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Banks urged to increase focus on digitally-aware customers

By on August 28, 2014

Banks have been advised to pay greater attention to digitally-aware customers in order to increase their market share.

Managing Director, Accenture Financial Services, Mr. Toluwaleke Adenmsoun stated this in a paper titled: “Competitive Response to Digital Disruption in Banking,” delivered at the 2014 Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s (CIBN’s) graduate induction and awards day held in Lagos recently.

He pointed out that such category of customers expect new service proposition that would help make their financial lives easier as well to enable them to manage their money more proactively.
He maintained that banks that refuse to move with the trend of digitalisation, risk losing customer and revenue to other more digitally focused financial services providers.

“Customers want a bank that’s nimble and proactive, that can be a part of their daily lives. The idea of convenience in banking is undergoing shift toward digital products and services that mesh with consumers’ smart mobile-empowered lives,” he said.

He noted that it was imperative that banks take a fresh look at digital customers as well as the opportunities in paying attention to such class of customers.

Adenmsoun revealed that a survey on banks customers recently published by Accenture showed that although a lot of banks have been able to retain their customers through traditional channels and digital service offerings, recent shifts are threatening their customer base.

“Even long term banking relationships at traditional banks is susceptible to disruption. New technologies are changing the way that customers and financial service providers interact and introducing a new demand for how banking services are delivered.

“In particular, millennials—under 30 years of age— have distinct preferences regarding financial services and digital technology,” he added.
The Accenture boss pointed out that a customer-driven blueprint for digital experience is imperative for competitiveness.

“Customers expect their bank to know them and to provide more valuable interactions. Hyper-relevant companies predict consumer behavior and, using knowledge of their needs and interests, customise the consumer interaction at any point in time in any channel.

“Take advantage of rich channels provided by digital technologies to communicate in much more personal ways. A new level of intimacy with consumers is now possible, but it requires definition of how to create trusting relationships not just online but offline as well,” he advised financial institutions.

According to him, banks understand that they need several channels to interact with customers.
However, he noted that rather than “bolting on” new channels and engineering internal processes to evolve to a digital world, banks should look at outcomes they want to deliver to customers and reverse-engineer to identify what must change in channel mix and capabilities.

Furthermore, he stated that by any measure of mobile device adoption, customers’ inherent mobility is clear, saying that institutions with foresight are building a variety of new mobile capabilities to engage customers in ways perhaps not yet imagined.

“Customers are becoming dissatisfied with banking relationships that are merely transactional, rather than driven by advice or a broader relationship.
“Customers are increasing likely to consider a branchless digital bank. This is particularly true among younger customers, who are less interested in convenient branch locations and more interested in accessing digital services at the time and place of their choosing,” he stated.

 

[This Day]