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According to Wikipedia, modern Banking has been around for a long time (since the days of Renaissance Italy in 14th century) and money even longer (bartering of cattle as early as 9000 BC, laws around money enacted by Babylonians around 1760 BC). I wonder what users expected in those days or how consumer experience was perceived. Obviously for an industry this old, satisfying user demands has probably never been more frustrating than the current digital era.
Although digital banking is pushing the envelope in bringing the convenience of accessing your money and assets from the tips of your fingers, it seems to consistently fall short in a rather important area - handoffs and seamless customer experience between digital and branch channels. I am going to demonstrate this with 2 specific examples.
Given the high costs associated with the branch channel, some big banks are positioning branches for servicing high networth customers with higher depository balances. Notable example is the transformation of Chase Bank branches in USA to serve private banking clients. However, these clients with high deposit balances are savvy digital users as well.
Although it doesn't feel like I belong to the high networth category :-(, I am going to use one of my recent experiences. Having been on a spending spree, my checking account balance fell below the threshold amount. Promptly, I got a low balance notification from my bank. But what could I do with the notification? Not much. Digital banking stopped there. This is where banks can learn from email. Left swiping emails on smartphones gives options for actions such as delete, archive and more. I wish I could have done the same with that low balance notification. May be I could modify the threshold; transfer money; or schedule a callback from my banker to discuss opening a savings or investment account. Interactive notifications with meaningful or configurable options for actions are a critical part of the seamless handover between digital and brick and mortar.
Another highend banking request where the digital/ branch channel handoff falls short - for any investment related query, you would expect a high networth customer to call the branch. However, branch processes for discussing investment advice seem to be in the paper age. What these busy users desire is a series of handoffs between digital and branch channels as shown below (individual preferences will vary but you get the idea):
Recommendations for banks with digital as well as brick and mortar presence:
Examples of such customer segment/ experience combinations might be:
Banks that are able to leverage the strengths of digital and branch banking as illustrated here will be able to flex their muscles against the upstarts much better.
Happy customers, happy banks. Are there other examples where digital banking falls short? What do you think? Feel free to poke holes on this blog.
This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author.
Victor Irechukwu Head, Engineering at OnePipe Services Limited
29 November
Nkahiseng Ralepeli VP of Product: Digital Assets at Absa Bank, CIB.
Valeriya Kushchuk Digital Marketing Manager at Narvi Payments
28 November
Alex Kreger Founder & CEO at UXDA
27 November
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