"Tech Champions" with Tim Dively from Peoples State Bank

Each week on “Tech Champions,” our host Daniel Beaty sits down with experts in the information technology world. This week, Daniel spoke to Tim Dively from Peoples State Bank.

Peoples State Bank is a community bank based out of Wausau Wisconsin with branches throughout central, northern, and southeastern Wisconsin (11 branches).

To learn more, visit https://www.bankpeoples.com

Short company description: Peoples State Bank is a community bank based out of Wausau Wisconsin with branches throughout central, northern, and southeastern Wisconsin (11 branches). $1.1B in assets

What was your first role in the technology field?: IT helpdesk at a major insurance company.

What IT project are you most proud of?: The implementation of a formal digital banking mindset throughout the bank. This involved various IT, marketing, and operational projects.

What is the biggest challenge that IT departments are facing today?: Being able to forecast out longer than 6 months. Things are moving so much faster than before and disruption is all around us. IT departments need to plan to agile so they can anticipate and adapt to the changes by the regulators & compliance, the technology, cyber-security and protection of customer and institutional data, and their customer's desires.

Brief description of what would you like to discuss on the show: I would like to discuss how community banks are adjusting to finding the balance of customer service from traditional in branch interactions, to all digital, to a mix of in branch and digital. We must be prepared to support whatever channel our customers prefer with the same level of service we historically have. That's our differentiator because the technology is the same from the big banks to fintechs to many community banks our size. The lines are becoming blurred as it relates to the skill sets needed for someone in IT and the technical skill sets needed by our bankers. That is an exciting evolution to me.