FinTech Magazine - May 2022 | Page 95

POPi / o . By harnessing the Innovation Lab , something that would have taken 10 months or more , took us just five weeks .”
He adds : “ It proved that the Innovation Lab gave us the ability to move quickly and that there was no need for all the deep integration of the past . Not only that , but our members appreciated and benefited from this partnership . We found that our members didn ’ t really care how deep the integration was or how complete the branding , they just wanted to be able to communicate and interact with us .”
This was a good lesson for MSUFCU , and one that allowed the Innovation Lab team , to get the buy-in it needed to officially launch in September 2020 as The Lab at MSUFCU .

Maxim says : “ With The Lab , we are also able to get new products to market quicker . We found that before , pursuing ideas like this would take too long and would sometimes lead to missed opportunities . So with The Lab , we take homegrown ideas , build them into prototypes and get them out in front of our members quickly .” “ In general as a business , if you are not growing and improving , then there is a good chance you won ’ t make it long term [...] Innovation is truly the way forward ”

BENJAMIN MAXIM VICE PRESIDENT OF DIGITAL STRATEGY AND INNOVATION , MSUFCU

EXECUTIVE BIO

BENJAMIN MAXIM
TITLE : VICE PRESIDENT OF DIGITAL STRATEGY AND INNOVATION
INDUSTRY : FINANCIAL SERVICES LOCATION : DETROIT , USA
Ben Maxim joined MSU Federal Credit Union in 2007 and currently serves as VP of Digital Strategy and Innovation for MSUFCU and as CTO for MSUFCU ’ s wholly-owned CUSO Reseda Group and its subsidiaries Spave and Ever Green 3C . He is responsible
for assessing emerging business trends and technologies , providing strategic direction for existing and future digital channels , and leading their innovation centre The Lab at MSUFCU . He is also responsible for the technology and product pillars of Reseda Group and its subsidiaries . Maxim began work initially as a Web Developer and in 2014 , he became E-Commerce Manager before moving into roles including AVP of Software Development . He earned a bachelor ’ s degree from Michigan State University and a professional certificate in Innovation & Entrepreneurship from Stanford University .
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