How AuburnBank is connecting account opening, digital banking, and marketing engagement while preserving its local service model.

AuburnBank has served its community since 1907, but long-standing relationships do not change customers’ heightened expectations. People still want the speed, simplicity, and intuitive experiences they encounter every day across the digital applications (apps) they use. For AuburnBank, meeting that standard meant rethinking its digital banking solutions while preserving the local service that makes the bank different from its national bank competitors.

In a recent One Vision podcast hosted by Theo Lau, AuburnBank leaders Jerry Siegel, senior vice president and chief technology officer, and Joanna Watts, vice president of information technology and project management, joined Nick Weston, senior manager of product management at Alkami, to discuss the bank’s long-term vision and strategy, as well as how they navigated their digital banking evaluation and implementation journey.

Start with the customer journey

Siegel explained that AuburnBank’s refresh began by asking themselves, “How can we deliver modern digital capabilities without losing personal relationships?” The answer was to create a connected journey across account opening, onboarding, everyday banking, and future engagement.

That perspective shaped AuburnBank’s work with MANTL for account opening and Alkami for online banking. When those experiences are connected, they share context across the journey and can more easily move customers from application to activation. The financial institution can guide them toward relevant next steps, such as funding an account, switching direct deposit, or activating a card, instead of asking them to re-key their information or start over at every stage. Siegel said the goal was to serve the customer with modern functionality, but in the relationship-first way they’re used to getting from a local bank.

Replace handoffs with connected workflows

Modernization also means making work easier for employees. Siegel described processes that once required employees to update several places to change a single ACH limit. Those manual handoffs created inefficiency and made training more difficult.

A connected platform can reduce the number of steps employees need to remember and give them a clearer way to serve customers. It can also create room for the financial institution to introduce new capabilities over time with fewer technological limitations.

“Too often with our current platform, the discussion I’ve had with the board when they hear about something being rolled out, maybe by one of the larger national banks or regional banks, is can we or can we not do it versus should we or should we not do it,” Siegel said.

Build a foundation for what comes next

AuburnBank’s project includes more than a new online banking experience. The financial institution is also updating its mobile banking app, bill pay, and loan payment capabilities. Its implementation team is using regular meetings, a staging environment, and extensive testing to manage the work.

Watts, who oversees project management and implementation of the bank’s IT projects, emphasized preparation and collaboration throughout the rollout. Training resources, test-bank access, and a focused implementation team are helping AuburnBank prepare employees while keeping the project moving. She said due to the organization of Alkami’s implementation team, they’ve been able to keep their project team smaller and more agile.

Siegel added that it’s been one of the best implementations he’s experienced in his career. He said with all that the team has learned, they’re excited to keep adding functionality to meet their customers’ expectations.

Prioritize outcomes over features

The broader lesson that came from the discussion is that digital modernization should start with the outcomes a financial institution wants to create. Leaders should ask whether their technology can help people move from discovery to account opening, activation, and deeper engagement in a way that’s intuitive and seamless.

By connecting onboarding, engagement, and service, financial institutions can deliver the convenience customers expect while preserving the trust and local knowledge that make their relationships different. That unified foundation gives AuburnBank a clearer path to scale its platform with emerging capabilities as expectations change and needs evolve.

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