La capsula Informativa: Meet the Media: Whitney McDonald, Editor at FinAi News

Whitney McDonald is editor at FinAI News who is based in Detroit. Prior to joining the FinAi News team, Whitney reported on auto finance.

Can you tell us what types of stories, trends or issues are on your radar now?  

2026 is shaping up to be the year of agentic AI. One headline I recently wrote was “Agentic AI: From pilot to production.” Financial institutions are ready to bring pilots to life this year on the agentic front. Applications for agentic AI include customer interactions, backend employee assistance, engineering and developer enablement and more. We are also tracking the emergence of agentic commerce, which is being explored by Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Stripe and other players. 

I anticipate to further explore agentic AI at the upcoming FinAi Banking Summit in Denver where I will moderate several sessions with speakers from JPMorgan Chase, Truist, KeyBank, PNC, First Citizens Bank and more. 

Describe the craziest or most fun story you have written.  

I don’t know if this would be considered fun, but it was unforgettable! During my internship at Auto News, I covered Hurricane Laura and its effects on dealership lots. I remember staying up throughout the night watching the Weather Channel and having phone conversations with a dealer out of Louisianna that was staying the night at his store to weather the storm. It was him and 30 family members, friends and employees that spent the night at the dealership. 

That was one of the most interesting stories I’ve been a part of reporting. This dealer that was experiencing such an event kept me in the loop, telling me what was going on with his store and inventory in real time. It felt like boots on the ground reporting from a thousand miles away. I’ll never forget that story. 

What story or stories are you most proud of?  

My first scoop is definitely memorable, and I think all journalists hold onto that feeling. The headline was “Major shakeup at Truist’s tech innovation operation”. As a reporter, a scoop proves to you and the industry leaders on your beat you’re talking to the right people and building valuable relationships. That story led to more and more coverage of the ongoing changes on Truist’s tech team, and other banks, over the course of several years. 

What elements or characteristics do you look for in a story?  

I like to look for stories that follow a trend but have a unique approach to that trend. For example, most, if not all, financial institutions are investing in AI in some way, shape or form, but if an AI leader can tell me they have a unique approach — a sandbox, a training process, a hiring process, or something else — that is different from other FIs, that’s something I can grab onto and share with our readers. For example, in a recent podcast interview with Bank of America’s Head of Digital Nikki Katz, she shared her team’s approach to AI includes over a thousand enhancements to the digital experience annually. That number is something to latch onto and share with our readers, and shows how the ‘big banks’ are approaching technology as a resource that needs to be invested in and updated constantly to achieve meaningful application. 

How long have you been in journalism and how did you get started?  

I graduated from Michigan State University with my master’s in journalism in 2019. Right after graduation I landed an internship with Automotive News and shortly after, the pandemic hit. I had only been in the newsroom a few weeks when they sent me home with a laptop just in case we wouldn’t be in office the following day … that was the beginning of my remote career!

After the internship and a stint in local business reporting, I was hired by Royal Media as an associate editor for Auto Finance News. I have been with Royal Media since 2021 and moved into financial services technology reporting in 2022. Actually, in a two-week period I got married, moved into a new house and started my new position – busy time!

That’s when I started reporting for Bank Automation News which recently rebranded to FinAi News in October 2025. Today, I’m the editor of FinAi News. 

Finish this sentence: If I am not reporting, I am … planning! I am “Type A” through and through! That is reflected in both my personal and professional life. I like planning ahead, making lists, making lists about making lists and checking off tasks on those lists.  

What advice do you have for PR people that want to pitch you?  

It’s fantastic when a pitch has an action item attached. By that I mean not only is there a pitch that is relevant to my beat, but the PR person has already taken steps to put someone forward, provide times that work for a call and get the ball rolling on an interview. That takes out some of the back and forth in emails and gets us closer to the end goal of an interview and coverage. 

I also appreciate when a PR person is aware of what I’ve been covering and delivers a pitch reflecting that. For example, I saw you covered “XYZ,” this source can provide this perspective on that topic. 

Any pet peeves with PR people? 

If an email hits my inbox with the subject line “CORRECTION” and its simply a pitch, that drives me crazy! 

Tell us a little about yourself (family, interests, hobbies, background, some fact about you that few people know, etc.) 

I think most people know this about me, but my family is everything to me. I have a one-year-old son, Joey, and he is my world! I have always wanted to be a mom and it’s a million times sweeter than I ever could have imagined. I’m definitely hopped up on caffeine most of the time, but what mom – or reporter – isn’t?

As more of a fun fact – prior to my professional career, a huge part of my life was cheerleading. I actually ended my cheerleading career as the vice president of the Michigan State University Competitive Cheerleading team. Those were some of the best days of my life. Go green!