Regional Banks Accelerate Modernization Through FinTech

For large, global financial institutions (FIs), modernizing is no easy feat.

Bogged down by legacy infrastructure, big banks often find that FinTech collaboration wins in the “build-versus-buy” debate as a more agile way to digitize and bring competitive products to market.

This week’s examination of the latest in bank-FinTech collaboration, however, finds regional banks are quickly embracing the FinTech partnership model, too, with a focus on Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, linking small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to Zelle, or simply upgrading their internal systems to become more agile, future-proofed institutions.

Pacific Western Bank Drives FinTech Collaboration

Pacific Western Bank has chosen Treasury Prime as its FinTech partner to drive even more FinTech partnerships. The bank said that it is working with Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) firm Treasury Prime to facilitate application programming interface (API) integration with its own banking systems and will launch a digital platform for other third-party FinTechs that are looking to embed Pacific Western Bank functionality within their own products and services. Pacific Western Bank Chief Operating Officer Mark Yung said the collaboration will aid the bank on its own “digital innovation journey.”

Bank Of The West Brings Zelle To SMBs Via Fiserv

Bank of the West’s latest FinTech tie-up is focusing on its SMB end-users with the launch of Zelle services for SMBs. The BNP Paribas subsidiary said it will launch Zelle for SMBs with Turnkey Service for Zelle: Small Business, provided by Fiserv, allowing SMB users to send and receive funds via the mobile payment solution. Bank of the West said working with Fiserv accelerated time-to-market to more quickly meet growing demand for Zelle among its SMB customers.

State Bank Of India Bolsters Trade Finance With Surecomp

The State Bank of India is bolstering its trade finance operations in the U.S. through a new partnership with Surecomp. Surecomp is integrating its cross-border trade finance technology within State Bank of India (California), which will adopt the FinTech’s DOKA-NG tool to automate trade finance processing in the back office. “We see Surecomp as a long-term technology partner, and we are at the start of a transformational journey,” said SBIC Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jay Patel in a statement.

First Horizon Bank Modernizes With Finxact

To facilitate its migration to the cloud, First Horizon Bank has tapped Finxact, the companies revealed in a press release. The Core-as-a-Service (CaaS) provider will integrate its core banking technology within the Tennessee-based regional bank, with First Horizon pointing to growing competitive forces within the regional banking arena. The bank is using Finxact to strengthen its VirtualBank brand, with the FI’s Chief Operating Officer Anthony Restel noting that the collaboration is “an important step” in its overall modernization efforts.

Berkshire Bank Links With Cirrus On PPP

Berkshire Bank has announced it is working with Cirrus to strengthen its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan operations. The companies said in a press release that Cirrus will integrate its secure document collection and management software, enabling the bank to handle a large volume of Small Business Administration (SBA) loan request documentation. Because the technology is based in the cloud, said Berkshire Bank, Cirrus’s tools allow for a more efficient and streamlined loan processing workflow. In a statement, Cirrus CEO and Founder David Brooks said the tie-up allows the bank to operate remotely while scaling quickly to address a surge in PPP loan demand.