SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Archway announced the launch of its platform for banks to modernize and personalize digital customer interactions, backed by a funding round of $15 million led by Madrona and WaFd Bank. The more than 10,000 community and regional banks in the U.S. are critical elements to healthy regional economies, but they are hampered by the lack of technology to compete with their national and global counterparts. Archway’s platform enables banks to easily integrate their core banking products into the latest web, mobile, voice, and AI technologies. Centralizing the data from disparate systems allows banks to have a holistic view of their customers to serve their banking needs better.
“The consumer fintech revolution has reimagined what is possible for banks, but the technology is hard to build and expensive to integrate. Banking infrastructure is heavily regulated, and many banks have systems that work well for the business of running the bank but are not optimized for customer service, which puts the bank at a disadvantage,” said Dustin Hubbard, president of Archway. “With a cloud-native approach, we are abstracting the complexity for banks and enabling them to easily integrate the technologies their consumers want.”
“In a world where consumers can bank anywhere and expect Uber- and Amazon-like banking experiences, the banking community needs a platform that can serve both the bank’s business needs and the needs and desires of its current and future customers,” said Steve Singh, Madrona managing director. “Archway has already proven its ability to build and deploy services that banks and consumers want, and we are excited to partner with the team to continue to build.” As part of the funding, Singh joins the Archway board of directors.
Archway first tackled the difficult problem confronting many of these banks — siloed data about their customers. By creating a datalake that provides a 360 view of each customer, banks can understand their customer base and serve them better. Another one of the early services launched is an integration with TalkDesk, a call center solution widely used in the banking industry, and Amazon’s Lex, a conversational AI service. Consumers can now call their bank, be recognized by voice, and quickly access account information. The Archway team is rolling out other integrations, including forecasting, loan processing, and other standard banking services.
Archway provides a single access point through an API to seamlessly connect a bank’s core internal technology stack to consumer-facing applications. These applications could be anything from budgeting apps to loan application workflows. Archway also helps banks consolidate and integrate their data safely, providing one source of truth for decision support and untangling the complexity of merging back-end systems.
Archway began as WaFd Bank’s Pike Street Labs. WaFd Bank CEO Brent Beardall and Archway Chairman Steve Singh recognized the need to build a robust technology layer that would ensure the continued growth of WaFd Bank. This thriving regional banking system spans eight states with more than 200 branches. The team recognized that the industry needs this solution across the U.S., in every community. Pike Street Labs has been up and running for 3.5 years, headed by Dustin Hubbard, a technology veteran with experience building complex back-end systems. Hubbard brought on a team and built the platform and first solutions deployed at WaFd Bank. Hubbard will now lead the team forward as Archway continues building its platform to support the modern consumer.
“At WaFd Bank, we have built personalized high-value banking relationships with our customers, be they real estate developers, manufacturers pursuing expansion loans, a small business managing the ebb and flow of income, students opening their first checking account, or a first-time home buyer looking for the right mortgage loan,” said Brent Beardall. “With Archway, we are doing that in a technology-first environment that enables the highest level of customer service and employee satisfaction. Technology can and should drive improved client experience, stronger controls, and more efficiency. I have heard from banks around the country that what we have started to build is the solution they have been looking for, and we are excited to back Dustin and the team as they roll out solutions for WaFd and other banks.”
About Archway
Archway is a modern banking platform connecting internal infrastructure and data used nationwide by more than 10,000 banking systems to the applications consumers use daily. The Archway platform enables regional and community banks to compete with their national and global competitors to serve their communities as a trusted banker and partner in business and life planning. www.archwaysoftware.com
About Madrona
Madrona (www.madrona.com) is a venture capital firm that invests in early stage to mid stage companies in the technology industry. With more than 25 years of investing in early stage technology companies, the firm has worked with founders from Day One to help build their company for the long run. Madrona manages over $3 billion and was an early investor in companies such as Amazon, Smartsheet, Rover, Nautilus, Redfin, and Snowflake.
About WaFd Bank
WaFd (NASDAQ: WAFD) is a regional bank established in 1917 with headquarters in Seattle, and more than 200 branches in eight western states, including Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. WaFd is committed to delivering simple, straightforward banking solutions to its clients; helping build healthy, thriving communities; and investing in its employees. WaFd Bank is recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of the Best Banks in America over three years in a row, and one of America’s Best Employers by Forbes. For more information, visit wafdbank.com.