Alkami
Strengthening Community Banks through Technology

With more than 10,000 banks and credit unions in the U.S. alone, consumers and small businesses have ample choice when it comes to selecting and engaging with a financial institution. However, the market has been long dominated by the top few megabanks because of their asset size, scale, and technology, which has unleveled the playing field for community and regional financial organizations. Fortunately, smaller banks and credit unions can capitalize on the benefits of digital banking to upscale their business and strengthen their connections with prospective and current customers to rebalance the financial landscape.

The strengthening of regional and community banks in an increasingly technology-driven ecosystem is made possible with the help of strategic digital technology partners like Alkami. A leading provider of cloud-based digital banking solutions, Alkami is empowering banks and credit unions in the U.S. to onboard, engage, and grow their digital banking users and be at the forefront of the industry. Mike Hansen, CEO at Alkami, shares, “The digital age has brought forth the best opportunities for banks and credit unions to successfully grow in the next stage of their development thanks to technology. Alkami prides itself on being a champion of the regional and community banks, providing them with a digital banking platform necessary for achieving exponential growth and fostering more meaningful engagement with customers."

In essence, Alkami is a white label digital banking platform that connects a financial institution’s IT and electronic systems, processes, and people with their consumers and small business customers. The cloud-based solution brings together the products and services offered by banks or credit unions to help deliver a seamless experience for users. Hansen states, “We are the glue that connects new or existing products to their customers through a digital experience for engagement, exploration, and education.”

The Alkami platform is built on a single code base, which is highly customizable with several configuration options, equipping each financial institution with the ability to reach specific digital success goals, extending all the way down to each of their customers or prospective customers.

Banks and credit unions use the platform to build and grow digital strategies that are aligned with their brand. This is accomplished through more than 200 integrations and additional add-on products providing a tailored digital banking experience. Hansen explains, “Even though the Alkami Platform supports a large ecosystem, we are a specialized company and are laser-focused exclusively on providing regional financial institutions with a world-class digital banking solution.” The combination of an innovative team driven by a passion for speed and success in financial services and a strong community of clients is what sets Alkami a notch above other competitors in the market. These unique traits give Alkami the ability to enable regional and community banks to identify and capitalize on new opportunities as well as navigate the intricate challenges in the industry.

One area where Alkami has created immense value for its financial institution customers is around banks that work as lending partners to specific retailers. Customers don’t have a direct relationship with the bank or credit union as the lender, but instead have a relationship with the retailer. However, Alkami’s platform allows these financial institutions to generate and implement engaging campaigns that help grow the bank's relationship with the customer. By leveraging the data collected from loan applications, lending institutions, in partnership with retailers, can introduce other products or services as per customer needs. This opportunity, through Alkami’s technology, allows financial institutions to foster longer-term, broader relationships with customers that would otherwise be kept behind the scenes.

As the company continues to innovate in the realm of digital banking for regional and community financial institutions, new opportunities arise. Growing areas of the Alkami ecosystem surrounding fraud and account opening have laid the groundwork for new initiatives for the future. Digital identification is also an area where partnerships and ongoing innovation can take shape. Each of these areas of future growth and opportunity revolves around the company’s current ecosystem and technology. The Alkami Platform is integrating financial technology to enable greater speed and choice. As the fintech space expands, Alkami sees the potential to make a positive impact on the financial wellness of its clients’ customers.