Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com • Worcester Business Journal • 2 022 Economic Forecast 33 Member FDIC A great city deserves a great relationship. Stop by our new Worcester branch located at 633 Park Ave. 1. Limited to one bonus maximum amount of $300.00 per common ownership or customer. Businesses which currently own or have had a Rockland Trust Business Checking account within the 90 days prior to the account open date are not eligible. Rockland Trust employees are also not eligible. To be eligible for the $300 bonus you must open a new Free Business Checking or a new Complete Business Checking account with an initial account opening deposit of $1,000 of new money to Rockland Trust between October 4, 2021 and December 31, 2021. Initial account opening deposits funded by loans from Rockland Trust do not qualify. The bonus will be paid directly to your account by March 31, 2022. Account must be open and have a positive balance at the time the bonus is credited. Bonus payment will be reported to the IRS for the tax year in which it is paid. For new accounts funded by new money to Rockland Trust. Offer may be discontinued at any time without prior notice. Business checking account must be opened at our 633 Park Ave branch located in Worcester. 2. Limit one promotional personal checking account per household. Individuals who currently own or have had a Rockland Trust checking account within the 90 days prior to the account open date are not eligible. Rockland Trust employees are also not eligible. To be eligible for the $250 bonus you must open a new checking account between October 4, 2021 and December 31, 2021 and use your new Rockland Trust Debit Card to make at least 20 purchases of $10 or more within 60 days of your account opening date. ATM transactions do not qualify. The bonus will be paid directly to your account by March 31, 2022. Account must be open and have a positive balance at the time the bonus is credited. Bonus payment will be reported to the IRS for the tax year in which it is paid. Checking account must be opened at our 633 Park Ave branch located in Worcester. Offer not valid for Renew Checking accounts. Offer may be discontinued at any time without prior notice. Take advantage of one of our GRAND OPENING OFFERS Earn $300 1 when you open a new Free Business Checking or Complete Business Checking account by December 31, 2021 Earn $250 2 when you open a new checking accountby December 31, 2021 To learn more, visit one of our branches or give us a call at 774.243.1098. BRANCH HOURS Mon - Thu Fri Sat 8:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. 8:30 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. 8:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. VIDEO TELLER HOURS Mon - Fri Sat Sun 7:00 A.M. - 7:00 P.M. 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. 10:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. Extended banking hours with Live Teller Services! Top banking & finance stories in 2021 St. Mary's Credit Union names its first woman CEO St. Mary's Credit Union, headquar- tered in Marlbor- ough, has named Larissa urston as its next CEO and president, the first woman to lead the organization since its founding in 1913. urston most recently served as St. Mary's chief operating officer and chief financial officer, and she replaced retir- ing CEO James Garvey, effective Oct. 1. urston is a resident of Bolton and serves as member-at-large on the board of directors executive committee at the United Way of Tri-county, as well as treasurer on the board of directors at the Boys & Girl Club of MetroWest, and is on the member advisory panel of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. Garvey served as president and CEO of St. Mary's for eight years, part of a 40-year career. COVID accelerated the evolution of fintech Financial technology, or fintech, is an industry used globally every day, but typically goes unnoticed. Every time a customer deposits a check electronically, uses an app to pay for their takeout food, day trades stock using the Robin Hood app, or pays a friend back using Venmo, fintech is being used. "Fintech really is everywhere," said Professor Robert Sarnie, Worcester Poly- technic Institute professor of practice of finance and director of the WPI FinTech Collaborative and Wall Street FinTech Project Center. According to Sarnie, fintech does not just refer to the soware and devices used in this industry, but all the financial data and analysis that accompanies the numbers. Whether it is through artificial intelligence, machine learning, or inno- vation, fintech is always evolving and trying to streamline financial services. Sarnie believes the term "fintech" is a daunting and confusing word really de- tracting from the fact that fintech simply describes financial tools and payment methods used by the public everyday such as Paypal and Venmo. "It seems so hard because of all this terminology, but it is really basic busi- ness and every industry does fintech, they might not see it that way, but they do," Sarnie said. e Polar Park baseball stadium is planning for a new marketplace in which the concessions will be handled by an AI, autonomous checkout system run by California-based tech startup, Standard Cognition. As part of WPI's Wall Street FinTech Project Center, Sarnie's students will be working with the company to improve their app and learn about the interdisciplinary connection that fintech has with other industries. According to Sarnie, examples of fintech can be found in the 1950s with the advent of Diner's Club card, the first modern credit card. Working remotely and teleconferences are commonplace now, but according to Sarnie these methods were already being used in the finance sector for decades; he said citing his 23 years with Fidelity Investments. e financial sector was already making a transition towards remote work; however, the pandemic accelerated these changes not only for banking institu- tions, but for the general public as well. "e hard part of fintech is not the technology, it is the culture and the abil- ity of the people to use the technology," Sarnie said. Due to the pandemic, the public and small businesses were forced to quickly adopt new methods of technology. Scan- ning QR codes off of menus, ordering online, and using touchless payments have become familiar for most people. Sarnie believes further advancements in cybersecurity will help individuals, and businesses, feel safe using fintech. Finance sector raising salaries to recruit talent Nearly half of the nation's leading financial service providers have increased their base salary to attract more talent, according to a study published Tuesday by Marlborough market research firm DALBAR, Inc. DALBAR said it decided to conduct the survey on staffing and recruitment aer a record 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September in what has become known as the Great Resignation. e overarching increases in salaries for incoming employees can create issues when new hires are earning more than tenured staff, DALBAR said in its press release. Firms have approached this potential problem in varying ways, such as by using a signing bonus. Larissa Thurston W

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