Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Lee Wetherington
How Financial Institutions Can Grow Amid Economic Uncertainty
Executive Summary Five ways to absorb shocks, capitalize on disruption, and accelerate growth. How younger accountholders and SMBs are reshaping deposits, payments, and revenue. What competitive advantage looks like now (pairing innovation with modern back-office orchestration). In 2026 and 2027, two themes dominate the outlook for financial institutions: uncertainty and fragility.
Lending Perspectives: The New (F)undamentals of Auto Lending
5 minutes Is your institution adjusting its approach to the requirements of modern lending? In March 2022, the first of 11 consecutive rate increases by the Federal Reserve reawakened scrutiny on lending. As inflation has remained stubbornly high and consumers savings from COVID-19 have evaporated, focus has rightly shifted to the ongoing ability of consumers to service their existing debt and take on new loans.
Bank and Credit Union CEOs Reveal Top Priorities
Growing deposits and increasing operational efficiency are top priorities for community and regional financial institutions, according to Jack Henry’s sixth-annual survey of bank and credit union CEOs. “With rising deposit costs putting pressure on net interest margins, banks and credit unions have greater urgency to enhance operational efficiency, especially through back-office automation,” said Lee Wetherington, Senior Director of Jack Henry™ Corporate Strategy.
AI helps banks of all sizes think bigger
Lee Wetherington, Senior Director of Corporate Strategy at Jack Henry, joins Senior Editor Rachel Koning Beals on the BAI Banking Strategies Podcast to share his belief there’s a data and AI moment of reckoning in our industry, forced in part by the speed of gen AI curiosity. With this tech breakthrough, however, comes real opportunity for nimble financial services organizations.
Five opportunities for community banks in an uncertain economy
Community banks’ outlook on the economy continues to sour. According to the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) quarterly Community Bank Sentiment Index, community banks’ economic pessimism fell to its lowest level since the survey began in 2019. 95% of community bankers believe the U.S. economy is already in a recession, and ongoing concerns about regulatory overreach, cyberattacks, inflation, federal debt and labor costs are driving fears about sustaining profitability in 2023.
What Banks Should Know About Niches
You Are Here: Home > > What Banks Should Know About Niches What Banks Should Know About Niches Banks often pursue a niche as a way to develop a competitive edge, reaching a defined market that is neither too narrow nor too broad.
What Banks Should Know About Niches
Bank M&A Bank M&A topics will include balance sheet considerations for both the acquiring and acquired financial institutions such as deposits, capital adequacy, credit quality and more. Information around regulatory preparations and concerns as well as credit risks will also be addressed. Explore
What Money Movement Means for Deposits
You Are Here: Home > > What Money Movement Means for Deposits What Money Movement Means for Deposits With deposit strategy a top priority in 2023, bank leaders should take a careful look at their deposit base to better understand potential vulnerabilities, says Lee Wetherington, senior director of corporate strategy at Jack Henry. They should also consider targeted and proactive strategies that help their institution hold onto significant depositors.
What Money Movement Means for Deposits
With deposit strategy a top priority in 2023, bank leaders should take a careful look at their deposit base to better understand potential vulnerabilities, says Lee Wetherington, senior director of corporate strategy at Jack Henry. They should also consider targeted and proactive strategies that help their institution hold onto significant depositors. The most successful banks, he explains, will be those that can translate their relationship-based business model within a digital context.
The Future of Banking
By Lee Wetherington Open banking is bigger in the United States than it is in Europe, says Lee Wetherington, the senior director of corporate strategy for Jack Henry & Associates, one of the banking industry’s largest technology solution providers. For financial technology companies, that means an unlimited potential to access data, and offer products and services that customers would like or will like in the future.
The Future of Banking
You Are Here: Home > > The Future of Banking The Future of Banking Open banking is bigger in the United States than it is in Europe, says Lee Wetherington, the senior director of corporate strategy for Jack Henry & Associates, one of the banking industry’s largest technology solution providers. For financial technology companies, that means an unlimited potential to access data, and offer products and services that customers would like or will like in the future.
