Peter High
08-03-2015
Excerpt from the Article:
WSFS Bank is a $5 billion bank headquartered in Wilmington, Del. It is the seventh oldest bank in the United States still in operation today. Founded in 1832, WSFS Bank was chartered seven days before the city of Wilmington. WSFS operates out of 56 locations in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Nevada. In addition to retail banking, the company also has a trust & wealth management division that manages about $1.5 billion in client assets and an additional $10 billion in assets under administration. The Cash Connect division provides cash management services to ATM owners across all 50 states and the company currently manages cash replenishment services for more than 15,000 ATMs. Through Array Financial, WSFS offers mortgage financing services to customers across all 50 states. James Mazarakis is the executive vice president and CIO of WSFS, a role he has had for more than five years. Mazarakis discusses with CIO Insight contributor Peter High cyber-security fraud, digital technology in banking and more.
CIO Insight: You lead technology and operations. What is under your purview in these two areas, and how did your role evolve to take both on?
James Mazarakis: These two areas of the bank had been managed together prior to my arrival. What we have further supplemented since my arrival is our operational risk and application delivery areas. Operational Risk was supplemented because, as everyone is aware, in the last few years we have seen significantly increased cyber-security fraud activities across all types of industries and governmental institutions. Our bank has been proactive in supplementing our capabilities in this area to protect our customers and their confidential information.
We have also further supplemented our application delivery area to allow the bank to build applications that support our customers’ needs. Customer needs have grown very significantly in the last few years and banks have responded by providing more online capabilities and new mobile facilities. We have responded to these needs by issuing mobile and tablet software that address these needs. Our most recent enhancement is WSFS Mobile Cash. WSFS Mobile Cash allows customers to withdraw cash from our branch ATMs by using their mobile phones. In essence WSFS Mobile Cash is a cardless ATM transaction. This product represents the latest in security, convenience and speed in regards to digital technology in banking.
CIO Insight What are some core areas of your current strategy? What are your team and you focused on at the moment?
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