Building Smarter Banks with Platform, People, and Process

Banks aren’t short on data. They’re short on time — and sometimes, short on conviction.

The challenge today isn’t how much information you have. It’s how fast you can turn it into a smarter decision. The market doesn’t wait 30 days for a board packet to hit your conference room. Customers don’t wait for your team to gather and review quarterly insights. And competition? It’s no longer just the familiar faces down the street; it’s nimble, digital-first players who can outpace traditional institutions without breaking a sweat.

To stay ahead, banks must rethink how they work. It’s not about doing more things (most bankers either know from experience or know an institution that launched a product their customers don’t actually want). It’s about doing things smarter.

“Data is everything. It’s the basis for any and every strategic decision we make.” Trish Ferrick, President at FVCbank, couldn’t have said it better at our recent Executive Data & Innovation Summit. For her team, data isn’t an afterthought or a quarterly fire drill — it’s how they run the bank every single day.

Even more than that, what I think Trish is showing is that it truly is possible for community banks to harness their data to drive growth.

The institutions pulling ahead today aren’t doing more; they’re doing better by building on three essential pillars: Platform, People, and Process. These aren’t just buzzwords. They’re the blueprint for staying competitive in a market where clarity, agility, and execution are everything.

 

Platform: Visibility is the New Infrastructure

Every bank I’ve spoken to over the past year has said some version of this: “We have all the data, we just can’t get to it.”

And here’s the hard truth: You can’t manage what you can’t see. Most financial institutions are still flying half-blind, stuck navigating spreadsheets, siloed systems, and outdated reports. In fact, only 17% say their data is structured, scalable, and available in real time.

One of our clients leveraged KlariVis to make their data visible daily across lending, deposit behaviors, officer performance, and customer engagement metrics. That visibility powered a 50 basis point lift in commercial loan yield without them needing to chase volume. Not because they reinvented their products or revamped underwriting policies, but because their leadership could coach in the moment, spot gaps before they widened, and act with the speed their market demanded.

Real-time data isn’t just a technology investment. It’s the cost of staying relevant and the foundation upon which decisions are made.

 

People: The Real Power Behind Change

Abby Wendel, President & CEO of Landmark National Bank out of Manhattan, KS, also spoke at our Executive Data & Innovation Summit: “People still think if you put a technology tool in their hands that it will solve all of their issues.”

She’s spot on: It won’t.

No dashboard, no matter how sophisticated, will drive results if the people looking at it aren’t aligned, trained, and empowered to act on what they see.

Culture matters. According to Cornerstone’s latest Data IQ report, only 9% of low-performing banks say they foster a data-driven culture. Among high performers? It’s 53%. That’s not just a stat. It’s the dividing line between growth and stagnation.

We see this cultural shift in action when banks equip their teams with daily visibility. Loan officers no longer view performance as a quarterly scoreboard; they see it unfold every day, tied directly to the choices they make with customers. Branch managers can spot deposit runoff before it becomes a trend. Marketing teams can sharpen targeting based on real-time engagement, not outdated assumptions. Across the institution, accountability becomes second nature. Proactive decision-making replaces reactive scrambles. Instead of chasing goals at quarter-end, teams begin playing offense, anticipating challenges, and owning their success.

Leadership must set the tone — modeling transparency, rewarding data-driven actions, and reinforcing that numbers aren’t just retrospective reports. They are a playbook for future success.

 

Process: Faster Feedback Loops Drive Better Decisions

It’s not about who has the biggest data warehouse. It’s about who can respond the fastest.

Process doesn’t mean three-ring binders or policies no one reads. It’s about rhythm — the daily loop of awareness, action, and adjustment. The most effective banks don’t wait for quarter-end. They meet on Monday morning with answers, not questions. Instead of “How are we doing?” the conversation shifts to “Here’s what we’re changing based on what we saw Friday.”

That shift only happens when everyone is working off the same page. Literally. Data becomes the equalizer. “KlariVis became our communication tool — we’re all looking at the same thing,” said Ferrick from FVCbank. “If someone asks for a report, we show them where to find it and teach them to do it themselves.” What used to be siloed and reactive is now shared and fast. Teams aren’t cleaning up problems — they’re catching them early and reallocating resources before things go sideways.

You don’t need to blow up your tech stack. But you do need to rethink how fast your institution can think, decide, and move. Because in banking, the advantage goes to the bank with the shortest distance between data and action.

 

Focus and Discipline Beats Shiny Objects Every Time

When I think about the banks pulling ahead today, they aren’t chasing every shiny object. They’re focused.

• They’ve consolidated visibility into a single source of truth.
• They’ve built a foundation of trust in their data.
• They’ve empowered their teams to act without hesitation.
• They’ve established clear rhythms to monitor, coach, and adjust course.

And they’ve done it by building on platform, people, and process intentionally, not reactively. Those shiny objects might appease your curiosity, but they seldom have a bottom-line impact if your data foundation isn’t solid.

Most community banks already have the raw material (the data, the people, and the ambition)…what they need now is structure, rhythm, and alignment.

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Note:

The insights shared here were inspired in part by the important work many of our bank clients are accomplishing, as well as the research Cornerstone Advisors is publishing that pushes the banking industry forward. Their recent Data IQ report is well worth the read for anyone thinking seriously about their institution’s future. If you haven’t reviewed it yet, I encourage you to take a look. The conversation around data isn’t just about technology — it’s about leadership, culture, and creating the conditions for real performance.