Inverting open banking to favor banks and credit unions
I have a problem with authority and conventional wisdom. I don’t like to follow. These days, neither should community financial institutions. There’s a longstanding rule of thumb in banking: watch what the megabanks do, then follow their lead. While this fast-follower approach makes sense when closing gaps on table-stakes features in digital banking, it’s literally self-destructive for community financial institutions in the era of open banking.
The law of least effort: Relationships vs. self-service delivery in the new age
With the advent of ‘personal digital’, high-quality engagement and personal service can be rendered in real-time. The word “relationship” conjures images of trust, love and sacrifice. And while those facets are real, we rarely acknowledge the more practical side of our connection to others. The truth is that “relationship” is also a romantic way of talking about our selfishness—the same way “mystery” is a poetic way of talking about our ignorance.
Start Your Board Assessment With a ‘BOP’
5 minutes After establishing your board-organizing principle, consider four additional success factors. Also read, “Five Reasons Why You Should Commit to a Board Assessment” by Peter Myers.
Serving members at the moment of need
Banking is transforming more than it has in generations — but you already know that. Not only are there new competitors in the space – neobanks, alternative financial firms, and fintechs – but low interest rates make lending more challenging with increased competition. Everything seems to be eating into your margins. And that’s before we talk about the digital shift that’s happening. But don’t look at this pivotal time as a threat, see it as an opportunity.
The New Killer KPI for Personal Digital Banking: Moment-of-Need to Resolution
Banks once defined by their personal service inside branches can now (for the first time) translate their personal service meaningfully into digital channels thanks to new technology that enables immediate, authenticated, actionable conversations inside digital banking.
Leadership Matters: 7 Steps to Effective Mentorships
This is an excerpt from the foreword to “CUES Guide to Effective Mentorships,” a benefit of all levels of 2019 CUES membership. In my life I’ve been part of several mentorships. Whether I was the mentor or the mentee, I have found there are seven key requirements for success in these exchanges. 1) There has to be a connection between the mentor and mentee. That connection can come from either personal or professional experiences, but it has to be felt by both parties.
Making digital personal
While the current banking landscape is mobile, global and immediate, it is also largely homogeneous. Most financial institutions have taken the same, generic, just-good-enough approach to digital banking, creating a commoditized online market in which consumers are left to shop mainly on price.
Some banks fear Amazon-but here’s what Amazon fears
Since the World Economic Forum sounded the alarm last August about the threat posed by major technology companies in financial services, Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon—known by the collective acronym GAFA—have become a growing concern among bankers. Recent news of Amazon’s interest in offering checking accounts in partnership with big banks has amplified that concern. Are “big techs” aiming to take a cut of the banking business? Do they want to become banks? How should bankers respond?
Some banks fear Amazon-but here’s what Amazon fears
Since the World Economic Forum sounded the alarm last August about the threat posed by major technology companies in financial services, Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon—known by the collective acronym GAFA—have become a growing concern among bankers. Recent news of Amazon’s interest in offering checking accounts in partnership with big banks has amplified that concern. Are “big techs” aiming to take a cut of the banking business? Do they want to become banks? How should bankers respond?
Texas Banking February 2018
My 16-year-old son is a car nut. One of his favorite podcasts recently featured three exotic-car experts going back and forth for 40 minutes on the topic of … cryptocurrencies. One 40-minute podcast and he’s all in. He knows precious little about bitcoin’s consensus mechanisms, cryptography or blockchain, but he wants a piece of the action. He reports his gains and losses to me daily.
Mobile Wallet Options for Issuers…In One Infographic
Click here for more Executive Briefings at BankersHub Since the arrival of Apple Pay, many issuers have been wondering whether and how to support mobile payments for their Android customers. In recent months, Apple Pay has been joined by the launches of both Android Pay and Samsung Pay. Each of these mobile wallets bring its own set of pros and cons for issuers. So, how do they compare, and should your institution support one, some or none these mobile wallet options?
A Project Management Culture
4 minutes Having one can help tie project results to strategic plan goals. We hear a lot about corporate culture these days. There are sales cultures, customer-focused cultures, employee-centered cultures and combinations of all of the above. Another, less-talked-about, but meaningful type is the project management culture. Project management is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Lee
Contact Lee, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack