Using technological innovations to make the process of completing financial transactions seamless and convenient for customers seems like a worthy objective for banks. It’s a good goal, but it doesn’t go far enough. Celent’s recent survey indicates that today’s digitally oriented consumers expect more; they expect to be positively engaged through relationship building, which will result in their banks knowing them well enough to offer invaluable, tailored financial advice.
It’s not news that many economies of the developing world face barriers to financial inclusion, making it difficult for citizens to both borrow and save; but the good news is that help has arrived in the linking of mobile payments with remittances. From sub-Saharan Africa to Latin America and the Caribbean, mobile money is bringing the previously underbanked into the fold.
The banking industry is changing. We’re now in an age where banks are competing on customer experience – and when it comes to making that experience better, using data to create connected customer journeys equals power.
Underbanked and unbanked citizens do not exist only in emerging countries. Developed countries have their share, too, and their financial institutions are quickly learning that their counterparts in emerging economies have much to share about how especially mobile-banking apps are making what was once inaccessible accessible to large numbers of consumers.
Each day, thousands of a bank’s clients will perform financial transactions: making deposits, withdrawals, moving money between bank accounts, etc. Banks must also perform certain daily calculations that are required as part of regulatory compliance, including monitoring assets and reporting key metrics.
The way consumers interact with financial institutions is fundamentally and rapidly changing, and this presents a huge opportunity – albeit a challenging one – for retail banks.