Most of Middletown-based Liberty Bank’s roughly 150,000 customers have been logged into a new online banking system that replaced a decades-old platform a little more than a month ago.
The Feb. 28 conversion to a system provided by Plano, Texas-based Alkami Technology Inc. was a massive undertaking. With 8 inches of snow expected on the launch date, Liberty put 45 staff members up in the Inn at Middletown and arranged shuttles to make sure staff could be available to help customers.
All and all, the transition has been smooth, said David Mitchell, an executive vice president and chief digital officer with Liberty. Even with months of messaging, the bank expected around 30,000 calls from customers with questions about the transition. But only 5,000 were received, Mitchell noted.
The transition from a digital banking platform dating back to the 1980s has been more than a year in the making and cost “multiple millions,” according to Mitchell. It has resulted in a far more nimble system, able to quickly add new features to compete with digital offerings from financial technology companies and other emerging competitors, Mitchell said.
“We are not competing with Webster or M&T anymore,” Mitchell said. “It’s Google and Apple.”
The addition of new digital features would take a year under the old system, as Mitchell would have to wait for a yearly change in the base code. The Alkami system allows for plug-ins, meaning new services can be added in a 45-day window, Mitchell said.
“It really sets us up to compete with traditional banks or fintechs or non-industry banking,” Mitchell said.
Alkami Technology, Inc. describes itself as a “leading cloud-based digital banking solutions provider for financial institutions” in the U.S., one that enables clients to “adapt quickly and build thriving digital communities.”
Traditional banks have the advantage of being trusted providers of financial services backed by the FDIC, Mitchell said. But they have not been as adaptable as the emerging competitors. The new system gives Liberty the best of both worlds, Mitchell said.
The new system will make for an easier and smoother customer experience, with built-in artificial intelligence that will tailor banking experience to customers, akin to the way Netflix offers viewing suggestions based on past customer viewing patterns, Mitchell said. The system will also be able to predict customer behavior and offer advice and warnings, he said.
If a customer is seen at risk of overdrawing a checking account with a mortgage payment, for instance, the system could predict that based on past payment history and offer a warning and suggest funds be transferred into the account.
“No human has to tell them that,” Mitchell said. “That is done through artificial intelligence built into the new platform.”
