Locked In or Moving Forward: Rethinking Core Renewals

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Wrestling Payments, host Joe Casali sits down with Rich Carty from Remedy to dig into the realities of core technology contracts in banking and payments. Rich shares how financial institutions weigh tough choices when locked into long-term vendor agreements and why early planning is critical. He explains how most banks only revisit core contracts every few years, often finding themselves committed to outdated solutions for longer than they expect.

Rich points out that new technology and artificial intelligence are top of mind for many leaders. He sees demand for AI solutions rising fast, but notes that organizations remain cautious, balancing the urge to innovate with the need to avoid early missteps. Rich encourages institutions to seek advice, gather input from all departments, and focus on due diligence before making changes.

Throughout the conversation, Rich uses real stories to show the value of reviewing contracts and staying proactive. He highlights how the right approach can free up resources, improve vendor relationships, and help organizations adapt as the payments industry evolves.

GUEST-AT-A-GLANCE
Name: Rich Carty
What he does: Vice President, Business Development
Company: Remedy
Noteworthy: Rich helps banks and credit unions review, negotiate, and optimize technology vendor contracts, with a focus on core systems, renewals, and technology transitions.
Where to find him:https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-carty-24918918

KEY INSIGHTS

Start Contract Planning Three Years Ahead

Long-term vendor contracts shape how banks operate, often locking in core systems for up to a decade. Early planning is the best way to avoid getting stuck with outdated technology or unfavorable terms. 

Financial institutions that want options—like switching vendors or just negotiating a better deal—need to start the process two to three years before their current contract expires. This timeline accounts for vendor schedules, internal reviews, and the complexity of core system transitions. 

By moving early, organizations protect themselves from last-minute decisions and keep leverage at the table. The approach also gives teams time to gather input across departments and align technology with business goals. In a fast-moving payments landscape, a proactive timeline is the difference between staying ahead and falling behind.

Due Diligence Uncovers Savings and Prevents Regret

A thorough review of technology contracts can reveal hidden costs and new opportunities. Even long-standing vendor relationships deserve a second look, as loyalty doesn’t always mean the best price or terms. 

With due diligence, organizations spot gaps, compare options, and often negotiate better deals. This process can free up resources for growth, support new projects, or make room for future upgrades. Relying on familiarity or letting contracts auto-renew leads to missed savings and limits flexibility. 

By treating every renewal or transition as a strategic decision, financial institutions protect their budgets and set themselves up for smarter, more agile operations.

Transcript

Locked In or Moving Forward: Rethinking Core Renewals
 NEACH - Wrestling Payments - Rich Carty

Season 3 Episode 24

[00:00:00] Rich Carty: we get a lot of requests and topics coming in. Two out of every three right now is around ai. You know, that's what people wanna hear and see. Now that being said, you know, we're, depending on how you stand on it, You gotta know what's there. And I wouldn't be the first in line to sign up for something like that. But on the flip side of it, you know, you don't wanna be last either. You wanna be able to keep up with the competition and see what's there. ​

[00:00:53] Joe Casali: And welcome to Wrestling Payments. today is my guest is Rich Carty.

[00:00:58] Rich Carty: Yep. Thanks Joe. Thanks for having us.

[00:01:00] Joe Casali: You are with Remedy. What is, what does Remedy do? I, I know I met you a year ago you're one of those people that you meet and you're immediately friends with. what, what does, what does Remedy do?

[00:01:11] Rich Carty: Yeah. And I, I appreciate that and, and our, you know, newfound friendship, Joe, uh, like the rest of the NEACH Team, you know, it was pretty easy to gravitate and speak with at some of the local events, but, uh. Our group remedy. we're a consulting group that assists financial institutions with their technology vendor contracts.

[00:01:29] Rich Carty: so you know, a majority of them will take a look at the core technology as the renewal approaches, will fight and negotiate for better pricing on the contracts, better terms strategically align, maybe a different vendor if needed, or. maybe upgrade with what they have to, their potential goals to, as, you know, as they grow or if they have kind of something coming down the pipeline.

[00:01:53] Rich Carty: So that's, that's kind of where we, we make our mark, within the, uh, industry, I guess.

