The Consumer Bankers Association’s (CBA) 16th annual CBA LIVE conference included illuminating conversations about technological innovation, regulatory policy implications and customer-centric business strategies.
Amid mounting regulatory and economic uncertainty, the conference began with a general session underscoring shared determination among retail banking leaders to adapt, innovate, and enhance consumer trust.
CBA President and CEO Lindsey Johnson kicked off the opening session by calling the current moment a transformative one for the retail banking industry.
“Retail banks have embraced [the] race for the future,” Johnson said. “We’ve made tremendous strides to thrust this industry into the digital age, from expanded mobile banking to launching a peer-to-peer payment network, and much more […].”
Asserting “the stakes are high,” Johnson challenged the audience of bank executives, compliance professionals and third-party financial services providers to “be the leader who compels transformation, anticipates change, and boldly takes measured risks to adapt,” rather than the type to simply “watch it happen.”
CBA’s chair-elect for 2026, Financial Health Network CEO Jennifer Tescher, delivered the keynote address, urging banks to use customer data as a means of driving financial stability.
“If your customers want financial stability then ask yourself, what can we do to get them to the finish line?” Tescher asked, rhetorically. “[…] Connecting the dots of your customers’ financial lives requires harnessing their data.”
The session also featured a panel discussion with executives from Citizens Bank, Plaid, and Bank of America.
Citizens Vice Chair and Head of Consumer Banking Brendan Coughlin, who will serve as the 2025 CBA Board Chair, discussed how his institution differentiates itself in the competitive financial services landscape.
“When you have that killer customer instinct, you can make great products, and that’s what we did to make our bank different […],” Coughlin said. “Making the complex really simple is what we do as banks for consumers […] I’m big on contextual strategy, you have to really know your institution and your consumers.”
Bank of America’s President of Retail Banking Holly O’Neill underscored the importance of accessibility, stating, “We have 70 million customers who engage with us 50 billion times a year... Whether that’s at a branch or digitally, we have to meet consumers where they’re at.”
Plaid CEO Zach Perret emphasized the rising consumer demand for seamless financial data access across multiple institutions.
“Consumers want access to their data,” he said. “They don’t want to be locked in to one bank account, but they want all of their accounts to be able to talk to each other.”
Amid these discussions, CBA announced its newly elected executive board members, reinforcing the trade group’s commitment to leadership in an evolving industry.