At the FNBB Summer Conference last week, I delivered a presentation that attempted to celebrate the 40th anniversary of FNBB with a look ahead to the next 40 years. With a bit of tongue in cheek approach, I opined that banking in 2064 would look very different (Really? You think?). I suggested that bank branches wouldn’t get smaller, but rather bigger, much bigger and decided that it might look more like a Buc-ees: the mega store popping up all across our southern interstates. Think Bank-ees. I also opined that the form factor of the phone we hold in our hand would be replaced with other connected form factors, think a screen embedded in a contact lens. Our financial information will be omni-present, available to us at any time and any place where we might need financial info, perhaps automatically interspersing needed information like Alexa or Siri. Also, lending would trend more to embedded finance, where the provision of credit is integrated into purchases, not just when buying a car, but buying a refrigerator, funding education or installing a swimming pool. As silly as trying to predict what 40 years in the future might entail, it is a fun thought exercise. What is more relevant is what will be strategic to your institution in the next 8 to 12 years. If you could predict what would change for you and your customers, you could act on remediating risks or accelerating services that aligned with those changes. In particular, I am most interested in the demographic shifts from an aging baby boomer generation to the Zoomers, young millennials and Gen Zs. These customers will have very different demands for financial services, and it is incumbent for community bankers to seek them out and convince them that having a bank account or more importantly, a relationship with a banker is strategically important. Remember, these Zoomers are likely to think they can manage their financial world with just a Venmo account. However, what would specifically attract them to your institution? For the presentation, I utilized a commercially available tool to craft a financial advisor that would be available interactively by a younger customer. I enabled my advisor, who I named Buckley, live on stage at the conference and began asking financial questions. Questions like, “I’m 17, why should I open a deposit account at a bank?” and “Why shouldn’t I just use Venmo for financial transactions?” and “Explain the concept of savings to a kindergartner.” For each question my Buckley avatar would think for a moment and then give a response. The most fun was when I repeated a request my 14-year-old grandson asked Buckley when I was letting him interact directly. He asked, “Explain Investing as if you were Snoop Dogg. Buckley’s response was, “Investing yo. It’s like planting seeds for the future, you know what I’m sayin’? You put money in different places, let it grow and then you can enjoy the fruits of your labor later on. It’s all about long-term thinking and building that financial empire, ya dig?” The point was to illustrate that using tools available to us, such as Generative AI, would not be shunned as inherently bad or suspicious but rather examined and utilized in a manner that makes sense for the organization. To use an analogy, I want our youth to learn how to calculate math but once they have learned it, they need a calculator so that they are not wasting time when doing complex math. Similarly, the use of Large Language Model AI such as ChatGPT is not inherently dangerous. Rather than shut off all access to Open AI and other similar systems, you should embrace exploration of the tool and determine how and where it can be effectively used in your organization. At a minimum, if your goal is to be able to attract and retain young millennials and Gen Z customers, then some type of tool such as Buckley is likely what is needed. It specifically addresses the need to provide financial wisdom for the Zoomers who are desperate for the type of interactive financial advice that a tool like Buckley can provide. If you were in the crowd at Summer Conference and saw my presentation, I value your comments on Buckley and whether you believe a tool like that is likely to be needed for you to be successful with the younger customers you seek to add. If you were not at Sandestin and would like to get a real-time demo of Buckley to experience it for yourself, contact me at dpeterson@bankers-bank.com. We’ll set up a time for me to show you how Buckley is focused nearly exclusively on providing financial advice. I can also show you how Buckley has been saddled with guardrails that prohibit it from some of the negative aspects of Generative AI. For example, I asked Buckley to write a SQL script that I could inject into my online banking application, something that ChatGPT easily performs. However, based on the restrictions I placed on Buckley, he politely refused my request. FNBB is researching multiple areas in which AI can be harnessed for good within a community bank. Stay tuned for more information on AI. If you are wrestling with how your institution can safely explore Generative AI and need to talk through what that might look like, feel free to contact me at the above email address or call me at 225-247-6113. The views expressed in this blog are for informational purposes. All information shared should be independently evaluated as to its applicability or efficacy. FNBB does not endorse, recommend or promote any specific service or company that may be named or implied in any blog post.