New Book by Dan Schatt, VIRTUAL BANKING, is Released

Virtual Banking: A Guide to Innovation and Partnering offers a hands-on approach to competing in today's financial services environment. As a professional running virtually any financial company how can you position your institution to become a customer magnet instead of a repellent? This book is intended for those who would like to understand how to innovate and drive significant positive change in their organization though creative partnering. Written by Dan Schatt, the former Head of Financial Innovation for PayPal, this vital resource provides clear, actionable guidance for beating the new banking models at their own game.

"Part of the answer lies in creative deal making, Silicon Valley style. New technologies and platforms are now available on a wide scale and those financial institutions that can strike deals with nonbanks can meet their regulatory requirements while offering valuable new experiences that delight customers," says Schatt. "Virtual Banking also explores the divergent thinking that leads to innovation - how consumers rule the day and governments capitulate when an innovation catches hold."

Financial services innovation often implies heavy investments in technology or operational process, which may or may not lead to positive, transformative change. Real innovation can be very low cost and leverage existing technology assets and processes, but it can often come in the form of creative partnerships that aren't always obvious on the surface. An untapped opportunity exists between the tech world and the financial world, which can work together to achieve more than they could separately.

The book is filled with illustrative case studies from such industry leaders as PayPal, Google, Square, and Facebook. These examples clearly show the acceleration of innovation through banking partnerships, as well as the mechanics behind banking's most credible threats. Virtual Banking gives bankers and anyone determined to tap into the power of digital payments the inside track on managing the shift and dominating the new marketplace with insight such as:

• Evolving bitcoin, prepaid and retail point of sale ecosystems and how banks can partner with new players
• What capabilities banks should truly own and which they should outsource.
• Where revenue may be derived in the future and how to shift gears to focus on greenfield markets
• Best practices that financial companies can employ on their digital channels that can make their customer experience similar to some of the best commerce websites out on the market today.

Schatt adds, "The new age of partnering and innovation in the financial services arena is filled with brilliant shades of gray. The media would have you believe that any new up-and-comer in the financial services space is a disrupter to banks, but there are really very few pure competitors in the arena. The challenge is to recognize and seize new opportunities of every kind. Any institution a financial services company might view as a disintermediator for banks might just be what's keeping your financial institution relevant."

About the Author

DAN SCHATT is the former Head of Financial Innovations for PayPal, responsible for defining and executing PayPal's initiatives with the financial services industry. Schatt has also served as an advisor to the World Bank and led the retail payments practice at Celent. Prior, Schatt was an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group at Salomon Smith Barney and has also worked as a commercial banker for Citibank in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer for Stockpile, a Silicon Valley-based brokerage platform allowing any bank or retail customer to give, get and own stock by the dollar. Schatt received Masters degrees in business and international affairs from Columbia University.

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