[00:01:57] Joe Casali: you know what, we, we are on YouTube. So are you, are you limited in any Geography,

[00:02:02] Rich Carty: we work, throughout the United States, so I'm in, up in the northeast, in Massachusetts. most of our team is situated in the Midwest, just outside Milwaukee, but we do cover, most of the country. Yeah.

[00:02:12] Joe Casali: Okay, so I have, two, two podcasty questions and then we can get into the, the real meat of this. the first one's easy, right? Wrestling payments. Did you ever have a wrestling, you know, favorite wrestler or know anyone who has a favorite wrestler?

[00:02:27] Rich Carty: You know, it's, it's funny you say that. you know, I definitely watched a little bit of wrestling growing up and one of our family friends was a gym teacher at a nearby high school, and I guess her colleague looked a lot like, Hulk Hogan. So they would put on a huge fundraising event each year. I was probably fifth, sixth grade, so right in the heart of really getting into it.

[00:02:47] Rich Carty: And I always thought that was the coolest, you know, thing, you know, he looked just like him. They'd ride the motorcycle right in, they'd rent the ring and they'd do all these performances and the high school kids could all, you know, kind of perform. So naturally I kind of gravitated towards the Hogan Mania movement, in that sense.

[00:03:04] Rich Carty: But, uh.

[00:03:04] Joe Casali: What fun. That's so fun.

[00:03:06] Rich Carty: So I followed it for a couple years, but I'd have to say, you know, the rock then kind of, you know, won me over as I got a little bit older and so forth. Now look at what he's doing, you know, but, uh, yeah, that was probably my first introduction and if, if I had to say a favorite, that would be, where I, where I landed.

[00:03:21] Joe Casali: Excellent, excellent. Got that out of the way. Great. The next one is a, not a trick question, but a little bit of a trick question, and I stole it from, uh, the payments professor. did you imagine yourself doing what you do as a kid? Is this what you always wanted to do? How did you get in this industry?

[00:03:39] Rich Carty: I think that's a really good question too, because you know my, I have two young kids right now and it's fun. Always kind of asking 'em now where they see themselves and what they wanna do when they grow up. Right. My son wants to be a football player. My daughter wants to be, you know, the next Taylor Swift so, you know, if you ask me that their age, it might be a little bit different. But, you know, as I got older, I think I always wanted to kind of be in a consulting type field. you know, I think I didn't know what I wanted to do. I've been in financial services and an array of different sales type capacities.

[00:04:06] Rich Carty: I obviously, I'm on the sales side with Remedy. But, um, I think, you know, within our services, we're able to provide something that's assisting our clients. Um, you know, we're able to save them money or protect them against what they might not see in these contracts. So, like, you know, it's a, it is a feel good story.

[00:04:24] Rich Carty: We're able to obviously operate as a business. But, um, to answer that question, I'd say, yeah, I think I've kind of found a path that, you know, I lo I love the arena we work in and, um, you know, I always said consulting. I didn't know where that would be, but you know, it definitely seems to be fitting the mold at this point.

[00:04:39] Joe Casali: how did you get here is always a great question. I think. thank you for that. Uh, so I'm gonna talk to you about my experience with, conversions, right? Because until I met you, I didn't know a, a firm like you existed. And, you know, it's, it was always, there was always that conversation where, it was almost like it was whispered.

[00:05:05] Joe Casali: oh yeah. No, I didn't, I I didn't see you at the training this year. Oh, we are in a conversion. It's like, whoa, wait a minute. What's happening? and the other side of that business that we always saw, and if you're not in the, the payments industry, this is a big deal. The other, and I, I don't know if I'm supposed to say this or not.

[00:05:23] Joe Casali: The other thing we always saw with those, with contracts like this was that they were locked to in, they were locked in. You know, so they would finish a conversion and that was it. They didn't have a decision to make for the next 15 years, which was like 15 years. And certainly we as NEACH were coming in because they were calling 'cause their system couldn't do something.

