Craig Focardi, CMB
Biography
With a multi-disciplinary background in economics, finance, technology and marketing, Craig leverages his retail lending and banking industry experience to advise and consult on business-led technology strategy and investment for financial institutions, technology providers, and technology investment firms.
Craig's coverage areas include digital lending strategy, market sizing and technology selection across the credit lifecycle for all consumer credit products. Complementary coverage areas include analytics, digital content management and core system transformation. His advisory engagements have included core lending and banking system vendor selection for financial institutions, market feasibility and go-to market assessments for technology vendors, and technology provider acquisition due diligence for FinTech investors.
Craig is a frequent speaker and moderator at industry conferences, including BAI, Mortgage Bankers Association annual and technology conferences, and AFSA. He has also written dozens of bylined articles for Mortgage Banking Magazine, Lending Strategy (UK) and American Banker.
Craig began his career in economics and finance and marketing in the mortgage industry for lenders and IT vendors, including The Federal Home Loan Bank, The PMI Group, Wells Fargo, and CoreLogic. Craig then spent 16 years as a banking industry analyst at TowerGroup and CEB prior to joining Celent.
Craig received an M.A. in applied economics from the University of San Francisco and graduated with high honors from the State University of New York at Oneonta with a B.S. in business economics. Craig also attended Schiller University in Heidelberg, where he studied international trade. Craig holds the Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) designation from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Latest insights
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19 November 2024
2025 will be another year of change and opportunity for retail banking. Technology budgets are expected to increase by over 5% on average, as in… -
8 October 2024
I recently had the opportunity to attend Fiserv Forum in Las Vegas, NV from September 29-October 1, 2024. Lasting over 2 ½ fast-paced days, this… -
4 September 2024
The core banking system technology market for community banks continues to modernize at a steady pace. Vendors continue to proactively and profi… -
21 August 2024
The CFPB's proposals for Section 1033 mark the beginning of a new era for open banking in the US. Assuming the proposals that are published in O…
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