Alkami’s Client Training team delivered a fast-paced year-in-review highlighting key product enhancements rolled out in 2024—all designed to help financial institutions create more secure, seamless, and scalable digital experiences. From the Recent User Activity Widget, which Texan’s Credit Union reported an estimated 50-60% time savings while assisting members in call center operations, to Login Grouping that allows customers and members to switch between business and retail profiles, each feature was positioned as a lever for greater efficiency and engagement. Security updates strengthen protection against fraud, while new business banking solutions improve operational clarity for both staff and business users. The session also looked ahead at 2025 FDIC compliance updates, including digital signage and outbound link alerts, with activation guidance provided for each feature. This session served as a preview of the types of training Alkami customers have available to them to ensure their teams are ready to adopt, apply, and maximize the latest digital banking innovations.
Katie Doll, Director of Services Operations at Alkami, led a thoughtful conversation on what makes Alkami’s implementation process stand out in the digital banking space. Brianna Burden, AVP of Branch Operations at US Community Credit Union, spoke about the importance of cross-team collaboration, strong leadership buy-in, and a member-first mindset—especially when navigating both a core and digital conversion. Mandi Hanson, VP of Digital Experiences at Gate City Bank, shared how her team prioritized subject matter expert (SME) involvement, organized pilot testing, and embraced thorough testing to ensure a smooth launch. Both emphasized the power of partnership with Alkami, noting the responsive support, clear communication, and shared commitment to success that made all the difference. Their experiences underscored how thoughtful planning and teamwork lead to smooth, user-friendly digital transformations.
The session brought together leaders from Landmark Credit Union, True Community Credit Union, and Greenlight to explore how financial institutions can deliver digital banking experiences that are meaningful across all life stages. The conversation, moderated by Josh Winstead, VP of Corporate Development at Alkami, opened with a reflection from panelists who agreed the future lies in aligning digital banking engagement strategies to defining life moments, not just age groups. Jonathan Beard, VP of Digital Transformation at True Community Credit Union, shared how his team is leveraging unified data, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and marketing insights to deliver tailored experiences that support members through major milestones—from buying a first home to caring for aging parents. Sara Blake, Digital Product Manager at Landmark Credit Union, emphasized that today’s members and customers expect digital interactions that are instant, mobile, and feel like an extension of the branch—anytime, anywhere.
As digital banking becomes the primary touchpoint for engagement, financial institutions must prepare for the $16 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer already in motion. Eighty percent of heirs plan to switch institutions after receiving an inheritance—making it imperative that banks and credit unions begin fostering relationships now. Brandon Horne from Greenlight reinforced the power of micro-moment engagement and highlighted how financial institutions can implement youth banking solutions that gamify financial literacy – instilling positive financial behaviors at a young age.
Spotlighting Alkami’s latest acquisition of MANTL, Adam Kingsmore of MANTL discussed the future of account opening—and why omnichannel matters now more than ever. MANTL’s omnichannel approach solves the fragmented experience of traditional multichannel systems by offering a seamless, synchronized flow—whether an account is opened online, in-branch, via call center, or with a relationship manager. This “one front door” strategy streamlines deposit origination and ensures a consistent, user-friendly experience across every touchpoint for consumers and businesses.
MANTL’s decisioning engine supports adaptive due diligence, fraud detection, and Know Your Customer (KYC) with a broad ecosystem of data partners. Their platform also supports a full range of account types—from personal to fiduciary, business to trust—and integrates tightly with Alkami’s digital banking platform for real-time data syncing and smooth enrollment flows.
🔑 Omnichannel account opening isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential to compete, convert, and grow. By leveraging the power of Alkami’s Digital Sales & Service Platform, financial institutions can unify digital and in-person channels, accelerate onboarding, and meet evolving expectations for speed, convenience, and personalization.
This breakout session brought together a dynamic panel of digital banking leaders, including Lesly Fruge from Alkami, Joe York from Walden Mutual Bank, Kate Purdy from Signal Financial Federal Credit Union, Lizette Nigro from Liberty Bank and Chris Fraenza from SavvyMoney. Together, they unpacked how financial institutions can leverage their digital banking solutions to drive both acquisition and cross-sell efforts—all while delivering the frictionless, intuitive experiences account holders expect.
