Banking is not just a matter of money, it’s also about information. Chief Information Officers have a greater responsibility to drive change and innovation within the banking sector than ever before, and TowneBank’s Denys Diaz says it’s a privilege to serve in such a role.
How do you put a price on great customer service? It’s a question that’s plagued financial institutions for centuries. Ultimately, banking is banking, so why a customer chooses to bank where they do is largely driven by their personal experience. Over the years, banks have done their best to stand out or appeal to new or undecided customers in a variety of ways.
Take TowneBank, for instance. Established in 1999, a time when customers had ample choices when it came to choosing a bank, its founders chose to build their idea around delivering the ultimate in service.
“Sometimes, innovation comes from sources you don’t expect, but it always comes from a mindset to challenge the status quo.”As the TowneBank concept evolved, it became increasingly centered on the local community. From recruiting the best to creating a family atmosphere and making sure its bankers truly get to know its members, it has made a point of involving the community in every level of the business.
In fact, community involvement and charitable contributions are a key priority for TowneBank every day. TowneBank Chief Information Officer (CIO) Denys Diaz believes it’s an invaluable approach.
“Banking with us is all about the experience and the technology capabilities we have are geared towards augmenting the experience in a positive manner,” he tells The CEO Magazine.
“Whether it’s a visit from your banker, a call to our member service center or a trip to your local branch, delivering those experiences in the best possible way is what makes our members come back.”
Expanding the Possible
According to Diaz, how TowneBank is able to do these things so well is a matter of innovation.
“Sometimes, innovation comes from sources you don’t expect, but it always comes from a mindset to challenge the status quo,” he explains.
“We can have a banker visit a customer. But if that banker brings their laptop, they can offer a service to the customer right there because of the technology we put in place to allow that sort of experience to happen.
“And if we get our bankers to think and communicate any challenges or ideas, and if the right attitude is there, that leads to even better results. To achieve innovation and progress, you have to be open and ready for anything.”
A veteran of the financial technology sector with over 25 years of experience, Diaz has developed technological breakthroughs for Lloyds, Hillcrest and Lone Star, among others. The day he stops innovating, he says, is the day he needs to retire.
“Thinking outside the box is what it’s all about,” he reveals. “In my humble opinion, getting the bank, the employees, my team, everybody to think outside of the box is what moves the needle. It’s what drives me.”
TowneBank has allowed Diaz the leeway to think and lead in this manner for the entire company.
“They’ve allowed me the freedom of thought, the freedom of innovation,” he says.
“I’m blessed with a great team and great business partners and together we’ve organized technological improvements strategically for be betterment of the member experience.
“If you go back a few years, technology is what CIOs did, even though the word ‘technology’ is not really in the title. Right now, the job is truly turning into managing ‘information’. We are storing it, moving it, securing it and transacting it. When we do a wire transfer, we’re sending information, not cash.
“There are many hardware and software components involved in that transaction. My job, simplistically speaking, is to make sure that transaction is coherent all the way through.”
He points out that the CIO is an extremely important role in any company.
“It’s not just about whether your laptop turns on or not. You’re a steward for the company at the end of the day,” he insists.
Cloud-based Innovation
TowneBank has, in the name of innovation, partnered with IT and software companies such as Talkdesk. The cloud-based contact center software platform is facilitating a more accommodating style of member service.
“We don’t achieve success alone,” Diaz says. “We treat vendors as partners, but my expectation is that they’re thinking ahead of me because that’s what they should do. Setting those expectations is extremely important with people you collaborate with.”
“You have to be prepared for things you don’t expect.”
The advent of AI will have an immeasurable impact in this pursuit.
“I believe there’s nothing AI can’t fix or help with. When I joined TowneBank, I promised management I would relentlessly pursue progress and that mission is never done,” he says.
Diaz’s time at the company has been punctuated by miracles of innovation.
“You have to be prepared for things you don’t expect,” he says. “It’s my job to make sure the organization survives and, in fact, thrives during tumultuous events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which we did and did great. I don’t accept impossible.”
“The real challenge has always been the ability to think outside of the box.”CIOs spend a significant portion of their time thinking about the future. As that future rolls on, Diaz believes it can be boiled down to four elements.
“A prominent innovator once said he’s seen two revolutionary things in his life: the graphical user interface and AI. He thinks those two things have fundamentally shifted how technology is done. I’d add the iPhone and the cloud to that list of game-changers,” he reflects.
“The future is taking all four of those elements and doing something fundamentally different. It’s as if we’re going from sailing to motorized ships. You might be the captain, but it’s a new boat and it’ll take time to figure out how to manage a boat that way. And everyone in the boat needs to be challenged and trained to think about a propelled experience versus a wind experience.”
Getting people to think in a different way, Diaz adds, is the greatest challenge for many years to come.
“It used to be that technology was hard or difficult or impossible,” he says. “But the real challenge has always been the ability to think outside of the box.”
BACK TO NEWS