[00:05:51] Joe Casali: But they were stuck in that, that scenario. So it was nice, you know, you were, the superhero I didn't know existed when I met you. can you talk a little bit more of what you, you know, how, how this works, how the industry is, um, working today, what you are seeing, a, any, anything you wanna share.

[00:06:10] Joe Casali: I'm sure the audience would love.

[00:06:12] Rich Carty: Absolutely. And you know, kind of piggybacking off what I mentioned, you know, what I wanted to be when I grow up, right? So, um, I came into Remedy about three years ago. You know, definitely a learning curve to learn a little bit more specific to the banking industry. And, um, you know, that on the, on the flip side, you know, our partner and, team have a lot of experience specific to that in, in that sense.

[00:06:36] Rich Carty: And so, you know, I think especially in the contract space. And so what, you know, I think a lot of people know, you know, the typical contract for a core specific is anywhere. You know, we've seen three, but five and seven is typically where, where, you know, we'd probably advise our groups to kind of stick with.

[00:06:53] Rich Carty: There are some vendors pushing 10. and to that point, you know, you know, you might have a senior leader leaving a group and they make this decision and the new person comes in and they can't do anything for say, eight, nine years because now it's taken care of on one hand. Yeah, I'm sure that's nice to not have to worry about it, but if you don't like how something's working or, , you know, it's.

[00:07:15] Rich Carty: You can't make that change until that expiration does come up. So, , to your point, yeah, they are locked in in that sense. And you know, when I, again, from my personal experience when I came in, I just said, geez, that's, that's kind of tough. You know, if you, you know, on my side, if I sign up for car insurance and it seems like the rates are pretty high, you know, I'm only locked in for that year before I can shop it around, you know, for these FIs, if they are locked in, that's a long time.

[00:07:40] Rich Carty: And if you don't do it right at that point. You'll be feeling, you know, not so great about that and kind of stuck. So, you know, I think a lot more, um, diligence is being put in that a lot more, um, you know, how can I do this the right way, you know, at the right time. And, you know, that's, you know, that's what we hopefully try to educate, um, you know, the FIs around, around the country and what they can do.

[00:08:04] Joe Casali: are there contracts on the, the rise? It seems like everyone's involved in some sort of conversion at this point, and I don't know if that's, we have a couple of members that, I guess they're very active. They're in mergers right now. So, I, I engage with them a lot and they've been in a, you know, they've been in the, the process of conversing, now because they're merging.

[00:08:25] Joe Casali: But can you give me the little bit of the life cycle of where you step in and help out? Um, do you help out in that merger situation or is that they, there's no choices there.

[00:08:36] Rich Carty: No, no, you're absolutely right. And I think, you know, also on the conversion side of it, they do take a while from the beginning and all the way through the implementation side. It, it can kind of start too to say, you know, I think the stat was that ICBA throughout in the banking community, 15 to 20% of groups want to actually look at doing a conversion an RFP to see what's there.

[00:09:00] Rich Carty: At the end of the day, I think only two to 3% actually make a change, right? So once you see what the undertaking is and the time, the commitment that's there, it's a lot. You know, there's a lot there. That's not to say you don't wanna do the due diligence aspect of it and see what else is out there, but that's where you kind of talk a little bit about what tech vendor. Really needs, needs to be changed or updated. , Is it the full core or can we kind of, you know, plug and play with what you have in place and make that better? , And to answer, I guess maybe on the timing side of it, you know, again, from what I've heard now and what I've seen is these take not only just the straight renewals, but if you are gonna make a change, it just takes longer and longer in terms of getting on a vendor's schedule to see a demo.

[00:09:46] Rich Carty: Or, you know, you finally sign and say, Hey, we're gonna make that change. Um, you know, there's a long timeline that, that, that does look like. So, you know, we caution, um, you know, financial institutions to, if they just wanna do a renewal, you're probably looking two, two and a half years in advance of that expiration date.

[00:10:04] Rich Carty: If you're actually looking to, , you know, RFP, see these demos and get it on the calendar, you're probably three years in advance, especially on the core side.

[00:10:14] Joe Casali: Right. So I have to start planning three years before the contract's up to, to be safe.

