Celent Defines the Components of a Model Bank

If model citizen represents all the best qualities in a person rolled into one single individual, a model bank would be the amalgamation of all the best components that comprise a modern institution rolled into one single bank.

Among the items on the agenda for Celent Banking and Innovation and Insight Day Thursday in Atlanta is an awards ceremony highlighting the banks named in the Boston-based research and consulting firm's Model Bank 2011 report. The report identifies 18 components, such as retail model reengineering, prepaid cards, merchant capture or business process management, that would -- if combined -- represent a sort of ideal banking operation.

Banks named in Celent's report range in size from Big 4 members like Citibank and JPMorgan Chase Bank, super regionals such as Bank of the West and community banks like Union Savings Bank. Each of the banks who made the Model Bank report went through an online nomination process.

Celent's Banking Innovation and Insight Day will also feature panel discussions on such topics as the future of online banking and the evolution of mobile banking.

"You can’t do this type of event with a theme like this without addressing those topics," says Jacob Jegher, senior analyst with Celent.

Something to consider, Jegher adds is that innovation in banking isn't simply defined as electronic initiatives that further remove the customer from interacting with the bank in its most traditional channels.

"Innovation doesn’t just happen in self service channels," he says. "There still very much is an emphasis on the brick and mortar."

Follow Matt Gunn on Twitter for live Bank Systems & Technology coverage of Celent Banking and Innovation Day, and watch for the hashtag #Celent2011 for updates from other event attendees.