Dennis Devine of Alliant Credit Union: How Clear Communication and Shared Vision Drive Fintech Success

The fintech industry is rapidly evolving, blending technology and finance in innovative ways. This evolution demands leaders who are not only tech-savvy but also adept at navigating the unique challenges of the financial sector. Effective leadership in this dynamic environment is crucial for success. What does it take to excel as a C-Level leader in a fintech company? What are the skills, mindsets, and strategies required to lead a fintech organization to new heights? As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dennis Devine.

Dennis Devine serves as the President & Chief Executive Officer of Alliant Credit Union, a national digital financial institution and one of the largest and fastest-growing credit unions in the U.S. with over $18 billion in assets.

Under Dennis’ leadership, Alliant has focused on delivering value in ways that banks can’t. In 2023, through high savings rates, lower loan rates, and the elimination of overdraft fees, he helped Alliant members see over $450 million in financial returns over national bank averages. Recently, Alliant was named Best Credit Union of 2024 by the Wall Street Journal, Bankrate, CNBC, and NerdWallet, in addition to the New York Post naming Alliant among the best five banks and credit unions for mobile banking. Built In also recognized Alliant as a three-time winner of its 2024 Best Places to Work awards.

With decades of experience in financial services, Dennis brings a rich background and knows the distinct advantage that Alliant offers as a national digital credit union. Prior to Alliant, Dennis held senior leadership roles at KeyBank, Citizens Financial Group and PNC Bank. Earlier in his career, Dennis was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.

He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Michigan. Dennis is active in the financial services industry and his community, including serving as a board trustee for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, board director for PSCU/Co-op Solutions, member of the Strategic Advisory Board for FTV Capital and board chair for the Alliant Foundation

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I’m blessed to work with an incredible team at a one-of-a-kind company: a national digital credit union. My journey here was not direct.

I started my career as an attorney. I graduated from Harvard Law School and the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). My business career began with McKinsey & Company as a management consultant, where outstanding leaders and teams would shape my future. Afterward, I’ve been fortunate to learn financial services from some of the best at PNC Bank, Citizens Financial Group, and KeyBank.

As President and CEO of Alliant Credit Union, I’m able to put a lifetime of learning into action, embracing digital transformation and distinctive financial serve to establish Alliant as one of the leading digital financial institutions in the US. Part of Alliant’s brand DNA is social impact, and my personal commitment to community engagement includes a role on the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and board chair for the Alliant Foundation.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Very early in my career as a management consultant, I was assigned a new business venture in an industry I did not yet know well. In our kickoff meeting, executives from three different countries were present. Not yet confident, I was silent during that meeting. I was so quiet that a senior client asked a partner if I had an impactful role on the team following that first meeting.

I learned two lessons from that experience. One, many emerging leaders find themselves in moments like this. I seek opportunities to coach temmates to find their voice and contribute. Insights and decisions are best when you draw out the very best of the team. Second, I will listen then seek ways to add value and a unique perspective.

Toward the end of that engagement, I’d been promoted to be a key leader and clients were interested to hire me. Incredible growth is possible when you create opportunities and put teammates in a position to succeed.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

At Alliant Credit Union, we are continuously exploring new ways to enhance our member experience and their financial wellness. Our Alliant Cashback Visa with 2.5% cash back reflects our commitment to providing industry-leading rewards, helping individuals maximize their spending power and savings. The Alliant Cashback Visa has garnered significant attention and has even been named the best cashback credit card by Money. Through our partnerships with Visa and PSCU/Co-op, we aim to offer innovative solutions that empower our members to maximize their financial resources while enjoying the convenience and security of Visa’s global network.

Thank you for that. Let’s now shift to the central focus of our discussion. The fintech industry is known for its fast-paced and ever-evolving nature. How do you lead your team through periods of significant change or disruption? What strategies do you use to maintain team morale and productivity during such times?

The fintech industry is more fast-paced than ever in this current post-pandemic climate. As the CEO of Alliant Credit Union, leading my team through periods of significant change or disruption involves clear communication and aligning on a shared vision. Our executive team is together every Tuesday, and we bring our senior team together no less than monthly to discuss changes, decisions, and alignment, ensuring we are all on the same page and keeping up with the ever-changing environment before bringing them to the board. By providing support, resources, and training, we navigate through transitions collaboratively, leveraging the strengths of each team member to overcome challenges and seize opportunities. So much so that we recently launched a new Employee Value Proposition, weaving these practices into the DNA of Alliant Credit Union. Fully Digital. Fully Human. Full of Possibility.

How do you come up with goals for your area of responsibility within the organization?

