Name: The metaverse: How will it change financial services?
Uploaded: 2023-06-07T14:27:37.528Z
Duration: 426.13
Description: Barb MacLean, SVP, Head of Technology Operations and Implementation, Coastal Community Bank, explores the opportunities the metaverse offers for financial institutions and the challenges of implementation, including the regulatory landscape. Stay up to date with the community on https://finovate.com/ Find out more about FinovateSpring on http://www.finovatespring.com/

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Barb MacLean.vtt

English

{{00:00:05}}
William Mills: Hi, I am William Mills.

{{00:00:06}}
I'm here at FinovateSpring in San
Francisco, and I'm pleased to be joined by

{{00:00:09}}
Barb MacLean, senior Vice President, who's
tech head of technology, operations, and

{{00:00:14}}
implementation for Coastal Community Bank.

{{00:00:16}}
How you doing today, Barb?

{{00:00:17}}
Barb MacLean: I'm doing really well.

{{00:00:18}}
Thanks for having me.

{{00:00:18}}
William Mills: Super.

{{00:00:19}}
Now, I think you're getting
ready to be on a panel.

{{00:00:22}}
To talk about in the Metaverse.

{{00:00:23}}
Can you give us a sneak peek
of some of the key points

{{00:00:26}}
you're looking to communicate?

{{00:00:28}}
Barb MacLean: I think it's really
important for banks to think about

{{00:00:30}}
how does this align to your strategy?

{{00:00:32}}
What does it mean to your customers?

{{00:00:33}}
Ultimately, if your strategy isn't
centered around them, you're probably

{{00:00:37}}
thinking about it the wrong way and it's.

{{00:00:39}}
A tool like many tools in the toolbox.

{{00:00:42}}
It's not the only answer, but for us
it's certainly a way to figure out how

{{00:00:46}}
can we differently engage and get the
right kind of engagement with customers.

{{00:00:51}}
What is

{{00:00:51}}
William Mills: your
definition of the metaverse?

{{00:00:53}}
Barb MacLean: I think it starts
with there not being just one

{{00:00:56}}
metaverse to rule them all.

{{00:00:59}}
I think there's been forays, even
if you go back to second life of

{{00:01:02}}
a couple of decades ago, right?

{{00:01:03}}
What this potentially looked like.

{{00:01:05}}
And if you broaden your thinking in your
mind for a second on how communities

{{00:01:10}}
are coming together in digital places
to interact and even transact, you

{{00:01:14}}
would probably start to look really
in the communities of gaming, whether

{{00:01:18}}
it was World of Warcraft or others.

{{00:01:21}}
So I think there's a much broader
definition of Metaverse than the

{{00:01:24}}
place we've been looking in the last.

{{00:01:26}}
18 months to two years.

{{00:01:27}}
On what that could potentially mean.

{{00:01:30}}
William Mills: What opportunities
does the Metaverse offer

{{00:01:32}}
for the financial industry?

{{00:01:35}}
Barb MacLean: For us, it again goes
back to the customer bringing the

{{00:01:38}}
experience of financial health and
financial learning and potentially

{{00:01:43}}
interacting with your financial life
closer to where the customers like to be.

{{00:01:48}}
And the population of gamers
certainly has not stopped growing.

{{00:01:53}}
It touches all walks of life
and all kinds of demographics.

{{00:01:56}}
So it's a really great place that we can
hopefully learn more about the customers

{{00:02:00}}
and the kind of information they might
want to choose to share with us, right?

{{00:02:05}}
As a trusted participant in the larger
financial ecosystem, that trust and that

{{00:02:09}}
element of maintaining it and fostering
it actually is the cornerstone of all

{{00:02:13}}
of our explorations in the metaverse.

{{00:02:16}}
William Mills: So how have other
sectors fared in applying the Metaverse

{{00:02:20}}
model and what can we learn from them?

{{00:02:23}}
Barb MacLean: The learning part is
the most important, I would say.

{{00:02:27}}
I think that needs to be a cornerstone
of the approach, especially if

{{00:02:30}}
it's early days for the team.

{{00:02:32}}
For that bank or financial
services provider.

{{00:02:35}}
What do you think that you might learn,
formulate a hypothesis around that?

{{00:02:39}}
I do think we've seen a few.

{{00:02:41}}
Explorations that were probably much more
of the, I want to generate some hype and

{{00:02:45}}
PR from my organization than anything that
was really designed to benefit customers.

{{00:02:51}}
If I could maybe give a piece of advice,
don't put a tiger in the lobby of your

{{00:02:55}}
metaverse bank that might not have
played out so well focus on something

{{00:02:59}}
that adds value to your customers.

{{00:03:01}}
William Mills: So what is the
hardest part about implementing?

