Core provider Jack Henry continues to invest in its API portal and automation solution as it looks ahead to upcoming projects, including the migration of its data, reporting and integration systems to Google Cloud.

Mackenzie Kizer, senior director of enterprise integrations and services at Jack Henry, sat down with Bank Automation News recently to discuss the company’s product launches, partnerships and upcoming automation plans. What follows is an edited version of that conversation.

BAN: Since launching the Conversations tool earlier this year, what has the feedback been?

Mackenzie Kizer: This tool within our digital banking platform, Banno Conversations, is not just about a chat function; it allows users to grab objects that are pertinent to your relationships with a financial institution. It is amazing the type of feedback that we’ve gotten from our customers that leverage this solution. They very much rely on it within their call centers and contact centers that customers use.

Other feedback … that we’ve gotten from our customers has been around relationship building. Before, I might have physically gone to pull out a check order that I had or a statement that I brought in. Now, I’m doing the same thing digitally without having to give up the personal relationship.

Following positive feedback from those that use the tool, Jack Henry is also building the technology into the Banno Business platform. So, not only can consumers use the tool, but businesses can have private conversations and authenticated chats amongst each other. In Banno Conversations for Business, users can also bring in a banker to the conversation if they choose. [It] is currently in beta testing and will likely be available in the beginning of 2023.

BAN: What is driving demand for mobile technologies?

MK: I think a lot of things were done right on the front end with our digital banking platform. The platform is fully cloud native and it’s fully real-time and API-dependent. Jack Henry was very quick in bringing on API aggregators like Plaid and Finicity because of the way they build the product itself with design, user experience and architecture in mind.

The technology was built completely API first, so not only can a client do consumer engagement via the mobile phone, but they can also do BaaS using the same services that my mobile phone uses, for example.

BAN: Jack Henry recently tapped Google Cloud for its tech modernization. What are the details of that working relationship?

MK: We announced that we’re making a commitment as we build, acquire or partner that we’re going to be cloud native and we’re going to provide services. So, we’re transitioning how we offer solutions and cloud native adds services to the industry. One example is our recent acquisition of [digital payments provider] Payrailz, which is cloud native.

Google is able to do things like have [software provider] Five9’s uptime as their data services later, they can deliver security and compliance to the cloud and they have more user solutions than any other cloud provider. They really think from a digital perspective.

We stepped back and asked, ‘what is the right partner for us to build and modernize on,’ and we felt like the cloud platform that Google offers is the right platform.

BAN: What does your cloud migration mean for financial institutions?

MK: Jack Henry will work with an institution in an open way, so even though we are moving toward the cloud, if a financial institution doesn’t want to do that, we’re not forcing them to. We’re still investing in our flagship cores in a way that we always have. But now, we’re providing optionality where they can move workloads to the cloud one function at a time if they choose to.

BAN: What automated processes is Jack Henry working on?

MK: We’re investing heavily in our business process automation solution. We also continue to invest in our public-facing API portal. APIs and integration are part of the automation story; you can’t automate if you don’t have good hooks that are secure and public-facing.