The Bank Customer Experience Podcast is kicking off 2026 with an episode on new ATM fraud methods and how to prevent them. Podcast host Bradley Cooper spoke with Michael Strange, director of technology services, Cook Solutions Group and Alyssa Luecke, fintech solutions consultant, Cook Solutions Group on this evergreen topic, as criminal groups never stop innovating when it comes to breaking into ATMs.

Strange said that the biggest method we are seeing is a resurgence of jackpotting attacks that is being driven in part by "complacency" on the part of financial institutions. In some cases, the criminal groups are still using decades old techniques, while others are taking advantage of vulnerabilities with PCI ports.

Some financial institutions have responded to these threats through various gadgets such as alarms. However, Strange pointed out that many times there aren't any procedures in place on how to handle security events. For example, someone might take the top hat off the ATM, which activates the alarm, then they replace it. The financial institution will consider it a false alarm and ignore it when the criminal comes back again to actually finish the jackpotting attack.

To address these issues, Strange and Luecke emphasized the importance of overlapping security measures from object detection on cameras to alarms and encryption and more.

Strange and Luecke also discussed:

• How Cook Solutions Group is working with the U.S. Secret Service.
• The best security practices for banks.
• The strangest ATM attacks of 2025.
• What banks can expect in 2026.

Listen to the podcast in its entirety above.

Banks today have a great number of customer experience pain points. There's the trust factor to consider, on whether customers feel their bank actually care about them and their financial struggles. But there's also the fact that customers expect a seamless experience across multiple channels, whether that's in the branch, mobile or at the branch.

In today's episode of the Bank Customer Experience podcast, Brian McEvoy, chief retail banking officer at Webster Five, joined Bradley Cooper to discuss how banks can navigate these customer pain points.

He said during the podcast that "people process technology in unison." In other words, the various platforms have to work together. It's not enough to have a fancy mobile app that doesn't integrate well with your other bank platforms or doesn't integrate with third party apps.

McEvoy added that the hardest part for banks is: "How do you make a frictionless experience for the customer?" This is a particularly big problem as customers have far less patience for any frustration in the experience.

"If there's any pain point in the experience, our tolerance and patience is less than it used to be."

So how do banks address this? McEvoy pointed to a few important elements:

• Refocus branches to have a custom experience for guests.
• Use AI to automate simpler tasks.
• Use a mobile-first strategy to ensure all your bank's features are accessible.

During the discussion, McEvoy addressed several subtopics such as:

• Identifying pain points.
• Making a good branch experience.
• Keeping the personal touch while also using AI.

Listen to the full discussion above.

Banks are embracing AI for several different purposes. Some are using it for fraud detection, loan origination and handling basic customer interactions. While big banks have a great deal of resources for AI, community banks can also take advantage of AI tools; however, there's a danger here that banks will over-rely on AI, or not give bankers the ability to override AI decisions and in turn lose that personal touch.

Mack Turner, marketing and insights analyst at Mack Turner Marketing Consulting and Insights LLC joined Bradley Cooper to discuss how banks are using and how they should be using AI in today's episode of the Bank Customer Experience podcast.

For larger banks, Turner said that "banks increasingly use AI to forecast customer behavior in the credit decisioning and predictive modeling space. Large banks use AI to scale what humans can do, especially where data is voluminous and patterns subtle."

On the community banking side, he discussed how can use AI for fraud or check detection, as well as screening small business lending.

On the banker side, this has led to bankers increasingly moving away from routine transactions to high emotion, stressful conversations with customers such as fraud events or mortgages. Turner said that due to this shift banks need to make sure employees are well supported to avoid burnout.

Other topics discussed during the podcast included:

• The importance of empathy for the customer and the employee.
• Enabling employees to override AI decisions.
• Using AI to support rather than replace humans.

Listen to the podcast in its entirety above.