Jeff Stephens

About

Who I Am

I’m an early-30’s guy, living in Portland, Oregon.  I’m happily married, with no kids, two cats and a couple business ventures.  For the official Jeff Stephens resume, please visit my LinkedIn profile.

As a grad of the University of Oregon, I’m a big Duck fan.  My wife and I, along with a couple friends, get season football tickets each year and love going down to Eugene to watch the Ducks beat up on Pac-10 rivals.  We get to basketball games when we can, but a Tuesday evening game is pretty inconvenient when you live two hours away.

Although my mind is almost always at work, I try to make sure the rest of me gets a break now and then.  So I end up playing indoor soccer and basketball with my buddies, playing guitar, golfing, and trying to get out and do Pacific Northwest-type stuff like camping, hiking and white water rafting.

Life is good.

What I Believe

I believe the financial services industry is a backbone of our country, and it needs to be strong.

I believe financial services have become a commodity, and that our primary goal is to decommoditize our banks and credit unions.

I believe the best credit unions and banks are run by those who are business people and entrepreneurs first, and bankers second.

I believe any bank or credit union’s biggest barrier is consumer apathy–people care about their money almost more than anything, but care about their banking less than anything.

I believe the primary innovations banks and credit unions must pursue are non-technical in nature–innovations in paradigms, business models and ways of thinking, rather than new tech tools.

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