The evolution of banking is at a major inflection point.
With the groundwork for diminishing returns in play, it’s imperative for banking institutions to consider new technologies and digital pathways that will allow them to compete in an age of low rates and, more critically, provide current customers with an efficient, omni-channel experience.
In a piece from The Financial Brand, Dan Latimore, SVP at Celent, said, “There’s been a longstanding hypothesis that consumers stay with their current banking provider because it’s too inconvenient to switch. A related hypothesis is that if it were only easier to switch, more customers would do it. Both hypotheses are wrong.”
So when customers actually do switch, what galvanizes the move?
Credio found that customer service correlates the strongest to a departure. “Consumers are tired of feeling like a number,” said Jim Dellavilla, Chief Client Officer at Catalyst. “They are fed up with paying fees on their checking accounts and gaining little to no interest on their money. They want access to consumer-friendly technology and are looking to be rewarded for their business.”
To avoid a severe depletion of interest income and customers, banks can look to dramatically improve how borrowers interact with their finances by implementing the following five pathways of a sales enabled, digital banking experience, thereby delivering more with less:
- Imagine
- Interact
- Improve
- Analyze
- Encourage
Certainly the introduction of these fundamentals may seem somewhat academic to an industry that has collectively practiced a tried-and-true model for decades, but despite how several banking executives view their balance sheets, the model is in fact being upended by regulatory policies, customer behaviors, and external threats.
The fastest and most cost-effective way for banks to succeed in delivering more with less in such a fluid and competitive environment is to proactively establish themselves within the digital customer experience, adopting automated, responsive technology platforms to showcase their services, people, and brand.
