CONNECT 24: Two Days of Content, Conversation, and Connections

Cheryl Brown

CONNECT 24, Q2's annual customer conference, brought almost 1,500 people to Austin, Texas, in early June. Besides Q2 customers and prospects, the conference included strategic partners and sponsors, consultants, and analysts.

In a jam-packed two days, there were:

Thirty-two breakout sessions in tracts on commercial, consumer, strategy, platform, data and AI, and small business—a new tract this year driven by the importance more financial institutions are putting on this valuable yet underserved segment
Ten partner/sponsor sessions covering solutions for risk and fraud prevention, financial wellness, and business operations
Four keynotes from Q2 executives focused on the latest innovation and strategy development at Q2

A key ingredient of CONNECT 24 was giving financial institutions a louder voice and more opportunity to learn from each other. More than 60 external speakers participated in breakouts and general sessions, sharing their own experiences on subjects such as AI, back-office efficiency, deposit growth strategies, payments innovation, and fraud prevention.

Women in Banking

A popular addition to this year’s CONNECT was the breakout session “Women in Banking,” along with the Women in Banking Breakfast. Although 50% of bank employees are women, they hold only 18% of C-suite positions globally. Q2 is committed to helping correct this imbalance.

While the breakfast offered an opportunity for conference attendees to network and discuss issues that women in this industry face, the breakout session incorporated a panel of women CEOs from four financial institutions to tackle a discussion on the gender gap and how to foster better mentoring for future women leaders.

Congratulations to Q2 Excellence Award Winners

Seven financial institutions were recognized at CONNECT as 2024 Q2 Excellence Award recipients. The banks and credit unions selected this year have achieved exceptional outcomes and introduced innovative solutions for their organizations, customers or members, and communities. Winners are:

• VeraBank: Bank of the Year
• United Federal Credit Union: Credit Union of the Year
• UCCU: Collaboration
• Elements Financial: Community
• Dacotah Bank: Growth
• Stanford Federal Credit Union: Innovation
• First Hawaiian Bank: Transformation