A group of female bankers are figuring out how a third-generation, family-owned lender in Wichita, Kansas, can make its mark through online and mobile banking.
Emprise Bank is a $2.4 billion privately held lender, founded by W.A. Michaelis and currently run by his grandson, Matt Michaelis.
In 2020, Emily Reisig began leading the bank's new business line—Emprise Embedded—as the strategic relationship leader. Shelby Chapman later joined Emprise Embedded as the partner delivery leader.
Other members of the innovation and strategy leadership team include Tonya Knipp, director of technology, Miranda Jones as the predictive analytics manager, and Aggie Tuxhorn as the marketing manager.
This year, Emprise hired Whitney Woyke, formerly of Pathward bank, to lead the all-female, six-member innovation and strategy team. Woyke came in to lead the launch of the strategy and innovation team's first blockbuster product: Emprise Embedded, a white-label banking service for fintech companies.
The innovation and strategy team worked much of the last two years hammering out an infrastructure for the new banking service.
This year, Emprise began a partnership with Plannery, a San Mateo, California-based company that loans money to health care workers.
Emprise works in the background on the loan repayment method for borrowers who are customers of Plannery. Through providing direct links to a bank checking account, Emprise makes it easier for Plannery and its borrower customers to make loan repayments.
Emprise has so far entered into five deals to provide embedded banking services for fintech companies, according to the bank.
"The changing consumer behavior toward digital presents a choice for a bank. You can either compete with fintech or you can look at it as a way to leverage our expertise and become a partner," Reisig said.
With the building blocks now in place, Woyke sees embedded banking as an integral part of Emprise's future – a way to find clients outside of Kansas, home to Emprise's 32 physical branches. "The core business is always going to be somewhat limited in terms of our ability to scale and grow," Woyke said. "So, the embedded business is intended to allow us to support fintechs coast-to-coast to expand and deliver banking services through populations that may not necessarily be local here to Wichita."
The team also partners with technology companies to improve service to its existing customers.
Emprise partnered with Tyfone, a Portland, Oregon-based digital banking services company, that worked on improving Emprise's customer-facing mobile app and online banking platform. Emprise also began working with MX Technologies Inc., a Lehi, Utah-based company that collects customers' data so banks can offer personalized messages.
Tuxhorn's marketing team sends consumers personalized messages that appear as pop-up ads on the Emprise app or in emails. One such message, for example, alerts clients if they can earn more money by switching their type of account, as Emprise offers multiple checking accounts.
"We partnered with the predictive team and they built a model to find the right checking account fit," Tuxhorn said. "Because we know that if customers do their own research, they might think they can earn more money elsewhere and then we are at the risk of losing them. We would much rather do the math for them, and let them know 'if you switch from that account to this account,' you'll save money."
The personalized message also allows the customer to switch their account on the spot and without having to change their checking account number. "The transaction is all being communicated through data on our cloud," Jones said. "These things are pretty hands off."
Another personalized message concerns short-term lending products including "far better alternatives to payday lending to support our customers when they are in a pinch," Tuxhorn said.
Emprise didn't purposely intend to create an all-female innovation and strategy team. "It happened organically," Woyke said. Indeed, in July, the company announced that a man – Garrett Nikkel, who has experience in leading strategic planning and the business team– will join the innovation and strategy team as a product development leader.
"What is deliberate, Woyke said, "is that the company is very intentional about its diversity and inclusion strategy."
Woyke noted that of Emprise Bank's 106 corporate officers, 55 are women.
Woyke credited CEO Michaelis for the bank's focus on diversity and technological change. Michaelis worked for New York-based investment banks Jeffrey Williams and Greenhill, which worked with fintechs, developing a base of potential future fintech clients for Emprise. "He has a very forward vision," Woyke said.
Team Members:
Whitney Woyke, EVP, Innovation & Strategy and Banking Services
Aggie Tuxhorn, VP, Marketing Manager
Tonya Knipp, SVP, Director of Technology
Shelby Chapman, SVP, Emprise Embedded Partner Delivery Leader
Emily Reisig, SVP, Emprise Embedded Strategic Relationship Leader
Miranda Jones, VP, Predictive Analytics Manager
