Dear banker - It's time to put the customer at the center of your onboarding journey

Tuesday, Jun 28th 2022
Bankers using computer, calculator, financial documents, traditional vs modern banking services

Few industries are feeling the effects of digital transformation more deeply than financial services.  According to Celent, in the last five years the global investment community has been ramping up investments in technology start-ups, specifically targeting the financial services industry.  By the end of 2015, Fintechs were already working with an estimated IT spend of nearly $20 Bn USD and growing.  Clearly, the financial services industry is a very attractive sector in which to focus the development of disruptive technologies.

Dear banker - It's time to put the customer at the center of your onboarding journey

The rise of Fintechs puts pressure on traditional providers

Fintechs are competing with traditional financial services providers, who once had a clear mandate to service customers via well-defined and understood channels, by focusing on emerging communications channels with the goal of creating a better overall customer experience.  But does it make sense for banks and financial services firms to shift their entire mix heavily to digital, or does a more balanced approach offer a more effective alternative?

More pressure from the continued growth of mobile

One of the major factors driving the mobile banking revolution is the rapid rise of mobile banking end users across the globe.  According to statistics from eMarketer, total Mobile Phone banking users currently sits at over 100 million in the united states, and is expected to grow to 133 million years by 2021, which will come to 80% of all digital banking users.  This rapid shift to mobile adoption would signal that a shift from on premise to mobile banking and mobile apps needs to be taken into consideration for banking providers to remain competitive:

Dear banker - It's time to put the customer at the center of your onboarding journey

However, further research indicates that the proper course of action may not be so simple.  While up to 2/3 of customers will do comparison shopping of banking offers online, not everyone feels comfortable completing all of their banking transactions online or over a mobile application.  In a 2017 study completed for Quadient by Kantar TNS looking at banking customers in the UK, we found that 61% had visited a brand in person in the last 6 months.

Dear banker - It's time to put the customer at the center of your onboarding journey

Consumers are split on modern vs. traditional banking services

When we asked about the ability of mobile to replace traditional banking, 79% of respondents believed that their service would not be as good if they were to rely only on digital/mobile banking, and further 19% of respondents were deeply concerned about the equal availability of online and offline services. Meanwhile, only 44% of respondents wanted modern technology to mimic the traditional bank manager experience. 

Dear banker - It's time to put the customer at the center of your onboarding journey

Dear banker - It's time to put the customer at the center of your onboarding journey

The survey results reveal that consumers are split on the future of banking. But traditional or digital, customers are demanding better customer service. In short, customers are still hesitant to buy financial products via digital channels, but the bank that provides the best overall customer experience is the one most likely to keep current customers happy, and win future business.

What customers want is a great experience

Our research indicates that the biggest problem that banks face is the lack of a personalized and consistent experience:

  • 68% of respondents felt that they were treated "as a number" by their bank
  • 64% of consumers feel that they get a better customer experience from retailers then they do from their bank
  • 44% don't feel that their bank communicates with them consistently

Dear banker - It's time to put the customer at the center of your onboarding journey

Enterprise Banks:  Top 5 Challenges to Delivering Great CX

So while enterprise banks have a lot of work in front of them to build out compelling onboarding and customer experience programs for their customers, they must do so while being cognizant of their top 5 internal challenges, including:

  • The size of operations / complexity
  • Organizational silos
  • A high number of legacy systems
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Governance

How can banks best navigate these complexities and provide a compelling value proposition that will help them continue to acquire and maintain their customers?

Dear banker - It's time to put the customer at the center of your onboarding journey

Find out more about Omni-channel Customer Acquisition

Clearly, it is time to move beyond siloed communications, to a more holistic infrastructure for banking that spans digital, mobile, lines of business experts, customer care, the brand and more. To remain competitive, banks and financial services providers have to strike the right balance to provide a consistent experience that works across channels.