[00:10:20] Rich Carty: Yeah. So as much as people say, Hey, we just signed one, you know, we did a five year contract, you're two years into it, if you actually are serious, you, you're right back to it, right? You're not stuck, but you're now spending more time in terms of what you wanna put into.

[00:10:34] Joe Casali: , I'm a good guesser and sometimes I'm a good guesser and sometimes I'm completely wrong. Here's my guess. My guess is you are good for if I'm exploring a new solution or even if I'm renewing my existing solution. You, you can help in both situations. No.

[00:10:52] Rich Carty: Absolutely. Yeah. So, you know, I, I will say our team, you know, there are other , consultants in, in this space. But, you know, I think what a majority of you know, people like us want to do is. See what the best option is. So what, whether they, they want us to come in and kind of give them a needs, a needs analysis to see what's there and what's working.

[00:11:11] Rich Carty: Or if they actually wanna do the full RFP. , If they want us to help with the tech demos, , you know, we're open to kind of working with that institution and see what works best for them, how much they want to take on themselves. How much guidance and direction they want us to do. , You know, we, again, we're we're people, , people, organization.

[00:11:30] Rich Carty: So we got to work with them that see what fits best for them. Because not every contract, and not every technology is gonna be a fit just based off of, uh, you know, an asset size alone. Right? So it's gotta be, we gotta get to know them. They gotta get to know us.

[00:11:44] Joe Casali: let's look under the curtain, right? I, I, I really wanted to start this podcast. Behind the curtain, like at at oz or, you know, the, the secret sauce. , What are you seeing any trends in features folks are interested in and or onboarding, but really just interested in what has anything changed over the past?

[00:12:09] Rich Carty: , You know, I think. One of the big things that was kind of released, , from the a BA side of the house is they did a core survey that was really popular. They, I wanna say they got responses from over 800 banks throughout the country, and they released it in spring 2025. , You know, there was actually a group, a core group in the Northeast that actually had enough responses.

[00:12:33] Rich Carty: I think they had to have 5%, , of the respondents. Qualify because there's, you know, an NA category, but, and they scored really well. You know, they did really well in that sense, but we'll see. And it's not to knock them in any way, but you know, when, when people have success and things grow with a technology vendor, sometimes that service starts to drop off because now there's a lot more needs on the other side of the house.

[00:12:58] Rich Carty: So, you know, it, it, what we're seeing is that when people do make that change, , and that's not new just within the year, the grass isn't always necessarily greener, it's just what you need to look for and so forth. In that sense, um, you know, again, it, is it worth moving the needle to do it or not, you know, you never know, but it's good to get the, those data points, but then read through that to see what that actually means.

[00:13:20] Joe Casali: And that was, you said that was the ABA

[00:13:22] Rich Carty: Correct? Yep.

[00:13:23] Joe Casali: great. interesting, interesting. , we've seen a lot. I mean, if you asked about AI three years ago, AI was a thing, right? It was ai, people working on ai, , with the rise of, , , Chachi pt. and the recent, this year, it seems like everything is on steroids as far as ai. Are you seeing any, , are you seeing any attitude towards AI that is either don't want anything to do with it or let's, let's, let's use it where it's appropriate or I guess the other thing, gimme anything with AI in it?

[00:14:00] Joe Casali: I'll take it all. You seeing any trend to that?

[00:14:04] Rich Carty: Oh, absolutely. I mean, we'll go to events throughout the year, like a lot, like a lot of vendors will. and obviously, you know, the banks and credit unions attend. You gotta know what's out there. So a majority of these of these. Conferences, like you can, you're gonna get an economic, , economic update. You're gonna get what's going on with ai and then probably something to do with fraud.

[00:14:24] Rich Carty: Those are probably your three biggest topics you're seeing everywhere there. You know, we host our own podcast, bank Talk really popular, so we get a lot of requests and top topics coming in. Two out of every three right now is around ai. You know, that's what people wanna hear and see. Now that being said, you know, we're, depending on how you stand on it, You gotta know what's there. And I wouldn't be the first in line to sign up for something like that. But on the flip side of it, you know, you don't wanna be last either. You wanna be able to keep up with the competition and see what's there. , You know, kind of piggybacking with that, and to your other question is there's a lot of, you know, new generation type course coming out. , You know, it is very similar. You know, do you really wanna be first to do that or not? You know, how the, how are those really gonna integrate compared to, say, the three legacy cores that are there? , Or some of the ones that have been around a little bit longer. So a lot, there's gonna be a lot of changes and it's, it's probably hard to upkeep with that.

