Business Chief USA August 2019

“When you implement
new technology,
new skill sets are
required and new
jobs get created”
—
Stephen Harpe,
CIO, Gateway First Bank
PLAYING THE BALL IN FRONT
Most of Gateway’s growth up to this
year’s bank acquisition and merger has
been self-generated, so the new bank
will be focusing on safeguarding its
reputation as Harpe emphasizes. “Over
the coming years, we will see mainly
organic growth mixed with some
acquisitions. But to use a baseball
analogy, we are very much a ‘play the
ball in front of you’ company – one
thing at a time. The ball in front of us is
the bank transition, the transfer of our
core systems to FIS and choosing the
right loan origination partner.”
Digitizing the operations and
leveraging 21st-Century technologies
such as machine learning and automation
will definitely not endanger jobs at
Gateway, Harpe predicts. “We are, in
fact, creating scale. When you implement
new technology, new skill sets are
required and new jobs get created.
We are excited about those opportunities,
and even more excited about what this
is going to provide for our clients. If you
are a mortgage or a banking customer
(or hopefully both) you are going to be
able to consume Gateway First Bank
through a common set of digital
experiences from a single platform.
That is where we are headed.”
The future of banking is omnichannel,
and as such Gateway will try to achieve
a full set of responsive, personalized
digital services to its customers. For
example, The Digital One Online
Account Origination solution will allow
customers to open and manage their
accounts via mobile and laptop devices.
“This is a foundational time for us,”
enthuses Harpe. We are creating a
brand new foundation so mobile
banking, credit cards and personal
finance will all be extendable through
the APIs and digital services that we
are building. Our customers will find it
easy to find us and do business with us.”
Gateway First Bank is a nationwide
operator that was founded in the
communities of Oklahoma. Its community
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