Laura Merling, Chief Transformation Officer at Arvest Bank – Driving Change in Large Organizations and Building Bank-Fintech Partnerships

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My guest today is Laura Merling, Chief Transformation and Operations Officer at Arvest Bank, a community-based bank with $26 billion in assets, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Arvest traces its roots back to 1961, when its predecessor bank was acquired by Sam Walton, also the founder of Walmart.

In this episode, we discuss:

The digitization of small and medium sized banks. There are almost 5,000 banks in the US – how are they modernizing and riding the fintech wave?

“What does it mean to be a community bank in a digital world? You have to figure out where your strengths are as a bank… How do you leverage that? And how do you expand on that?”

Bank-Fintech Partnerships. What should fintech companies partnering with community banks keep in mind? Laura shares some best practices and common mistakes.

“Having that real clear understanding of what's there and what's not there is really, really important. You don't want to get halfway through something, especially during a major transformation, and not be aligned on what it can and can't do because, as a bank with a low tolerance for risk, we're gonna pick a different vendor, right?”

Pros and cons of building in-house vs partnering with technology providers. What path should your firm take?

“Make sure you're stepping back and thinking about the risk level that bank is willing to take. Understanding the risk profile is probably the starting point, but also understanding where they are in their journey.”

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Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder & Managing General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.