[00:15:20] Rich Carty: But I think, you know, using local resources and talking to. Your inner peer circles, that's gonna be the best way to kind of see who's had the experience and see what they've heard, um, you know, to take on whether it is an AI type model or, , a newer technology in that sense.

[00:15:37] Joe Casali: I have two quick questions, but, I, once, I used to listen to the radio an awful lot and I wanted to create a button. That would rewind the radio 10 seconds just because I was mostly listening and I missed something and I, I wanted to go back and if I was listening to this podcast, I would say, what was the name of your podcast?

[00:16:03] Joe Casali: If someone was looking for your podcast, what would the name, what's the name of it?

[00:16:06] Rich Carty: Yeah, absolutely. You three seconds Bank Talk podcast. You got it. One word, bank talk. Yep.

[00:16:12] Joe Casali: Alright. That is one of the things I would, would've been, what was that? Oh, I missed it. Excellent. Bank Talk podcast.

[00:16:20] Rich Carty: And like I said, you know, we, we always look for new topics, like you're saying. AI is very topical. So we have, have had that, but. We've done some great episodes. You know, last year I was able to host the president down in the Maryland area talking about how he was taking a percentage of a money market fund and donating that to the key, uh, bridge rebuild, right? , So we do a lot of different, you know, things that, you know, might not be relevant to, you know, that specific time or area of the country, but at the same time, it's just something else that can, you know. Put in the back of your brain saying, oh, I remember hearing something about that. You know, how does, how does that work?

[00:16:55] Rich Carty: That's, that's interesting. You know, we just, subject matter experts are out there and everything and it's always interesting to hear something different.

[00:17:02] Joe Casali: No, I, I've listened to your podcast when I was starting this all up, so I did get a flavor for it. Um, I just wanted the audience to have that ten second rewind. so you mentioned something that was legacy or new technology. Any, um, uh, any thoughts, anything you wanna share on? You know, I can imagine.

[00:17:23] Joe Casali: Legacy, right? The, for a CH, , typically the systems that have been around forever, and it's like an add-on, on an add-on, on an add-on, whereas building it from scratch is new technology. That's just my, like viewpoint of it. Can you give the professional viewpoint on, you know, the differences?

[00:17:43] Rich Carty: And again, you know, being on the sales side and a little bit newer, you know, compared to the rest of our team, you know, , I'll give you kind of my perspective, but it's, it's inevitable. Tech technology needs to change. You know, at the beginning there's a lot of research and funds being put into technology, and then at some point it kind of plateaus and then, you know, they take a lot less resources and funding out and they'll start to diminish, right?

[00:18:06] Rich Carty: Customer service goes down. And so then they rebuild it. It's, it's , you know, that's just the evolution of technology, you know, whether it's 15, 20, 30 plus years. So I think within the core side of the house, , you know, there there's some new generation cores. That's a topic that we're hearing a lot. We have some clients that have started to go down that path with it.

[00:18:26] Rich Carty: , You know, if you were to ask our consultants, is it ready for prime time right now for everyone? Probably not the case, but. , You know, I think if you are looking at doing it, how, how are you gonna implement that and, you know, dip your toes in the water with it first, right? From what we've seen, you're not getting a cost reduction on it, which I think you should, but you know, if it, if it's newer technology, you're still gonna be paying a premium for that.

[00:18:49] Rich Carty: , And then, you know, the first to under, you know, experience any issues and whatever comes its way there, you know, because again, you're, you're lining up thousands of lines of code to, you know. Integrate and kind of go forward to run, to run, to run the bank and credit union, if you will. And so it can obviously be daunting, let alone if you're doing a conversion to something brand new, a lot more to take in.

