Stop me if you’ve heard this one…

…an IT salesman walks into a bank.

Now, if such a thought sends you running for the nearest exit, you might pause and consider that a number of institutions — both big and small — are implementing new technology strategies to lower costs for retaining clients, improve operating efficiencies and differentiate their brands and customer offerings.

That said, I know for many executives, talking tech can be a foreign, four-letter, budget-busting concept. So let me help you based on personal experience and professional interests.

I’ll admit that my days of devouring espn.com for sports updates on my Boston teams has given way to similar searches for insights on the financial industry. And so as we continue to invest in Bank Director’s future, I’m taking a long, hard look at the technology companies that support the community. Splitting time between California and the east coast last week, I found myself reading a number of white papers, reports and blogs about the risks — and potential rewards — of new technologies in our community: here are two that I thought bank executives shouldn’t overlook. One comes from our friends at American Banker (FinTech100); the other, from global IT consultant Accenture (vis-a-vis their financial services publication).

As someone who has evaluated a number of web-based tools designed to better predict behavior, I’m bullish on the adoption of new technologies to maximize a customer’s experience. If you’re interested to see who’s who in the technology industry as it applies to financial institutions, the FinTech 100 list is a good place to start. So too will a new offering coming from Bank Director later this month — BankBusiness. Why the drive to identify potential vendors? Simple: Accenture opines that the financial crisis and subsequent economic reforms have made profitable but risky sub-prime segments less attractive to many institutions, [so] the future of banks rests increasingly on sustainable long-term relationships with high-quality customers. Intuitive? Perhaps. But the consultancy identified the following emerging customer behaviors that should make all of us sit up and take notice:

According to the firm’s research, your customers “have gone through several major changes in recent years, from diminished loyalty to—and trust in financial institutions—to heightened expectations for seamless multichannel customer service and simple, transparent products… With loyalty to banks at all-time lows, the good news is that the time is right for those with superior customer experience and cost-to-serve management to win new business.”

So what emerging technologies might catapult your bank’s business? In isolation, I’d be hard pressed to answer. As part of an institution’s systematic, data-driven approach? The foundation for future posts…