Heroes in Business - Elaine Szeto, Founder of Integro Bank, EVP and Chief Innovation Officer

Episode Date: June 20, 2023

Elaine Szeto, EVP, Chief Innovation Officer, and Founder of Integro Bank is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances entrepreneur community and host of the Heroes Show.   

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. That's right, and welcome back to the show. As you know, so much activity goes on here. Keep the feedback coming from our previous guests, Like when I interviewed the president of ChildHelp, we continue to get feedback. So keep clicking, keep sending in that feedback. And of course, too, when I interviewed Richard Branson, along with so many. So keep it going.

You know where to go. Alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. The only place where entrepreneurs align. And with us today, we have Elaine Zito, the executive vice president, chief information officer, and founder of Integro Bank. You could reach her at integro.bank. Once again, that's integro.bank. So with that, Elaine, out of all of these things, why start a bank? David, what a great question. I still can't believe that we started a bank

at a heart of COVID as well. Been in banking for about almost 30 years. I think I started when I was 10 years old. You know, the dynamic banking ecosystem has changed a lot. If you look around, we used to have more than 20,000 banks 30 years ago. And now we're literally down to under 5,000. And if you look at the way that the large banks and regional banks operates, there's not a lot of focuses on small business owners. And yet 99% of the businesses in our ecosystem are all small businesses. And so with all of our background, we really here to try to solve a

gap. You know, large banks barely lend barely 4% within our community. And with the PPP loans, as you know, we ranked last in Arizona while we had the highest growth. So we're committed to really turn the situation around, to build up the community, to support small businesses. Think about it. They're the backbone of our economy. So together, we're excited about building a bank designed around helping small businesses. If they thrive, they can create more jobs for the community. And so we're thrilled. We got approval and speed record. We raised capital $32 million in literally 10 months. So David, I'm so proud how we are coming together to do something that's

really considering possible. Right. And helping small businesses. So that's really considering possible. Right. And helping small businesses. So that's absolutely, you know, phenomenal. Right. As you said, I mean, the back, the backbone of our industries, right. That's, it's the small businesses in that. And, and I, Elaine, I can't imagine all of the paperwork and process and regulations to actually bring this to fruition. What was it like? I mean, I can't even imagine all the stuff in the late nights and the headaches and all that navigating through the government. How does it feel now to actually be open, like a place now people can go to and banking after all of that work? David, thank you for your question. It was actually, there are days that we didn't know if we were going to make it, right? Think about this.

You have to have capital. You have to have a business plan. You have to have board members. You have to put together talent, people, process system. And yet, I can still remember the day when we created the business plan. I just woke up one day. I feel like I was a data scientist, you know, looking at the data, trying to figure out where we are, what are our shortcomings, what are we going to do to solve the gaps? So the business plan, David, was literally over 1,000 pages.

And so think about this without the business plan and now you have the business plan but you need to get to 26 million in capital before you can get approval so there's a lot of dance there isn't there's no exact science right and then as you talk to the investors without the approval from the regulator how do you convince them to invest? And then how do you stand up the system without having enough money, right? So to your point, you take one day at a time, you really stay focused. And when you have a mission that is so meaningful, that's the purpose and passion that drive all of us to create something meaningful. And I'm telling you, very proud of our board members, our leaders and our CEO all coming together. And we take it one day at a time and we're creating

success in history, but it's all for our community. Great. Excellent. And again, we have with us Elaine Zito, Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation Officer and Founder of Integro Bank. You can reach her at integro.bank. Once again, that's integro.bank. All right, Elaine, tell me what 360 means to you. Yes. I am so proud of our innovation at the bank. When we designed this dashboard and this tool, we have small business leaders in mind. When was the last time any small business gets free consultation from their own banks? gets free consultation from their own banks. And we designed a system, the consultation proprietary system,

to really help customers understand where they are at relative to their competitors within industry. We give them the knowledge they need and to improve their business and also come up with a plan. and to improve their business and also come up with a plan. And 80, I would say more than 80% of business fail because you don't know the value of their businesses or they don't know what their plan, what is their exit strategy? How do they want to build up their company? So we give them the tools they need

to really think about the worst scenario, the best scenario, and how they want to create a value for their company by looking at all key factors and drivers. So I'm just so happy that we are the only bank that created something very unique. And again, this type of consultation could cost any small businesses anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000. PHILLIP TANJALOVICSKINI, Ph.D.: Phenomenal. And again, Elaine, I mean, your background is just absolutely phenomenal.

