Provident Bank Says Strategy Focused on Simplicity Over Shiny Tech

Scott Hurlbert’s clearest reminder that customer experience is still personal came through a text from his daughter.

She was away at college and wanted to do something sensible with her savings, like investing in the kind of high-yield savings move many people make for the first time in their early 20s.

“Dad,” she wrote, “I think it’s time for me to get a high-rate money market account. What do you think I should do?”

The exchange captured what banks sometimes forget. Even digital natives start with trust, then look for the fastest, simplest way to act.

That blend of human confidence and digital convenience is the North Star for Provident Bank’s latest transformation push. Founded in Jersey City in 1839, Provident reported $24.83 billion in assets as of Sept. 30 and serves customers through more than 140 branches across New Jersey and parts of New York and Pennsylvania, plus mobile and online banking.

The bank announced in December leadership appointments and promotions designed to strengthen customer experience and innovation, including added depth in technology and data leadership.

In broad strokes, the moves give the bank more senior capacity to run modern platforms securely, build a stronger data and analytics discipline, and keep technology aligned to the business, not the other way around.

Hurlbert, senior vice president of digital channels at Provident, tied that hiring push to culture and connected culture to competitive advantage.

“It starts from the top of the company to create the right culture, to create the right experience, to create that emotional connection with our customers,” he told PYMNTS. “We’re not going to outspend the national banks, but we will outserve them.”

For Hurlbert, “outserve” is an operating choice. Make people reachable and empower them to solve problems.

“You make your people accessible to your customers and you set them up for success,” he said. “That’s what you really miss in the gigantic organizations where you just run into a wall of procedure and red tape.”

The Relationship Factor

Community banks have long competed on relationships. Now, they have to prove those relationships through digital experiences that feel as smooth as the apps customers use every day, while competing with national banks that can spend heavily on technology.

PYMNTS Intelligence research produced with Velera showed how volatile young loyalty can be. One report found that 36% of Generation Z members said they are likely to consider leaving their institution, compared with 14% of consumers overall.

The same research helped explain why, as 62% of Gen Z respondents said they are open to using AI for “what if” financial planning, signaling that instant, interactive guidance is becoming a baseline expectation. Yet Gen Z is not purely self-serve. Nearly half prefer in-person engagement when they want advice.

PYMNTS Intelligence and Velera also found that Gen Z is more likely than the average consumer to want digital onboarding and more likely to value open banking. The tech race is changing who gets access to innovation.

PYMNTS Intelligence data from the Credit Union Tracker produced with Velera showed FinTech partnerships with credit unions grew nearly 19% year over year, while partnerships with national banks declined by more than 50%, a sign that smaller institutions are increasingly becoming a preferred route to market for new tools.

“Gen Z folks are just people who haven’t banked a lot,” Hurlbert said.

That inexperience makes trust a feature, not a feeling. If you’re unsure, “chances are you actually want to talk to somebody and understand, am I doing the right thing?” he said.

Provident’s transformation plan is not “tech for tech’s sake,” Hurlbert said. “It’s not because we’re trying to create an aura of technology” or “chasing the shiny objects.”

Technology work is coordinated. Data, digital and technology move together.

“Without the data, all of the things we’re trying to do falls flat,” he said. “You need to sequence the tracks in a coordinated way so that you’re growing together.”

That’s also how he said he evaluates FinTech partnerships.

“The first thing you need to ask is, ‘Do I think this can integrate into my core banking environment?’” Hurlbert said. “If the answer is no, you need to be very cautious. These things done in isolation tend to fail.”

One concrete example is account opening. Provident revamped its online onboarding so it’s “very quick and easy,” and then brought that approach into branches so a customer can start digitally and finish in person without repeating steps, he said.

Competing With National Banks

Hurlbert’s critique of large institutions is that they can afford to experiment endlessly, and customers sometimes pay the price.

“Big banks try everything and see what sticks, then shut down what doesn’t work,” he said. “Customers can get lost in that, particularly business clients who need stability. What we can do is be their trusted advisor. We’re not throwing things against the wall to see what works.”

For the balance of this year, Hurlbert said Provident is undertaking a core banking conversion and expects that foundation to make future improvements easier to deliver.

On top of that, Provident is revamping its bill payment experience “so that’s friendlier for customers to use,” he said, and he’s “looking for a new mobile app in the next 12 months.”

“You can’t stand still,” Hurlbert said. “What we did before isn’t going to get us where we need to go.”

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