The boards of banks and credit unions are often very different, but there are three tried-and-true ways to convince them that it’s time to prioritize your institution’s digital transformation and secure the budget for the technology you need.
Understand what your board of directors wants
If you can get a good sense of what your board (or budget committee) is prioritizing in the coming years—revenue growth, process efficiency, quick ROI, customer/member experience, etc.—you’ll be able to present your digital transformation as a critical piece of their plans.
No two financial institutions have the same plans or needs for their technology and digital tools, but your larger strategies (frictionless payments, digital transformation, fraud management, etc.) should work together to support the board’s vision. Being able to demonstrate how specific technology solutions will accomplish that makes it difficult for the board to say no.
Proactively address tech fatigue
From core systems and LOS to marketing automation and social media tools, teams across financial institutions everywhere are juggling more tech platforms than they can handle. And boards are growing weary of being asked to dedicate more budget to more platforms.
The key here is to demonstrate your intentions to simplify, streamline, and remove redundancies from your current tech stack to create an integrated ecosystem that provides access to your team’s most valuable digital tools within a single platform.
Attach your digital transformation to an already-funded project
If your budgets are already locked in for the next year, look for opportunities to combine your initiative with other marketing- or technology-focused projects that may have a buffer built in for “scope creep” or unexpected costs.
This might require some creativity (and maybe calling in a few favors from other departments), but it allows you to chip away at the most pressing technology needs on your list while you wait for the next budget season to open up.
Download our Banking Budget Toolkit
Nobody will understand your team’s technology needs like you do, so your challenge is to show the board how investing in a digital transformation will benefit your entire organization and how continuing to delay will negatively affect their long-term goals.
That’s why we created a free Banking Budget Toolkit to help you build a case and secure the funding you need to modernize your tech stack.