{{00:03:04}}
That metaverse is channeled to
interact with your customers?

{{00:03:09}}
Barb MacLean: I think it's about
finding the right kind of customer

{{00:03:12}}
that you're looking to grow your
interactions with that kind of

{{00:03:15}}
community communities in the tin, right?

{{00:03:19}}
It's in their name.

{{00:03:20}}
And so it's really important for us.

{{00:03:22}}
To maintain that trusted relationship
with the community, but the

{{00:03:25}}
community's not necessarily grown
around a physical location anymore.

{{00:03:28}}
And so that's why this kind of capability
is really important for us to explore on

{{00:03:32}}
how do we grow communities in a different
way than the history that got us here.

{{00:03:37}}
William Mills: So you mentioned
World of Warcraft earlier.

{{00:03:39}}
Now, some industry puns say that
Metaverse is more of a video

{{00:03:44}}
game or social media distraction.

{{00:03:46}}
What are your thoughts?

{{00:03:48}}
Barb MacLean: I think you are
competing with the titans of industry.

{{00:03:51}}
When you start to think about that.

{{00:03:53}}
Who are you competing with for Mindshare?

{{00:03:56}}
It was actually something that one of the
analysts this morning here at Finovate

{{00:03:58}}
talked about, instead of wallet share,
we should be thinking about Mindshare.

{{00:04:02}}
So now you're pitting yourself against
the Netflixes of the world, right?

{{00:04:05}}
Who is competing with you for those
customers' slices of attention.

{{00:04:09}}
And so you have to be cognizant
of the space in which you're

{{00:04:12}}
going to try and operate.

{{00:04:14}}
But it's true to say no matter
the space that you're in, there's

{{00:04:18}}
going to be competitors there.

{{00:04:19}}
Study them, understand them.

{{00:04:21}}
Most importantly, bring it back
again to that customer to try

{{00:04:23}}
and understand them better.

{{00:04:25}}
I would offer, if you were making
that the cornerstone of your set of

{{00:04:28}}
hypothesis, what do I want to test?

{{00:04:30}}
How I can be valuable to them?

{{00:04:32}}
You're never going to lose.

{{00:04:34}}
William Mills: So being a banker
regulation is half your job probably.

{{00:04:38}}
And we're really looking at defi
regulatory environment here.

{{00:04:42}}
How is that gonna impact the
implementation of a bank's.

{{00:04:46}}
Presence in the metaverse.

{{00:04:48}}
Barb MacLean: It has
to be the first thing.

{{00:04:50}}
It's why that view of the customer
and what they're choosing to

{{00:04:53}}
do, to share with you is the
first thing that we think about.

{{00:04:58}}
That trusted relationship with them is
never more important than it is today.

{{00:05:02}}
Anybody could be a cat on the internet.

{{00:05:04}}
How do you make sure that you're
doing the right things because you

{{00:05:08}}
hold all of the data about their
financial life in trust for them.

{{00:05:12}}
It's not your data.

{{00:05:13}}
It's theirs.

{{00:05:14}}
And that is still true about all
of these early explorations into

{{00:05:18}}
these new kind of worlds as well.

{{00:05:19}}
So the privacy, security of that
customer data has to be paramount

{{00:05:23}}
in everything that you might build.

{{00:05:25}}
William Mills: So if you had a crystal
ball and you could predict in the future,

{{00:05:29}}
what do you think it's gonna look like
in the metaverse and the financial

{{00:05:33}}
industry in five or 10 years from now?

{{00:05:36}}
Barb MacLean: I think the time
horizon there is longer really.

{{00:05:39}}
I, to me, this feels like the early
days of the worldwide web, right?

{{00:05:43}}
When people were asking themselves, why
on earth would I put a web page up with

{{00:05:48}}
www in the front of my bank's name, right?

{{00:05:50}}
What on earth am I going to do with that?

{{00:05:52}}
I think it's that existential
question that everyone is

{{00:05:55}}
actually asking themselves today.

{{00:05:56}}
It feels very similar to me, right?

{{00:05:57}}
I'm probably dating myself to
the fact that I can even remember

{{00:06:00}}
what that felt like, right?

{{00:06:02}}
I think we need to look
out on that time horizon.

{{00:06:05}}
Where might you go?

{{00:06:06}}
Where might you go with your
customers over that time horizon.

{{00:06:09}}
But you have to be prepared to change
along the way because the place that

{{00:06:13}}
even we think even if my magic eight
ball was correct, five, 10 years out,

{{00:06:17}}
it will look completely different.

{{00:06:19}}
William Mills: So

{{00:06:19}}
you think it's a, bit longer term
horizon than the next year or

{{00:06:24}}
year after Next it Closer to 10

{{00:06:27}}
Barb MacLean: I,

{{00:06:27}}
think.

