Financial services continue to be one of the most competitive markets, especially now that it has opened its doors to a global audience via the Internet.
By Nick Durrant, CEO of Bluegrass Digital
With many clients having already moved to a digital environment, they are becoming more demanding and are expecting an exceptional customer experience.
Institutions need to realise the importance of building valuable and intuitive digital experiences to drive loyalty and prevent consumers from easily switching financial services providers.
Traditional businesses that still expect their customers to download, print, sign and scan or fax documents will most certainly lose business to institutions that offer modern innovative digital tools with automated processes.
Personalisation
Every customer wants a unique, personalised experience, regardless of how they interact with a brand. It should also not matter whether it’s in-store, on an app or on a website.
With the right tools and insights from customer data, these institutions can create a more personalised customer journey and provide offers that better align with the customer’s financial situation. Apps can also provide a vast amount of data through technologies such as analytics and machine learning.
Data is a powerful tool
Verified customer data can be a powerful marketing tool when building a digital customer experience initiate. It helps these financial institutions gain deeper visibility into their customer’s financial behaviour and helps them to grow.
Managing risk
Financial institutions need to provide an easy method for consumers to share their financial data in order to verify their creditworthiness. This will not only improve the customer experience, but will increase sales opportunities and reduce losses. By automating these processes, institutions can set interest rates, offer loans and change credit card limits.
New models
To remain competitive in this digital world, financial institutions need to continue building new business models that create new products and services. More importantly, they need to create new channels for engaging with customers.
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) financial service providers like PayJustNow.com are disrupting the retail payment space as they offer shoppers an interest free alternative to costly credit card purchases.
The service works by assessing the creditworthiness of a consumer by using the company’s artificial intelligence platforms. It simultaneously checks a number of data points such as the type of card being used, LinkedIn and other professional information, in about 10 seconds. The system also cross-references the information it gathers with one of the large credit bureaus.
The final decision
There has been a fundamental shift in financial services and staying relevant means becoming an active part of a customer’s digital life. Real-time smart digital services are being delivered instantly via various channels including apps and websites, on desktops or smartphones. Consumers are shopping online, booking flights and ordering take-aways on their phones. It’s instant, seamless and easier than ever before.
When choosing a bank, consumers no longer compare the different banks, they compare the customer experience. Customer onboarding should be done in a few clicks or unhappy customers will switch to another provider instantly.