Posts by John Watts

As SVP of Operations & General Manager of Lending Solutions, John Watts is responsible for the leadership and direction of the company’s lending solutions. Watts coordinates the development and delivery of Baker Hill’s loan origination and portfolio risk management solutions. Relying on almost 30 years of experience in the financial services and business industries, Watts directs Baker Hill’s Advisory Services, Implementation Project Management, Configurations, Education Services, Client Support teams as well as Product Management, Product Development and IT to ensure success.

Watts is also past president of the Indiana Golf Association and a former member of the board of directors for Indiana First Tee. Watts earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Investments, Finance and Banking from University of Wisconsin – Madison and received his master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, from University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.

What We Learned in 2020: A New Digital Banking Strategy

Posted on December 11, 2020 by John Watts

The need to deliver a digital experience to a bank’s small business and commercial customers has been a rallying cry for several years. While the need has been there, the digital focus has been heavily centered on the consumer customer....

Coronavirus Impact on Banking: Wall Street vs. Main Street

Posted on March 20, 2020 by John Watts

One month ago, life was good. Spring was just around the corner. Many people were getting ready for spring break. The dogwoods and azaleas were about to bloom at Augusta National for the Masters. Now, none of that matters. We...

FinTechs: Where Are They Now?

Posted on July 26, 2019 by John Watts

L ending to small businesses by FinTechs has been a hot topic. Investors have been investing significant dollars in to companies like Lending Club and Prosper. Articles in the past have been predicting the end of traditional banking and lending...

Life Lessons: How They Apply to Lending

Posted on February 1, 2019 by John Watts

At the end of last year, I cleaned out some old files and found a list of life lessons from years ago. As I reread the list, I kept thinking how applicable the lessons are to successful lending. Many are...

Law of Nature

Posted on May 24, 2018 by John Watts

The definition of a “law of nature” is “a regular occurring or apparently inevitable phenomenon observable in human society.” The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Death and taxes are inevitable. In finance and business, capital needs...

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same…

Posted on January 26, 2018 by John Watts

There are many reasons for a banker to lose sleep these days. The issues affecting banks year after year are myriad: increasing competition from traditional and non-traditional players, margin compression in the low interest rate environment playing havoc with bank...