{{00:06:27}}
So you have to be willing to
invest in experiment and also

{{00:06:31}}
call a halt if it's not starting
to meet your customer's needs.

{{00:06:35}}
Go and find the place where meeting
them actually does that, and that's

{{00:06:39}}
gotta be the most important point.

{{00:06:40}}
Your own learnings, but most importantly,
your learnings about the customer and

{{00:06:44}}
can you effectively engage with them.

{{00:06:46}}
That's what we're setting out to find out.

{{00:06:47}}
William Mills: Barb,

{{00:06:48}}
really appreciate your time and your
insights, and I know it'll be very

{{00:06:51}}
helpful to those folks that aren't here
today and looking forward to your panel.

{{00:06:54}}
And again, this is William
Mills with Barb MacLean here at

{{00:06:57}}
FinovateSpring in San Francisco.

I'm here at FinovateSpring in San
Francisco, and I'm pleased to be joined by

Barb MacLean, senior Vice President, who's
tech head of technology, operations, and

implementation for Coastal Community Bank.

Now, I think you're getting
ready to be on a panel.

Can you give us a sneak peek
of some of the key points

Barb MacLean: I think it's really
important for banks to think about

Ultimately, if your strategy isn't
centered around them, you're probably

thinking about it the wrong way and it's.

It's not the only answer, but for us
it's certainly a way to figure out how

can we differently engage and get the
right kind of engagement with customers.

William Mills: your
definition of the metaverse?

Barb MacLean: I think it starts
with there not being just one

I think there's been forays, even
if you go back to second life of

And if you broaden your thinking in your
mind for a second on how communities

are coming together in digital places
to interact and even transact, you

would probably start to look really
in the communities of gaming, whether

So I think there's a much broader
definition of Metaverse than the

William Mills: What opportunities
does the Metaverse offer

Barb MacLean: For us, it again goes
back to the customer bringing the

experience of financial health and
financial learning and potentially

interacting with your financial life
closer to where the customers like to be.

And the population of gamers
certainly has not stopped growing.

It touches all walks of life
and all kinds of demographics.

So it's a really great place that we can
hopefully learn more about the customers

and the kind of information they might
want to choose to share with us, right?

As a trusted participant in the larger
financial ecosystem, that trust and that

element of maintaining it and fostering
it actually is the cornerstone of all

William Mills: So how have other
sectors fared in applying the Metaverse

Barb MacLean: The learning part is
the most important, I would say.

I think that needs to be a cornerstone
of the approach, especially if

For that bank or financial
services provider.

What do you think that you might learn,
formulate a hypothesis around that?

Explorations that were probably much more
of the, I want to generate some hype and

PR from my organization than anything that
was really designed to benefit customers.

If I could maybe give a piece of advice,
don't put a tiger in the lobby of your

metaverse bank that might not have
played out so well focus on something

William Mills: So what is the
hardest part about implementing?

That metaverse is channeled to
interact with your customers?

Barb MacLean: I think it's about
finding the right kind of customer

that you're looking to grow your
interactions with that kind of

To maintain that trusted relationship
with the community, but the

community's not necessarily grown
around a physical location anymore.

And so that's why this kind of capability
is really important for us to explore on

how do we grow communities in a different
way than the history that got us here.

William Mills: So you mentioned
World of Warcraft earlier.

Now, some industry puns say that
Metaverse is more of a video

Barb MacLean: I think you are
competing with the titans of industry.

Who are you competing with for Mindshare?

It was actually something that one of the
analysts this morning here at Finovate

talked about, instead of wallet share,
we should be thinking about Mindshare.

So now you're pitting yourself against
the Netflixes of the world, right?

Who is competing with you for those
customers' slices of attention.

And so you have to be cognizant
of the space in which you're

But it's true to say no matter
the space that you're in, there's

Most importantly, bring it back
again to that customer to try

I would offer, if you were making
that the cornerstone of your set of

William Mills: So being a banker
regulation is half your job probably.

And we're really looking at defi
regulatory environment here.

How is that gonna impact the
implementation of a bank's.

Barb MacLean: It has
to be the first thing.

It's why that view of the customer
and what they're choosing to

do, to share with you is the
first thing that we think about.

FinovateSpring

Expert Insight

Explainer

Barb MacLean, SVP, Head of Technology Operations and Implementation, Coastal Community Bank, explores the opportunities the metaverse offers for financial institutions and the challenges of implementation, including the regulatory landscape. 

Stay up to date with the community on https://finovate.com/ 

Find out more about FinovateSpring on http://www.finovatespring.com/ 