Citizens First Bank is tapping fintech WaveCX to enhance digital engagement between banking employees and customers, and provide employee training. 

With Omaha, Neb.-based WaveCX, $3.7 billion Citizens First Bank aims to modernize how financial services employees and customers interact, Jon Tvrdik, founder and chief executive at WaveCX, told Bank Automation News. 

The digital platform will streamline several key processes, including: 

• Product documentation; 

• Cross-department collaboration; 

• Interactive onboarding for employees; and 

• Customer support. 

The Villages, Fla.-based Citizens First Bank also uses the platform to create employee training scenarios for multiple banking processes. These are available during onboarding and on an “as-needed basis” to reinforce learning, Paul Abell, vice president of applications and data management at Citizens First Bank, told BAN. 

Discussions for the partnerships began in November 2023 and integration of the service commenced in February, Abell said. 

Neither company disclosed the partnership’s monetary value. However it has financial implications for both companies, Tvrdik said, including: 

• Click-through rates of 79%-83%, compared with an industry average of 10%-20%; and 

• Conversion rates of 4.8%-7.7%, compared with an industry average of 2%-3%. 

“Beyond these numbers, streamlined operations have led to reduced call center volumes, contributing to notable cost savings,” Tvrdik said. 

Echoing Tvrdik’s statements, Abell told BAN that the structure of the partnership has reduced Citizen First Bank’s cost per demo by more than 75%.  

The digital platform is highly scalable and can serve customer bases ranging from 10,000 to more than 1 million users, he said. 

BNY and fintech Conduent team up on risk management

$30 billion BNY and business solutions provider Conduent are teaming up to provide asset managers with a risk management solution for their pension fund investments and provide timely payouts to customers, according to a Dec. 5 BNY release. 

The solution, built for pension managers, can also be used by insurers, a BNY spokesperson told BAN.  

“With continued growth across the pension risk transfer space, the need for insurers to deploy more modern, safe and scalable payments and administration capabilities grows increasingly more critical,” the spokesperson said. 

The platforms, which took close to six months to integrate, are connected via APIs, allowing the companies to maintain a safe, efficient routine for delivering payments to retirees on time, the spokesperson said.  

Fintech Novo selects Lithic for credit offering

Business banking platform Novo is using card-issuing fintech Lithic to launch its Novo Business Card issued by Salt Lake City, Utah-based Continental Bank. 

Lithic on Dec. 9 announced the launch of its Commercial Revolving Credit API; Novo used the new infrastructure to launch its business card, according to a Lithic release. 

The API infrastructure will enable financial services companies to build and manage revolving credit cards for various applications, including: 

• SMB banking; 

• Bill and pay disbursements; and 

• Expense management. 

The API took less than three months to build and was available to Novo in November, Bo Jiang, co-founder and chief executive at New York-based Lithic, told BAN. 

“Our API offers a highly configurable setup, anchored by a scalable and sophisticated loan tape engine. This architecture not only supports seamless integration but also positions us to expand into related use cases, like consumer revolving credit, in the future,” Jiang said. 

The Novo Business Card caters to small business owners and “solopreneurs” who struggle to efficiently manage their business finances, a Novo spokesperson told BAN. The unique needs and challenges of smaller businesses can sometimes be overlooked in traditional banking relationships, which Novo seeks to address with its business card, they said. 

Visit Bank Automation News’ Transactions Dashboard, which lists the technology selected or acquired by companies in the financial services industry, with a focus on technology that enhances automation.   

Register here for early-bird pricing for Bank Automation Summit 2025, taking place March 3-4 in Nashville, Tenn. View the full event agenda here.