![[podcast] How to build a bank with no branches with Card.com’s Ben Katz](https://tearsheet.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/10833742374_c8e4f0bf61_b.jpg)
Wall Street has been shedding Main Street bank branches of late and it doesn’t appear like it’s letting up any time soon.
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Card.com's Ben Katz[/caption]
As more financial transactions occur over the web, the purpose of a bank branch is changing and for many banks, they just can’t make them profitable anymore. Upstarts smell an opportunity and they’re stepping in by creating branch-light banking alternatives.
Ben Katz, founder and CEO of Card.com, joins us on the Tradestreaming Podcast. His firm provides most basic banking functions without any physical branches.
When you talk to Ben, he likes to make a simple analogy that drives home how his firm and others are forming an alternative to a bank branch: Just as Netflix is to Blockbuster, Card.com is to Wells Fargo.
We spend the bulk of our conversation discussing how his debit card solution, tied to an affinity or brand his users love, can compete against the branch footprint of some of the largest U.S. banks.

Listen to the FULL episode
Here’s what we discuss in this episode of the Tradestreaming Podcast- How branded financial services resonate with customers differently that incubent offerings
- How, by partnering with non-financial brands that people love, financial services can tap millions of potential customers on Facebook cost-effectively
- Why banks struggle with the cost-structure required to service retail clients
- How customer service is handled for financial services that function without physical branches
- The evolution away from call-center focused service to self-service solutions that can actually provide better and more accurate service
- Tying proactive telephone service to a user’s app in an effort to proactively identify a user’s service question before he or she begins dialing the 800 service number
- Whether bank licensing makes any sense for financial services operating outside of lending
More resources
- Card.com (Ben's firm)
Even more resources
- Check out our archives
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