Independent Banker - May 2023 - 60

CONNECTIONS TRAILBLAZER
platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook
to raise awareness, and Rotondo plans
to launch a blog to further discussion
and understanding.
To start, Monesty ran brand
awareness campaigns across six
southeastern states, including
targeted ads showing rates, products
and services. The bank is learning
what resonates with consumers before
expanding its efforts nationwide.
" We're not a multibillion-dollar
bank, " Rotondo says. " Reaching
$50 million of Monesty deposits
three years from now would be a
resounding success. "
Tech for a digital-only branch
Because American Commerce Bank
holds an OCC charter, any qualified
domestic prospect who clicks on a
Monesty ad can open an account.
However, with such a limited branch
network, account management
needed to be a fully digital experience.
Rotondo and Alred were part of the
team that vetted potential vendors
and fintech partners. " Everybody
wants you to believe that they have
what you need and can do what
you want, " Rotondo says about the
selection process. " And the demo is
always slick; it looks great. But then
you start peeling the onion. Have
" We learned that there aren't
any banks our size that
have implemented a fully
automated service. "
-ANGELIA ALRED, AMERICAN COMMERCE BANK
you mapped this to a 20/20 core?
Can we talk to banks in production
with this? " Rotondo built a scoring
model to help the team make
selection decisions.
At Jack Henry's recommendation,
Monesty eventually selected
MeridianLink's Opening Act module
for digital account opening. In about
five minutes, a customer can open an
account, complete a risk assessment,
electronically sign documents and
fund an account.
Security is everything
To emphasize its commitment to
security, Monesty opted for a .BANK
domain. Only verified financial
institutions can use .BANK, which
Rotondo says should enhance
customer confidence.
In addition, Monesty
partnered with Plaid for account
verification and EverSafe for
transaction monitoring.
Even customers who are
comfortable with a near-total digital
banking experience may occasionally
want face-to-face support. For
that, the Monesty website offers a
widget, powered by Eltropy/POPio,
that enables users to communicate
securely via voice, chat or video.
Maintaining a community
bank mindset
QUICK STATS
43.5%
of U.S. consumers use mobile
banking as their primary choice
of account access, as of 2021
Source: FDIC
60 // ICBA Independent Banker // May 2023
61%
of consumers use digital
banking services weekly
Source: PwC
The Monesty team wants to build
relationships with customers in a
way that stays true to community
banking-despite being a digital
service. " People still want to do
business with people, even if they
want to self-serve, " Rotondo says.
For her part, Alred is hopeful that
the digital account opening channels
will remain stable and resilient. " We
dedicated 18 months to launching
the Monesty project, " she says.
" We're confident that we have
something special and unique, but
now we need to prove it. " 
Anna Burgess Yang is a writer
in Illinois.
Independent Banker - May 2023

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