[00:19:15] Joe Casali: Yeah, that's, that's really interesting. We had a, , a member and. They were a podcast guests. They were great. , , Ingrid Herbert, I think she's speaking at that Faster payments, , conference. She was like, , you know, I, I don't know how many podcasts you've been on. She was like a walking, , quotable.

[00:19:31] Joe Casali: Everything she said was like, oh my God, that was great. Let me write that down. Oh, that was great. Lemme write that down. She was great. Just, I, I don't know. I mean, she, she was a natural, but they ran into the situation about upgrading. They chose to actually build their own. So they came out with MAs tech and their, I mean, I don't know if that's of interest to you.

[00:19:55] Joe Casali: They are a core, a newer core. The, this thing that I run into, not in the banking industry, but in, in the association industry, , , , we go on board. Member databases, right. Member database. Same sort of process as a, as a core for you. But we had, we had a consultant on our, our database project. It's the accounting for us, and we are very happy with QuickBooks.

[00:20:24] Joe Casali: Many of these member database programs have their own accounting. But it's not, it doesn't meet all the features. So I, I would imagine it's the same story with the, you know, will this new system, new technology meet all the requirements that my old technology did? You know, even if it's a different way, is it missing My current, , accounting system doesn't let me make a journal entry.

[00:20:48] Joe Casali: Can't do it. Doesn't exist, which is really weird from an accounting perspective. Journal entries are, are everyday things, so, . Any, any stories around that at all as far as, , how the newer, , newer systems, newer cores are adapting, growing, catching on?

[00:21:08] Rich Carty: I think, you know, you gotta think too, you know, when you're making a change, whether it is a newer technology or any technology, think of the, the, the way the core touches everyone that works within the bank and anyone outside of the bank, you know, , so you, it's important and people know this, but it's important to understand how, what disruptions are potentially gonna be, , the input from.

[00:21:34] Rich Carty: You know, the tellers to your finance side or whatever it may be, you know, getting the input from those teams to see what's most important and what hasn't worked and what could be there. You know, that's, you know, we want that input as you know, those groups are making those decisions because that's, that's what's gonna affect you on the day-to-day side.

[00:21:54] Rich Carty: And again, you know, with, when you're locked into the contract, you're, you're there working through it, you know. You're not gonna wanna do a conversion sign a seven year contract and then convert after that. Very rarely have we seen or heard that, but it has happened. It's just constant changes, never, , you know, wanted.

[00:22:13] Rich Carty: So, , you know, I think that's the big thing is really kind of having department heads, getting a read of what's needed, kind of going through that and then that's gonna help you maybe make that decision, , along the way. And hopefully it fits.

[00:22:27] Joe Casali: two si two, not silly, but two final questions. when instant payments came along. Is that part of your process or has there been a, um, are people asking that question about onboarding a faster payment system at all?

[00:22:43] Joe Casali: Or is that part of just the whole story?

[00:22:46] Rich Carty: We're, we're pro people aren't probably leading that with our conversations when we get engaged, but once the consultants do get involved, they're gonna, that is gonna get brought up. You know, we ask for pain points, we ask what works well? How are these systems working? And you know, in a negotiation, you know, you don't want to go in with 200 pain points to, to negotiate through.

[00:23:07] Rich Carty: That's just it way too many. So you, you highlight what's there. So we do hear about payments, you know, once we kind of get into the nitty gritty of it. , Just like any other technology or whatever else they want to integrate with what they're trying to accomplish. But yeah, is, it is brought up for sure.

[00:23:22] Joe Casali: Okay. And, and this is , my last, literally this is my last real person, like when I'm interviewing a, a higher question, but is there anything I that I didn't ask that I should have asked?

[00:23:35] Rich Carty: You know, I think there's a lot of different ways to kind of take these conversations. I mean, I could tell a lot of different war stories from my, our side. . I think the big thing is, like I, I talked about the word due diligence and I talked about how there's more and more people using the consultants.

[00:23:51] Rich Carty: I think it's almost doubled, , in the last 10, 15 years where I think 65% of groups are looking to a consultant in some way, , as they either do a negotiation or sort through who they might wanna be selecting. And, you know, again, that due diligence piece can, whether it's your board that's kinda asking for that or a new leader coming in, , you know, there's a lot to look at and consider.