Joe spoke about using targeted ads and Alkami’s digital account opening solution to connect with consumers and convert them quickly. Kate explained how her team uses transaction and credit data to deliver personalized offers—like promoting credit cards to home improvement spenders or encouraging more debit card swipes to waive fees. Chris from SavvyMoney shared how instant access to credit scores and pre-qualified offers within digital banking can increase engagement and build loyalty. While Lizette rounded out the discussion with her bank’s strategy of empowering millennial and Generation Z account holders with credit score solutions. She expanded on this thread by exploring how consumer expectations are shaping experiences for businesses and have been pivotal in her institution’s strategy for accelerating product adoption among business customers. The panel emphasized that personalization, supported by strong data and technology, is what turns digital banking into a growth engine. It’s not just about having the right tools—it’s about using them to create seamless, relevant experiences across the entire user journey.
In this breakout session, panelists tackled the growing complexity in the payments space and shared strategies to create a more seamless user experience. David Hanna, Senior Solution Consultant at Alkami, kicked things off by outlining key themes—challenges, innovations, and risk—across both payments and cards. Jacki Owens, Product Manager at Alkami, shared how the team is simplifying money movement with a unified payments hub. Jared Barr, Chief Experience Officer at Grow Financial, highlighted user confusion with legacy payment flows and the renewed pressure to support Zelle. Jessica Pinkston from Cornerstone Advisors rounded out the conversation with a broader industry lens, emphasizing the shift toward intuitive, icon-based design and why simplifying payments is now both a consumer expectation and a competitive must.
In this breakout session, Jason Chilcoat, Senior Product Manager at Alkami, led a lively conversation on how financial institutions can tap into digital banking data to make smarter decisions and streamline operations. Andrea Stevenson, Director of Digital Banking at Elevations Credit Union, shared how data helped her team align marketing efforts with the actual demographics they were trying to reach—boosting engagement and campaign performance. She also discussed how tracking key metrics helps uncover trends and solve issues, like increased bill pay activity and low adoption of alert tools. Jordan Lehrman, CTO at iQ Credit Union, emphasized the power of building a unified, system-agnostic data model to help teams collaborate and act quickly. He also highlighted how pairing call center analytics with digital behavior data can reveal friction points—and ultimately improve the user experience.
This panel session, moderated by Chris Miller from Cornerstone Advisors, was packed with real-world insights on how financial institutions are stepping up their game to meet customers and members where they are, whether that’s from the comfort of their homes or in a branch. Heather Bianchi from Unitus Community Credit Union and John Todd from SECU Maryland brought fresh perspectives on how financial institutions can master the art of blending the best of both worlds: physical branches and digital banking solutions. Heather shared how Unitus’ virtual branch, complete with live chat, video, and virtual assistants, has been a game-changer, while John showed how SECU Maryland’s Virtual Financial Center brings that in-branch feel right to your screen, with live video and personalized consultations. The conversation explored how physical branches are evolving to meet the needs of today’s digital-first account holders with tech-friendly service experiences spaces. Both speakers emphasized the critical role of artificial intelligence (AI) and data in enhancing engagement, from improving security to offering tailored financial tools.
The biggest takeaway? Stop thinking of digital and physical as separate entities and start creating cohesive banking experiences that feel just as intimate and personalized as walking into a branch. It’s not about adding more channels—it’s about weaving them together into an experience that truly reflects your institution’s values and puts the account holder at the center.
Chrystal Rieger and Mike Shaughnessy from Alkami’s client sales team led an insightful discussion with financial institution leaders, Kelly Chesser from Radiant Credit Union and Nathan Ashworth from AMOCO Federal Credit Union. Together, they tackled one of the most critical components of digital transformation: strategic planning. The conversation focused on how financial institutions can advance their digital goals faster and more effectively by building an internal muscle for goal setting and milestone planning, and extending that strategy transparently across external technology partnerships.
