• Alkami launched a new Engagement Artificial Intelligence (AI) Predictive Model.
• The new model helps financial institutions identify accountholders whose behaviors are indicative of retention and account growth.
• The Engagement AI Model leverages Alkami’s Key Lifestyle Indicators (KLIs) as well as its AI Predictive Modeling technology.

Everyone knows that it is easier (and less expensive) to maintain an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one. So Alkami, which launched a new AI model to help banks retain customers, is likely to garner a lot of attention.

The cloud-based digital banking solutions provider unveiled its Engagement Artificial Intelligence (AI) Predictive Model this week to tackle customer attrition. The solution not only identifies accountholders whose behaviors are indicative of retention and account growth, but it also flags customers who may be at risk of leaving.

The new predictive model leverages Alkami’s Key Lifestyle Indicators (KLIs) as well as its AI Predictive Modeling solution that uses data to identify accountholders’ shifts in spend categories and recognize their financial patterns.

“When we looked at the full spectrum of attrition scoring,” explained Alkami Director of Product Management Mark Leher, “our research showed that attrition is significantly lower among highly engaged account holders, so we developed a model that not only identifies these highly engaged account holders but also layers in Alkami’s KLIs—labels describing the type of transaction or behavior a customer or member engages in—to best predict which behaviors drive incremental engagement.”

The company recently conducted research that found that accountholders who score the highest risk for attrition are, on average, 15 times more likely to leave a financial institution than those who score as highly engaged.

When financial institutions use Alkami’s Engagement AI Model to identify the users that exhibit growth behavior, they can understand where to prioritize spend and what areas they should focus on to grow the customers’ engagement.

“Not only does this save on account acquisition costs, but it also empowers the financial institution to engage with those who are more likely to take action on a targeted campaign,” added Leher.

Alkami was founded in 2009 and went public in 2021. A year later, the company acquired competitor Segmint— and its KLI technology– for $135.5 million. Alkami is currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ALKT with a market capitalization of $1.43 billion.

Photo by Trinity Kubassek

• Kennebec Savings Bank, based in Maine, went live with the digital banking platform from Alkami.
• The technology will help the $1.6 billion financial institution provide a seamless and consistent user experience for its business, retail, and mobile banking customers.
• Alkami made its Finovate debut in 2009 as “iThryv.” The company is headquartered in Plano, Texas.

Kennebec Savings Bank launched the Alkami Digital Banking Platform this week. The Maine-based financial institution, with $1.6 billion in assets, will leverage the newly integrated solution to provide a seamless digital banking experience for its business, retail, and mobile banking customers. Founded more than 150 years ago, Kennebec Savings Bank has a team of nearly 200 employees and maintains offices in Augusta, Farmingdale, Freeport, Waterville, and Winthrop.

“One of our key goals is to expand support for local businesses,” Kennebec SVP and Chief Information Officer Kevin Dono explained. “Alkami’s platform enables us to provide a seamless and consistent user experience for our business customers by giving them access to all accounts through a common user interface within a single system. Self-service capabilities help them manage multiple accounts and enable functionality options for individuals through permission settings.”

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Alkami made its Finovate debut as “iThryv” in 2009. The company’s digital banking platform offers an intuitive solution for enhancing the onboarding process for new customers, and accelerating deposit and loan growth. The platform also supports digital cards and P2P transfers, offers financial wellness tools, and will enable Kennebec to leverage data to provide customers with greater personalization.

“We are excited to support Kennebec’s efforts to go beyond the traditional banking footprint and further empower and engage with customers,” Alkami CEO Alex Shootman said. “The Alkami Platform, combined with Kennebec’s outstanding service, will position them to deliver even greater value and service benefits to both current and future customers.”

Alkami began the year earning special recognition from AMOCO Federal Credit Union, which named Alkami its “Partner of the Year.” The award is designed to recognize the “outstanding positive impact” that the FCU’s business partners have had on the institution’s member service, growth, and innovation. AMOCO FCU, with 78,000 users — including 56,000 active digital banking users – has relied on Alkami’s Digital Banking Platform since 2019.

“We were very specific about the user experience (UX) and capabilities we needed for our members,” AMOCO SVP of Operations Technology Nate Ashworth said. “Alkami not only brought a best-in-class UX to the table, but also has the extensibility to build in the integrations we require now and into the future.”

Photo by Leah Kelley

A partnership between cloud-based digital banking solution provider Alkami Technology and Idaho Central Credit Union will enable ICCU members to buy and sell bitcoin within their mobile apps and on the credit union’s online banking platform. Bitcoin services are provided by cryptocurrency technology company NYDIG with Alkami’s platform facilitating the deployment.

Claiming the mantle of both the fastest growing credit union in the state, as well as one of the best performing credit unions in the country, ICCU Chief Information Officer Mark Willden said that adding new services such as bitcoin investing are key to ensuring that the credit union maintains its “momentum” and “deliver(s) additional value.” He added, “Fully integrated bitcoin services through NYDIG and the Alkami Platform take us to the next level when it comes to the member experience.”

Idaho Central Credit Union was founded in 1940 and serves more than 480,000 members throughout the state. With 1,600+ employees, ICCU has more than $8 billion in assets.

NYDIG works with Alkami to allow financial institutions to offer their customers and members bitcoin services in a secure and compliant way. NYDIG joined Alkami’s Gold Partner Program over the summer, making it easier for financial institutions to add bitcoin products and services to their offerings and provide them to their customers and members under their own brand.

“The demand for and utilization of digital currencies have expanded exponentially in recent months, leaving many FIs struggling to keep pace and retain these deposit streams within their institution,” Alkami Chief Strategy & Sales Officer Stephen Bohanon said. “Alkami’s partnershp with NYDIG further supports our mission to enable FIs to compete directly against the megabanks and challenger banks to capture this valuable market.”

A Finovate alum since 2009, making its Finovate debut as iThryv, Alkami has grown into a leading cloud-based digital banking solution provider with more than 280 financial institution customers. The company went public this spring, earning a market capitalization of $3.4 billion in its debut on the NASDAQ. Trading under the ticker ALKT.O, the Plano, Texas-based firm raised $180 million in its IPO.

Since its public listing, Alkami has forged a number of partnerships with financial institutions including STAR Bank in November and MainStreet Bank in October. Also this fall, the company announced its acquisition of digital account opening and loan origination provider MK Decision and introduced its new Chief Executive Officer Alex Shootman, formerly the CEO of Workfront. Alkami Board of Directors Chairperson Brian R. Smith said Shootman’s experience in “growing and scaling enterprise software companies” was “essential at this stage of Alkami.”

Today’s announcement from Idaho Central CU comes as NYDIG reports a massive $1 billion growth equity round that gives the company a valuation of $7 billion. The round was led by WestCap and featured participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, FinTech Collective, Affirm, FIS, Fiserv, MassMutual, Morgan Stanley, and New York Life.

The New York-based company now has a total capital of $1.4 billion. The new investment will help NYDIG further develop its platform, taking advantage of recent changes to the bitcoin protocol to introduce functionalities such as bitcoin and lightning payments, asset tokenization, and smart contracts. The company will also use the new funding to add talent to its team worldwide.

“Our roster of partnerships and strategic investors lays the foundation for NYDIG to become the leading provider of Bitcoin solutions for businesses in any industry,” NYDIG co-founder and CEO Robert Gutmann said. “(This) new equity capital will further accelerate progress towards making this exciting network accessible – and useful – to all.”

Photo by Binyamin Mellish from Pexels