[00:24:15] Rich Carty: So, you know, whether you make the change, whether it's just to kind of do a straight renewal, you know, know that there are, you know, someone like ourselves that can kind of just take a look at it and, and if not us, then you know, at least go through that at the proper timing so you don't get. Stuck in a corner to say, I just need to do an auto renewal or sign up for a 10 year renewal.

[00:24:37] Rich Carty: You know, it's, , there's a lot that goes into it. And, , as strong as you think a relationship may be with a vendor, that doesn't necessarily mean you're getting the best price there. There's a lot of stories we can talk about that where, you know, there's family members on the other side, they thought they were in a great spot, and we start looking through it and, you know, there's millions on the table.

[00:24:55] Rich Carty: So, um. Again, like I said, with my, with my broker for car insurance, I, you know, I'd known him for five years, but once I shopped it around just outta curiosity and he couldn't match it, and you end up, you know, as, as strong as a relationship may be, you know, sometimes the price is the, is the final say. Yeah.

[00:25:14] Joe Casali: No, those are, those are, uh, great points. Your, your insurance guy, your barber, people, you know, people you trust as far as you're going to do something. , Do you have time for maybe a quick war story? We usually go, , this, this is a great length of a podcast, but if you had a war story, I would.

[00:25:34] Rich Carty: Sure. So I guess I'll, I'll just elaborate on that story that I talked about. So this is a smaller group, you with one of their vendors. , And again, they had a family member, they've been to that point, you know, they had been on, , a core for about 30 years. It was a, I think a family friend, , then, and they never really looked at it.

[00:25:53] Rich Carty: And then, you know, they just kind of said, it might be time. We had met them at an event and I just, you know, kind of talked about like, listen, you know, we can do a free look under the hood. We're not gonna, you know. Sign a contract today, but why not at least look right? When's the last time you looked? He said, oh, it's been 30 years.

[00:26:08] Rich Carty: I said, well, you know, we have our repository. We can give the Kelly Blue Book version. You know, take a look what's there, make sure it lines up and no harm, no foul. Not there. We at least did our part and we know you're in good shape. , And then, you know, again, on, on the flip side of it, the term side, you know, they were looking to do a little bit of growth.

[00:26:25] Rich Carty: And so, you know, then you can strengthen the terms and whether use an attorney or us or then we can at least point you in a direction if you didn't want to and you have the time. And so, you know, we got into, you know, we under the hood and once we looked, there was a lot of dollars there and, , they were blown away by it.

[00:26:43] Rich Carty: They could not believe of what that looked like. And so, , with that they were able to open a new branch with the extra dollars and have set off on some other motions. So it, you know, again, it's, it's, uh, that's rewarding for me as a consultant to say, you know, um, you know, we're able to find dollars, protect them in within the, the writing.

[00:27:05] Rich Carty: And, um, you know, again, then you, you build the, like, you, you and me, you build friendships and partnerships, um, to, you know, hopefully help them enhance those contracts and what they wanna be doing moving ahead.

[00:27:16] Joe Casali: Excellent. , That was great. And, and again, , you were like an instant friend. I, yeah. I don't know if you knew, it was like we were old friends by the time we. Exited the exhibit hall.

[00:27:25] Rich Carty: Yeah,

[00:27:25] Joe Casali: that one time I met you. Yeah, it was good. , Alright, well thank you for joining me. , I'm gonna, I'm gonna, , please everyone remember to like, share and, and subscribe.

[00:27:34] Joe Casali: I appreciate it. Any final words?

[00:27:36] Rich Carty: Joe, thank you. I appreciate your friendship. I, I look forward to seeing you guys here in a few weeks and, um. Again, I appreciate having us on today. It was great talking to you again.

[00:27:46] Joe Casali: Excellent. No, I love the war stories. So let's, , maybe do. We have another, , episode with war stories only.

[00:27:52] Rich Carty: I like that, that we'll take that on when you're ready.

[00:27:55] Joe Casali: Excellent. Thanks.

[00:27:57] Rich Carty: Thank you.

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