A unique part of my process for setting goals is that I ask my senior leaders to share their goal openly, and to call out dependencies they have with others on the team. We do this as we’re finalizing our full year plan, to ensure we have alignment on priorities and, most importantly, intersections. We review performance again these targets in monthly business reviews.

How do you manage reporting to your board?

We are blessed with an incredibly talent and diverse board who joined Alliant for the opportunity to shape and govern the nation’s only fully digital and fastest-growing credit union. Alliant has a compelling mission and structural competitive advantage, which is attractive to our board.

Each board meeting starts with a member impact story, grounding our discussions in our first value (to “wow” members) and their true significance of our mission. Reports to the board are strategically framed to highlight key performance metrics and actionable insights, fostering meaningful discussions, governance, informed decision-making. By prioritizing focused discussions our board meetings ensure that our member-centric objectives remain at the forefront of our strategic initiatives, and the best of our board’s talents can shape our governance and industry-leading performance.

Do you have any specific strategies that you use to manage your teams?

1. I encourage open dialogue, active listening, and constructive feedback — that’s how we learn from one another and grow — this also fosters a culture of transparency and trust. By setting clear expectations and providing mentorship, professional development opportunities, and recognition, I empower my teams to innovate, take ownership of their work, and achieve collaborative success.
2. In addition, we highly value our business partners. We could not be the institution we are for our members without them. Partners value that we are transparent and direct, and that we seek win-win outcomes to advance their businesses as we grow together.

Fintech companies often disrupt traditional financial services by focusing heavily on customer experience. Can you describe a customer-centric initiative you spearheaded at your company and the impact it had on your business?

To enhance our member experience, we are constantly working on personalization and digital innovation. Artificial Intelligence is a hot topic, changing how we do business. We take 70,000 calls monthly from our members at our 24/7 call center. In the “old days,” calls were organized by a small number of codes as to why a member would call; if you were looking at the code, you couldn’t get the full personalized member story. Now, we can take every single call, transcribe it to text, and then use the power of generative AI to determine why members call and how we can design a digital experience to streamline services so that next time, they don’t have to call if they don’t want to but can handle issues digitally.

Decision-making in fintech involves assessing various risks, including technological, financial, and security risks. How do you approach risk assessment in your role, and can you give an example of a tough decision you made that involved a significant risk?

Risk assessment in my role as CEO involves identifying, evaluating, and mitigating potential risks while assessing opportunities for growth and innovation. I distinctly remember having the opportunity to work with a key fintech partner on member digital experiences. We were very excited about this partnership; however, being a smaller financial technology business, they did not yet have the level of security that we would expect, and we were unwilling to move forward unless they could install key security controls. It nearly ended the partnership, but in the end they enhanced their security infrastructure and now they’re better equipped to handle other partnerships.

Based on your experience and success, what are the “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective C-Level Leader Of A Fintech Company?” How have these 5 things impacted your work or your career?

To be a highly effective C-level leader of a fintech company, embracing Alliant’s values of “wow members,” unleash talent,” “be bold,” “build together,” and “do good” is paramount. “Wow members” emphasizes prioritizing exceptional member experiences. “Unleash talent” encourages nurturing the potential of individuals and teams, fostering innovation and growth. “Be bold” promotes daring and innovative decision-making, propelling the company forward in a dynamic industry. “Build together” underscores collaboration and teamwork, harnessing collective strengths to achieve shared goals. “Do good” instills a sense of responsibility toward stakeholders and the community, driving sustainable and ethical practices. Embracing these values has deeply influenced my leadership approach, fostering a culture of excellence, innovation and social impact.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

If I could start a movement to bring the most good to the most people, it would be focused on digital inclusion. Too many in our country do not have basic access to broadband internet, devices, and digital skills. Digital inequity prevents fair access to education, healthcare, employment opportunities, and financial services, among others basic needs. The Alliant Foundation has been able to move the needle a bit, last year the foundation launched a million-dollar challenge, a program that will award one million dollars in grants to nonprofit organizations and community initiatives that foster digital inclusion. Once again, in this space Alliant is blessed to have incredible and impactful partners.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I am active on LinkedIn and you can connect with me at: Dennis Devine | LinkedIn

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

About The Interviewer: Kieran Powell is the EVP of Channel V Media a New York City Public Relations agency with a global network of agency partners in over 30 countries. Kieran has advised more than 150 companies in the Technology, B2B, Retail and Financial sectors. Prior to taking over business operations at Channel V Media, Kieran held roles at Merrill Lynch, PwC and Ernst & Young. Get in touch with Kieran to discuss how marketing and public relations can be leveraged to achieve concrete business goals.