Mike opened by reframing strategic planning as more than a once-a-year activity—it’s a unifier, decision-making framework, and execution guide for an entire organization to get behind. He shared a key insight: even the best vision can fail without a clear, actionable plan that engages every level of the organization. The team emphasized the need for functional plans that connect strategic objectives to tangible, department-level initiatives. Kelly and Nate shared how Radiant and AMOCO approached their journeys in different ways but both found value in simplifying planning, aligning priorities across teams, and partnering intentionally. Kelly highlighted Radiant’s measurable success with improving data analytics, driving product growth, and expanding market presence, while Nate noted increased operational clarity and execution support.
⭐️ By involving partners early and sharing roadmap visibility, institutions unlock faster execution, stronger vendor support, and greater internal alignment. Whether a financial institution is just forming its strategy muscle or refining a mature plan, the message was clear: strategy shared is strategy accelerated.
Each year, the Digital Banking Performance Metrics Research Study and Report, conducted by Cornerstone Advisors and commissioned by Alkami, helps banks and credit unions assess the state of digital banking solutions, compare themselves to market performance metrics, and make more informed strategic decisions.
Joining Alkami Co:lab for the fourth year, Ron Shevlin, the chief research officer at Cornerstone Advisors, uncovered insights and key findings from the 2025 Digital Banking Performance Metrics research report. Session attendees walked away with a sneak preview of the key benchmarking digital investment and operational metrics, as well as current adoption and planned use of emerging digital technologies.
User experience (UX) is treated as a discipline here at Alkami. What can take a best-in-class UX to the next level? Data. Hearing from Ty Griffin, Senior Director of UX/UI and Mark Leher, Director of Product Management, from Alkami’s Product team was nothing short of inspirational. The passion they exude for each of their respective disciplines is contagious. Together, they painted a picture of where UX is heading. To quote Ty, “the most engaging user experience is the one about the user.” True personalization is when the experience is so tailored to an individual’s unique needs, it understands their preferences and behaviors and anticipates the next best future action for the user. Mark compared the vision of personalized banking to be an experience that’s on par with your United Airlines banking app – seamlessly reflecting gate changes and arrival times, reminding users to line up when they call each boarding group, and offering every detail to make travel experiences effortless.
🔑 Rather than trying to retain the rate-sensitive account holder, win over their brand loyalty by tapping into their data and delivering an unparalleled digital banking experience made only for them.
Taylor Adkins, VP of Product Management at Alkami, shared the company’s bold vision for revolutionizing digital banking through hyper-personalization. He discussed how Alkami plans to harness data to deliver one-of-a-kind, tailored experiences that will completely transform the way financial institutions engage with their customers and members. In today’s competitive environment, standing out means offering users not just a great digital experience, but one that feels uniquely theirs – turning everyday digital banking interactions into real, value-driving moments. Imagine a parent logging into their app and being greeted with a personalized recommendation to enroll their child in Greenlight’s family banking feature. Or picture a small business owner being proactively warned about a future cash flow shortfall and then offered a working capital loan to bridge the gap. This is dynamic personalization in action. By tapping into powerful data-driven insights, Alkami is enabling financial institutions to deliver hyper-targeted product offers and solutions that increase deposits, boost engagement, and build stronger relationships.
💡 To truly win the battle for loyalty and growth, financial institutions must invest in dynamic personalization—where every touchpoint is powered by deep account holder data, ensuring every interaction is as relevant and impactful as possible.
It’s no secret that market research is a passion of Alkami’s. Over the last year, we released two digital maturity reports in partnership with Jim Marous, Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Banking Report and content creator and banking industry influencer from The Financial Brand and Banking Transformed Podcast.
This roundtable kicked off with Jim Marous providing a high-level overview of the retail and business findings and was followed by insightful conversations between financial institution leaders. Rather than simply sharing best practices and strategies for success, financial institutions had the opportunity to benchmark their institution against market data with Alkami’s digital maturity assessments. Want to take the assessment for yourself?
Measure your digital maturity for retail banking >>
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Carrying on the excitement of the breakout session content, financial institution leaders gathered to discuss strategies for driving engagement within their institutions’ digital banking solutions. This open format gave opportunities to attendees from every level to network, connect with peers, and learn from their experiences. Topics ranged from personalized banking experiences via the use of packages to successful marketing campaigns and popular features among different generations of digital banking users.
With so many different sessions and a couple of roundtable events, there seemed to be something for every niche. Interested in learning more about Alkami?
