Next-gen customer service – connecting with FinovateSpring Best of Show winner Penny Finance on attracting, retaining, and serving members of the digital generation



Detailed Summary:



In this Finovate podcast episode, host Greg interviews Crissi Cole, founder and CEO of Penny Finance, a Best of Show winner at FinovateSpring in San Diego. Cole, a former Goldman Sachs financial advisor, created Penny Finance in 2020 to provide personalized financial planning for everyday Americans. After building a community of 20,000 individual users, Penny pivoted to partnering with community banks and credit unions when they discovered 80% of their members already had relationships with local financial institutions, while only 20% of these institutions offered financial planning services.



Penny Finance's platform connects consumers' financial plans with their financial institution's products, helping community banks and credit unions better serve their members. Cole emphasizes that smaller financial institutions have advantages over larger banks in their ability to tailor offerings to individual customers and provide more attractive financial products. However, these institutions often struggle with building the digital presence needed to attract and retain today's online customers, which is where Penny's technology helps bridge the gap.



Crissi highlights that effective financial services aren't just about technological capabilities or integration with online banking platforms, but about understanding customers and meeting them at key moments in their financial journey. She stresses that relevance and timing in the user journey are more important than fancy CRMs or mobile apps. The ultimate goal is to transform financial institutions from merely offering a menu of products to becoming true financial partners that help customers when they need it, making financial planning accessible to everyday Americans while helping community banks manage more of their members' wallets.



More info:



Penny Finance: https://www.penny-finance.com/; https://www.linkedin.com/company/penny-finance-inc/



Crissi Cole: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crissicole111/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



FinovateSpring: https://informaconnect.com/finovatespring/



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