Global Financial Services
The global financial services sector is on the cusps of significant disruption, with fantasy technologies like AI and blockchain fast changing the way banks operate and deliver services to clients. More so, the emergence of financial technology (fintech) and regulatory technology (regtech) firms who continue to muscle into financial services has created a digital race of some sort in the industry.
Along with robo-investors, digital banks have been launched to help individuals transact as fast as can be imagined, and they are making a difference. The disruptive momentum of fintech vendors is helped by a growing population of tech-savvy consumers who expect personalized services.
The customer-focused nature of these new breeds of tech startups has made traditional financial institutions realize that they are at risk of falling behind in the innovation race unless they acquire transformative technologies that will enable them to keep up with advancements in an ever-evolving business environment.
Reshaping the Customer Experience by Leveraging New Digital Tools
To deliver real-time, personalized banking experience to clients, businesses need to address significant customer pain points as well as identify new ways to satisfy them in differentiated ways. Today, we live in a generation where people are never far away from a smartphone.
To put this in perspective, 87% of millennials never separate from their mobile devices, according to a report. Another report says customers use mobile banking apps 7,610 times a minute. Also, 70 percent of consumers who own a smartphone prefect transacting from their phones. These make mobile one of the most clear-cut ways to differentiate.
To meet client needs in this digital age, banks must do their due diligence to appropriately integrate digital tools such as live chat, self-service, mobile, and Omni channel support and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence into their processes.
Ways to Optimize the Customer Journey Experience
Information gathering is key to improving the customer journey. To deliver banking services in real time, banks first have to have enough data to make informed decisions. This requires gathering deep customer insights so that institutions can get a better sense of their needs, which can be achieved by investing in systems that recognize every customer irrespective of the platform used.
That said, here are the ways banks can improve banking experiences for consumers:
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Improve the account opening process and make the onboarding experience efficient
An exceptional account opening experience can help banks earn customer loyalty and remain competitive. To this end, institutions are advised to make the account opening process faster and provide robust mobile account opening services to make it easier for today’s connected customers to open accounts on a mobile phone. The more straightforward the process, the better the customer experience.
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Consider a user-friendly authentication solution
A complex authentication system can get customers frustrated. Institutions are advised to consider authentication solutions such as those based on one-time passwords, as they offer robust security and are user-friendly.
In addition, less intrusive technologies like Facial Recognition, Touch ID, and Iris Scanning are other effective solutions institutions might want to consider.
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Embrace the disruptive potential of AI-powered chatbots
Chatbots are some of the fascinating stories in fintech. It wasn’t so long ago that they were nothing more than automated answering agents. Today, they help address customer complaints, thanks to their ability to engage consumers with their intelligence.
Implementing innovations will help financial institutions lower cost while improving the customer experience by providing personalized, always-on service. This is the future of Banking.