Over the last few years, the mounting digitization of modern services has radically shifted customer expectations for providers across a host of industries. In this regard, banking and financial services are no exceptions.
Today’s customers expect their banks to function as round-the-clock digital businesses, capable of processing client transactions and providing highly personalized customer experiences 24/7. They also value innovation and thus are more likely to patronize financial institutions that can regularly roll out fresh new offerings.
The challenge here is that many banks around the world continue to run decades-old legacy systems that lack the adaptability and agility necessary to meet modern customer demands. And while most traditional banks have historically taken a conservative, risk-averse approach to innovation, increasing pressure from customers and the rise of new digital-first competitors make the need for it difficult to ignore.
“Fintechs and challenger banks are building sophisticated, highly responsive digital ecosystems, promising customers an elevated banking experience they simply won’t get from a legacy bank.”
In the current business environment, it’s clear that banks must embrace technological innovation or risk becoming irrelevant to their client base. Many banks are successfully rising to the challenge of modernization by upgrading their core banking systems.
Adopting a digital banking platform that is fully in tune with the current financial ecosystems has immense potential to improve retail banking situations in the following ways:
More Digital Payment Options
Contemporary banking customers prize convenience and ease of access when it comes to using digital services. Hence, a fast, frictionless, omnichannel online payment experience is one of the most pressing demands these customers have begun to make of their banks in recent years.
A modern digital banking platform enables banks to offer their customers a wider range of digital payment methods to choose from. Some core banking solutions, for instance, support peer-to-peer payments through chatbots, QR codes, Siri, iMessage, and even select social media platforms. Others may grant their customers access to secure digital wallets for quick and easy fund transfers.
Holistic Perspective on Customers
In today’s increasingly digital world, the success of a contemporary bank will frequently depend on its access to fast, accurate, and extensive customer and market data. Banks that are able to gather this data in a timely manner and interpret it effectively are well-equipped to respond in real-time to client concerns and demands.
Such banks are also in a good position to predict what their clients will need in the future and develop innovative products and services to address these anticipated needs.
Core banking solutions have the potential to improve banks’ data collection, analysis, and storage capabilities by a large margin. The best software will have no trouble gathering and consolidating customer information from multiple sources and storing it on a single unified database that’s readily accessible to all bank employees.
Bank staff can then use this information to develop a holistic, 360-degree view of their customer base. This perspective, in turn, will guide more intelligent business decision-making and drive the development of more relevant, useful banking products and services.
Improved Self-Service Capabilities
Banks can leverage the extensive process automation functions digital banking solutions come with to enhance their self-service options. This enables clients to complete basic transactions and resolve simple customer service concerns on their own without having to interact with human bank personnel.
“Advanced machine learning, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence features ensure that interactions between bank clients and digital personal assistants proceed as smoothly as possible.”
The best digital banking platforms can even extend a bank’s self-service capabilities to include more complex processes, such as opening new accounts and purchasing new products and services.
The software’s know your customer (KYC) functions can verify customers’ identities securely through selfies or video clips, while features like touch screen signatures, QR code scans, and Google Maps integration can help prevent fraud. Enhancing self-service functions in this way will, in turn, free up employees to focus on more complex customer service cases that require direct human engagement.
Personalized and Contextualized Customer Service
Financial institutions would be mistaken, however, to assume that convenience and ease of access are the only aspects of the modern banking experience today’s customers care about. In fact, current research shows that modern clients also value meaningful interactions with bank personnel and appreciate customer service experiences that have been personalized according to their unique context.
More broadly, clients want to see their banks as dependable financial partners that can be trusted to safeguard their personal information and financial interests in the long term.
Digital banking platforms make more personalized customer support possible by enabling always-accessible, omnichannel communication between banks and their clients. For example, customers with complicated concerns can reach their bank through video or voice calls on a number of digital platforms. Bank employees can also use digital solutions to annotate on customers’ screens, view their location and device details, and even access their accounts securely to make any necessary changes.
In an increasingly volatile business landscape rocked by innovative new competitors and an evolving consumer base, digital banking platforms can give banks the edge they need. Banks that can clearly identify their specific business needs and subsequently choose the right software solutions to address these needs will be well on their way to achieving successful modernization.
