How to Make Innovation Meaningful Again

Jimmy Stead, Chief Consumer Banking and Technology Officer at Frost.

Jimmy Stead, Chief Consumer Banking and Technology Officer at Frost.

Innovation has become a buzzword.

Yet leaders across industries are still known to wax poetic about the power of innovation to move businesses forward when what they're referring to is a new technology, approach, process, or complete business transformation. Innovation isn't one single thing: it's a long-term investment, and to be successful, it must be underpinned by a strong culture.

Meaningful innovation – backed by new technologies, experiences, and ways of working – is essential to the way we do business at Frost Bank, and it's what has allowed us to deliver to Texans the personalized and empathy-driven service that's traditionally associated with a hometown community bank, while also providing them with offerings and resources that compete with the best of the national banks.

But don't just take my word for it – third-party recognition backs up our approach: Frost has received the highest customer satisfaction ranking in Texas in the J.D. Power U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study for 13 years in a row, and it has received the highest number of Greenwich Excellence and Best Brand Awards nationwide for six years in a row. We're incredibly proud of these accomplishments and are even more proud of the feedback our bankers receive from customers who share on a regular basis that they feel seen and supported.

Still, we know that while our approach has proven successful, complacency isn't in Frost's DNA. We're always asking what more we can do to support our customers – and our continued investments in human-centered innovation reflect what makes Frost different from our peers.

This includes investments in the personnel driving our unified mission, in the experiences that support our customers' needs, and in our customers themselves to make their lives better.

Personnel: Relying on the Right Talent

We're continuing to invest in our people across all levels of the organization – and specifically in the leaders who are sculpting the vision for the future of Frost. Two leaders in particular, both relatively new in their tenure, are working together and with teams throughout our organization to combine technology with our values.

Linda Albornoz, who joined Frost as the bank's chief information officer in November 2020, and Blair McGrain, who came to Frost as a chief marketing officer in July of this year, are bringing fresh insights to the bank that draw on their collective expertise and the existing strengths of Frost.

Linda is a graduate of Rice University and has worked in executive-level technology positions at Accenture, American Express, and Charles Schwab. Blair has a bachelor's degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas' McCombs School of Business. Previously, he was senior director of operational planning and performance at Southwest Airlines and vice president of growth, marketing communications, member engagement, and transformation at Blue Shield of California.

“Innovation isn't one single thing: it's a long-term investment, and to be successful, it must be underpinned by a strong culture.”

Both Linda and Blair bring incredible experience to their roles – but more importantly, they are working with our teams and within Frost's 150-year-old culture to enhance our customer experience. This includes doubling down on the use of emerging technologies, coupled with deeper data analytics, to continue helping us create an enhanced customer experience, demonstrating Frost's commitment to driving impact in the Texas community.

We're also exploring investments in systems that will help Frost deliver more meaningful levels of customer service, and having top-tier talent like Blair and Linda will help us leverage these systems while keeping customers at the center – in turn supporting Frost's continued competitive advantage when compared to national banks. We know that customer engagement is changing – customers don't want banks to talk at them; they crave interaction. And new talent helps us ensure that we continue to meet customers where they are to fulfill their individual needs.

With talented leaders at the helm, we are combining technical and marketing expertise to reach customers and provide them with the level of service they've come to expect – and even a level of service they haven't imagined yet. Rather than using technology to provide hands-off customer service or to push customers away from face-to-face interactions, we use technology to provide the service each customer – from individuals to businesses – is looking for. Meanwhile, data is emerging as an incredibly important tool in customer engagement, and we're at the forefront of leveraging it to support our growing customer base.

Processes: Investing in the Best Way, Over the Easy Way

Another area of continued investment is in our processes. In the early 2000s, Frost famously dropped our home-mortgage business well before subprime mortgage loans helped propel the country into the 2008 financial crisis. Last year, in response to requests from consumer borrowers, we cautiously began to explore the idea of once again offering mortgage loans. However, we didn't want to get into the "mortgage business," which remains commoditized and doesn't fit our philosophy of building long-term customer relationships. Instead, we decided to build our own process for originating and servicing mortgages for our customers from the ground up, to mirror the way we handle other consumer loans.

We knew that bringing Frost's approach to customer service to mortgage lending would require a custom approach from start to finish. Creating our own mortgage lending process to align with our customer-first standards required a significant investment, the right staff, and the right third-party expertise. But we made it happen, and now, we're expecting to launch a pilot program for mortgage loans late this year, which will gradually roll out to customers on a more widespread basis in 2023. Our mortgage offering process – from start to finish – is a prime example of how innovation takes shape at Frost. We're listening to our customers' needs and investing in innovation to meet those needs the right way.

Customers:

As a final example, I take great pride in the ways we continue to invest directly in our customers – so we can help make their lives better. Our overdraft grace program waives fees on overdrafts up to $100, and our early payday program gives direct-deposit customers access to their funds up to two days early. For years, our bankers have been available to answer questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through our customer care phone line. And as interest rates have started rising again, Frost has been one of the first banks in the nation to pass those higher rates along to depositors, instead of taking the benefit ourselves.

Innovation to Make Peoples' Lives Better

Innovation in and of itself is not our goal – as I've said, our goal is to make peoples' lives better. These investments in our personnel, experiences, and customers are how we can continue innovating to provide the best experiences to Frost's employees and customers – all through the lens of empathy. It's all part of how Frost does business, and it's how we will always do business.

Our founders 150 years ago could not have imagined the technological leaps their bank has made, and it's fair to say that we can't envision what Frost Bank will look like 150 years from now. But we can point to the combination of innovation-centered investments in technology, in keeping our talent at the top of their game, and in providing the experiences that our customers need and want as elements that will keep us evolving for the better well into the future.

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