Hi Luz, welcome to Fintech Interview Series. Please tell us about your fintech journey so far.
My Fintech journey could be described in a single word, “challenges”. New risks that require in-depth analysis are constantly emerging. These risks, coupled with the need to continually monitor customer behavior to protect our institution from anything that is not aligned with our purpose or regulatory requirements, entails a commitment to a continuous state of improvement.
How is the role of a CRO in the banking space different from those in other industries – such as retail e-commerce or software development?
I see the CRO role as a bank’s top shield — continually analyzing the entire institution and landscape with a 360-degree scope. We need to be able to generate a radiography of the threats that the institution currently or potentially faces — with a change in any variable to mitigate them.
From compliance to operations, to finance to technology, we need to predict potential outcomes of any decision that management takes in relation to risk, and how that decision will impact the institution with respect to compliance and the safety and soundness of the bank. When we compare a financial institution with other industries like e-commerce or software development, there is no difference in terms of the ultimate purpose of the CRO. Having said that, software development or e-commerce deals far less with analyzing the behavior of customers in terms of detecting suspicious activity, but does examine the behavior of clients to determine product and sales process profitability.
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Card networks have monopolized the global movement of money, and banks have monopolized the ownership of, and access to, financial data. What is your take on this?
Everything is in continuous evolution and customers have different needs. Thus, for a financial institution to be successful, it needs to cater to varying customer needs. To accomplish that banks forge alliances with those service providers or companies that facilitate and provide cost-effective solutions for the bank’s customers. In fact, both companies will have common needs that can only be fulfilled by working collaboratively together.
Please tell us a little bit about the evolution of the blockchain ecosystem and how much it has changed in the last 2-3 years.
The blockchain ecosystem was an emerging technology that commenced its limited first use cases back in 2008. It continued evolving through 2013, and in 2014 financial institutions started to recognize its potential and shift from the focus on only digital currencies to developing blockchain technology for other uses. Since 2016 other industries have also started to consider blockchain as separate from digital currency, and during the last three years there has been a growing interest in the intersection of blockchain and AI. As such, the evolution of the ecosystem is now growing at a faster pace and use cases will grow exponentially as the technology continues to evolve.
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Statistics have shown that 95% of the total Blockchain participants are men compared to the minute 5% made up of females. What is your take on this?
Given blockchain is a technology sector, if you compare the participation of women in technology overall, statistics show that it is still below the level of men’s participation. So if you take into consideration that blockchain is a relatively new technology, it correlates. Hopefully in the future with wider adoption of the STEM education approach, our girls will be more enthusiastic about this field of education, face fewer barriers, and the participation percentage will increase accordingly.
Given the rapid pace of change in fintech today, what would your top five tips be for reskilling/upskilling initiatives for teams belonging to this niche?
I would say learning and improving blockchain architecture, blockchain standards, mastering cross disciplinary expertise, developing knowledge of business drivers and expected outcomes, and finally — continuous improvement.
Before we wrap up, a few biggest learning and tips you’d like to share with fintech innovators and leaders.
Set your goals based on your passions or what you really want to achieve. Be bold and never stop learning. Maintain updated knowledge because yesterday’s knowledge will be obsolete tomorrow.
Name any one book that you loved reading!
I recently read Fish! By John Christensen, Stephen C. Lundin, and Harry Paul and I really enjoyed it from beginning to end. It’s a short but insightful read.
Thank you, Luz! That was fun and we hope to see you back on Global Fintech Series.
[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]
Luz Mabel del Valle is Chief Risk Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of FV Bank. Luz, who serves on the executive team, leads all risk management functions including financial, product, operational, and enterprise risk.
Prior to joining FV Bank Luz gained over twenty years of multi-faceted expertise in bank operations, risk analysis, and management. Her prior leadership roles include serving as Chief Compliance and Accounting Officer at Encanto Group, and Chief Compliance Officer at Stern International Bank. Luz also held a long-standing position as Principal Examiner – Subject Matter Expert in Compliance at the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF).
FV Bank is a global digital bank and digital asset custodian regulated by the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF), Puerto Rico, USA. FV Bank seamlessly integrates banking and payments with digital asset custody services in a regulated and compliant infrastructure. With products ranging from depository accounts and payment services to digital asset custody and VISA card issuance, FV Bank supports the unique requirements of corporates, institutions, family offices and their respective clients through online banking and integrated API solutions.
