What do you know about Kansas? Of course, it is well-known in popular culture as the home of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, but there is much more to 15th largest state by area than its role in cinematic history. Kansas is also an agricultural powerhouse—agriculture and related services employ 245,539 and have a direct output of $46.9 billion![1] But farming and cattle are not the only economic drivers; the two largest employers are Spirit Aerosystems and Textron Aviation and other high-tech firms, like Garmin and Koch Industries, also call the state home.[2]
The two biggest cities, Wichita and Overland Park, are collectively home to approximately 20% of the state’s population and this figure increases substantially if you include the greater metropolitan areas for both cities. Research by Wichita State University reveals that Kansas’ population with grow by almost 22% by 2064 to an estimated total of 3.5 million and 80.2% of all Kansans will live in metropolitan areas, as opposed to rural communities, by 2064.[3] Moreover, those researchers predict that Kansas, like the country as a whole, will see its share of older Americans increase in the coming decades and the Kansas City metro area is expected to lead the growth in with an average annual increase of 2.6%.
What all these numbers and facts reveal is that Kansas is home to a dynamic population that financial institutions must understand to provide the products and services their account holders need. The effort to develop those products and services begins with fundamental education about creating, implementing, and managing a payments strategy, or a plan for the future. Call it what you want—a strategy, a plan, a roadmap—every member in the EPCOR footprint can and should have a plan for how their institution will evolve and how improvements to their payment systems and products can support the larger vision of the institution and the needs of their account holders and communities.
Join me in a few weeks for a New Payments Game Plan Workshop in Kansas City, KS December 4. We will have a robust discussion on the latest developments in payments, review the fundamental steps of a comprehensive strategy, and most importantly, have a day filled with peer-driven conversations about the common issues impacting faster payments! In the coming weeks, I will also look at other states to examine how and why payments strategies can make a difference across the Midwest.
Next year, these workshops will be spread out throughout the year and across the territory, so watch for announcements about a city near you!
[1] https://agriculture.ks.gov/about-kda/kansas-agriculture
[2] https://www.kansascommerce.gov/the-kansas-edge/learn-about-kansas/top-employers/
[3] https://www.kansaseconomy.org/local-forecasts/population-forecast