged approach where

{{00:04:32}}
we've actually made strategic investments
in certain companies in fintechs so we

{{00:04:38}}
can actually have an advisory board seat
maybe on the company to have a front

{{00:04:42}}
row seat on their innovation roadmaps
and actually influence it in a way.

{{00:04:47}}
And it's a benefit not just to
the bank, but it's a benefit to

{{00:04:50}}
the fintech company because Bye.

{{00:04:52}}
Bye.

{{00:04:52}}


{{00:04:52}}
We have the large scale clients.

{{00:04:55}}
At TD, we have over a
million business clients.

{{00:04:57}}
So we have that feedback.

{{00:04:59}}
We understand what they're looking
for and what they need to run their

{{00:05:02}}
businesses, and we can bring that to
the tech side and collaboratively, I

{{00:05:07}}
think we can get to a great solution.

{{00:05:10}}
Again, thank you, Chris, so much for
taking the time out to talk to us.

{{00:05:13}}
It's been a pleasure speaking with you.

{{00:05:13}}
You too, Paul.

{{00:05:14}}
My pleasure.

{{00:05:15}}
Thank you.

This is FinTech Futures at Finovate Fall,
and I'm joined by Chris Giamo of TD Bank.

Thank you so much for taking
the time out to talk to us.

Just get started off with this
quick introduction to yourself

Chris Giamo, and I'm the Head of
Commercial and Corporate Banking

And you're here delivering
a keynote speech today.

For those not in attendance, can you give
us a quick overview of the key takeaways?

Yeah, interestingly I was talking about
balancing investment in both human

innovation and technical innovation and
the importance when you're driving these

commercial relationships that you don't,
you're also in addition to Digitization,

You need that trusted advisor to
work with that business to deliver

And on the banking front, it's been
a difficult year, generally, for

High interest rates, high
profile banking collapses.

What is your take on the state of play now
of banking, especially in North America?

It's interesting the economy
is in an interesting place.

I don't think we've ever seen
it's unprecedented, such a

And I think that's where
businesses are digesting that.

And in addition to just delivering
their products and services,

Which is 99 percent of all businesses in
the United States now have to look forward

of their financial projections on how they
operate with a higher cost of capital.

And that's where I think banks
and these trusted advisors

with these small
entrepreneurial led businesses.

How has TD Bank responded then to
the challenges that 2022 has been

throwing up so far, both from a
business perspective, but also in

It's more important now than ever that
you keep in contact with your customer,

And as I said, with many of these small
businesses, the owner, entrepreneur,

They are the Chief Investment Officer,
the Chief Operating Officer, the

Chief Financial Officer, the Chief
Product Officer, and they almost

have to rely on their banks, their
attorneys, and their accountants,

like a de facto Board of Directors
to help guide navigate the business.

And in challenging times, I think
that's more important than ever.

As Head of Commercial Banking at ATD,
what do you think are some of the

The commercial banking usually lags
consumer from a preference standpoint.

And, consumers every day with, Amazon
and Google and all the innovation

of have it now, immediately,
self service, digitized, mobile,

I would say that, we're really focused on
prioritizing our investments to make sure.

that we have the cutting edge products
and services, but with the feedback

from our customers on what they really
need to help manage their businesses.

On that front as well, with the speed
of digital acceleration these days

and new technologies coming out almost
daily, what would you say then are

the kind of key challenges to keep
up with that rate of change and make

sure that you're constantly providing
those services for your customers?

I think it's connecting it and delivering
everything in a very holistic way.

At a bank, Fintech companies
can innovate much more rapidly.

We obviously have capabilities to
innovate and we have great product teams.

I think we look at it, do we
build it, buy it, or rent it?

And I think there's a
combination of all three.

Building your own, capabilities
within core platforms, but then

partnering with strategic fintech
companies on niche products that

White label them, customize them,
and I think that's the balance.

And that's why conferences like this
are so critical, that you get to

meet and see what's going on in the
innovation world with your client's

Yeah, as we're here as well, Finovate
for lots of Fintechs demoing, how

partnership strategy
as well going forward.

Have you got anything in the pipeline
as well that well, we constantly have a

lot of things in the pipeline, and we've
taken a multi pronged approach where

we've actually made strategic investments
in certain companies in fintechs so we

can actually have an advisory board seat
maybe on the company to have a front

row seat on their innovation roadmaps
and actually influence it in a way.

And it's a benefit not just to
the bank, but it's a benefit to

At TD, we have over a
million business clients.

We understand what they're looking
for and what they need to run their

businesses, and we can bring that to
the tech side and collaboratively, I

Again, thank you, Chris, so much for
taking the time out to talk to us.

FinTech Futures

Event Session

At the FinovateFall 2023 conference in New York, FinTech Futures caught up with Chris Giamo, Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial Banking at TD Bank, to discuss the state of play for commercial banking in North America and the need for institutions to keep evolving and adapting to meet shifting customer demands.