Video: Mike Duncan, BankJoy, on taking digital banking to the next level and building solutions that scale

Steven Ramirez:
Hi, I’m Steven Ramirez, the CEO of Beyond the Arc, working in fintech and marketing strategy. Today, I could not be more excited—I’ve got Mike Duncan from BankJoy. Mike, thank you for joining me.

Mike Duncan:
Thank you for having me.

Steven:
There’s a lot happening here at Finovate in New York. One of the most exciting things is what we’re seeing in digital banking. In some ways, it might feel like digital banking has been around forever—and for some banks, it has—but there’s definitely a modern spin on where digital banking apps should be. So where should they be? What’s the difference between a modern digital app and one from 20 years ago?

Mike:
I’d say the biggest direction we’re headed in with digital banking right now is in how much value we can offer to the end user. Historically, smaller banks and credit unions have tried to stitch together complete solutions by pulling in a dozen different vendors. The challenge with that is as one part of the solution gets modernized, others remain legacy and outdated. It becomes hard to evolve into something truly valuable for the user.

Where we are now is exciting—software development has never been easier, and we can build powerful tools that help people achieve meaningful outcomes, like understanding their finances better and improving personal financial wellness. We can take digital banking beyond simple transaction lists and balance displays to something that transforms lives.

Steven:
At my firm, Beyond the Arc, we’ve worked with some of the top five banks. They have billions of dollars to develop mobile and digital banking. No credit union or community bank has that kind of budget. How do they compete with these national or international banks that have such vast resources?

Mike:
That’s always been a challenge. If you look back at the competition between IBM and Microsoft, Microsoft was a little startup, and IBM was a massive company. Yet Microsoft managed to build competitive software and eventually became even bigger than IBM. Why? Because large companies often get bogged down in red tape and bureaucracy, which slows them down.

Smaller competitors—startups—move fast. They’re passion-driven and mission-driven. These qualities allow them to run circles around larger incumbents. We’re seeing this in financial services too. Fintech is evolving much faster than traditional banks, which is why banks now partner with fintechs to bring innovation to market more quickly.

Also, startups are more attractive to top software and product talent. Developers want to work where they can have real impact—on a “rocket ship” that might offer a significant upside. This dynamic makes startups uniquely positioned to build the best solutions in ways big companies can’t easily match.

Steven:
Big companies definitely face challenges with innovation. It’s hard for them to implement new ideas quickly. I think that’s what BankJoy brings—the ability to move fast. Now, I’m a small business owner. On the consumer side, my digital banking experience is great. But as a small business owner, there’s a huge gap. Do you see that? And is there a way to address what small businesses need from digital banking?

Mike:
Yes, there’s a big gap—and it exists across institutions, regardless of size. Larger institutions often use business banking solutions that are very complex and feature-rich, because businesses have complex needs. But those solutions are hard to modernize and maintain. Plus, the user interface often isn’t intuitive—it was probably built when UX and design were afterthoughts.

Smaller institutions face a different problem. They’re often not lucrative enough for providers to build tailored solutions at scale. These vendors can’t profitably serve smaller financial institutions (FIs), especially those with assets under $100 million—or even slightly above that—so those institutions often don’t get competitive solutions.

To be truly competitive, small FIs need scalable partners who can deliver advanced solutions suitable for both small and large clients. These partners must be built for scale and able to serve a broad spectrum of institutions, all while offering business banking features that meet the needs of modern small businesses.

Steven:
Mike, one last question. I know BankJoy has a lot going on. What are some of the things coming down the pike that you’re most excited about? What’s high on your radar?

Mike:
We’ve worked really hard over the past few years to build a full end-to-end solution for banks and credit unions. That includes mobile banking, online banking, account opening, loan applications, and conversational AI. Now that the foundation is laid, I’m most excited about what we’re building on top of that.

On the retail side, we’re focused on helping people become financially fit—understanding their money better and improving their financial wellness. We believe that through community banks and credit unions, we can uplift entire communities by educating and engaging individuals with financial literacy tools.

From there, we can bring similar tools to businesses, helping them thrive and grow. There’s a strong focus on local impact—what we can do to provide real value in the communities we serve.

Steven:
Excellent. Mike, thank you very much. This conversation could go on for a long time—you’ve raised some great points. I know you’ll be demoing here at Finovate, so I look forward to your presentation.

Mike:
Thank you so much for having me here.

Steven:
And thank you all for joining us at Finovate 2022.