Honors, MBA, I mean, your leadership roles at what, Mutual of Omaha and Western Alliance Bank, chief product officer and so much more. I mean, Elaine, what are some of the secrets to being so smart? Oh, you're so kind, David. You know, it's not about being smart. It's really, if you think about it, it's all about taking care of people's needs and wants. And I really think that integrity is something that's invaluable, especially in a banking environment. It is so personal. The trust factor has to be there.

And I'm really big about making sure that we keep our brand promise and we have to have the credibility. When was the last time that someone asked you, what is your goal? How can I help? How do we do this together? So the genuineness, the integrity, the trust all matters to me. And being successful, it's really just how you define it. So I would think that we would be successful if we create a helping small business win and expand and be successful and taking care of their well-being financially, as well as family and friends and help to create

jobs. I think that that is how we define success is the impact that we make in the community. Elaine, what kind of research should someone do when they're going to go about, you know, going to a new bank and that, because we used to think, we used to think, right, go to the most giant, the largest bank. Well, clearly that didn't work, right? So sizes and so much more matter. So what is we as a consumer can go and to do? What research should we be doing regardless of whatever money we're putting in? Because it's money that's ours. Yeah, that is a really good question.

I really think it's like anything else. A lot of our clients are telling us they're banking with us because they don't feel like they have any emotional connection with their banks. And so at the end of the day, it's still a service-focused industry. So you have to feel very comfortable who you can trust. And I don't want to mention, you know, some of the large banks, they have lost a lot of integrity and trust in this banking environment. So you want to look for banks that, number one, that really earn your trust, as well as making sure that they have your interests in mind and then can give you end-to-end solutions

because at Integra Bank, we're not your typical small de novo bank. We take care of, really think about consumers. Well, every small business need consumer accounts. They need online banking. They need mobile, right and and furthermore we offer complementary financial planning wealth management aspect of support we are here to help you preserve your assets and oh by the way we just roll out residential mortgage to help you know our small business and family and friends as well and so so to answer your question is really making sure that your values are aligned with the bank's values and vice versa um and david have you heard of our ceo club no so every month we actually um do have prominent

speakers or speakers we think that can help our small business leaders think outside the box, solve and give them ideas to address their top challenges. And I just want you to know that as a client, you know, they can be part of the member And it is a way for us to really provide resources and create real community where everyone can come together and share their ideas. So I just want you to know that I can't wait to invite you to join us. So Integro Bank, seeding growth with integrity. We've got time for one more last question in regards to that. growth with integrity. We've got time for one more last question in regards to that. So what kind of lessons do you have for children who want to grow up and make a difference in the world like you have by, again, completing pretty much what's the impossible,

now more than ever, of opening a bank? David, I think that a lot of young folks, and I don't want to make assumptions, but even, you know, with our generation, right, there are folks that are always looking for shortcuts. And I have news for you. There is no shortcut in life. If you want to be impactful, you want to make a difference, we all have to work really hard. And there may be, you know, 12 steps along the way, but I would encourage everyone to think big. I never thought I could open a bank and impact so many different lives in our community. And it feels really good when you have a purpose and you're solving a big problem uh it really is

rewarding so i would just um love to share that you know hard work will pay off but dream big but you also have to have an action plan behind it excellent well el, you are driving and delivering best-in-class client experiences to position business clients for success and to fuel businesses and employment growth. That's a hero. Elaine Zito, Chief Innovation Officer, EVP, and founder of Integro Bank. Make sure you go to Integro Bank. That's integro.bankBank. I-N-T-E-G-R-O.Bank. This has been David Kogan with the Alliance's Hero Show. Thank you, David. Thanks, everyone. Elaine, though, you've got to dance with me, too.

Okay, come on. There you go.