Optimizing the customer experience and increasing user engagement while simultaneously securing digital customer interfaces are therefore primary goals of many financial institutions. E-banking is an important channel for this, with current market studies confirming its increasing potential.

In April 2020, the IFZ of Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and zeb, a management consultancy specializing in financial services, conducted a survey among leading Swiss banks. The aim was to use real data to analyze how customers’ channel usage changed directly after the coronavirus lockdown. One of the results was a 25% increase in e-banking usage measured by the number of logins compared to last year. A previous study by the IFZ had already demonstrated the rising acceptance and active use of e-banking.

Luzerner Kantonalbank includes customers in e-banking redesign and expands its digital offering for both private and business customers

It is precisely this trend that the Luzerner Kantonalbank AG (LUKB) is now focusing on to support its customers with additional services for individual finance planning. Since the beginning of this year, LUKB’s e-banking has benefited from a modern design and enhanced navigation. The user interface is based on today’s user behavior. To ensure this was the case and to offer a practical solution, the new look was developed and refined together with customers.

As part of the e-banking redesign, finance management solutions for private and business customers were introduced at the same time, which are now available to all LUKB customers after an initial “family & friends” phase. The services were developed by the Swiss FinTech Contovista, with the functionality and design tailored to the needs of LUKB.

The integrated Business Finance Manager (BFM) provided by Contovista is the central financial cockpit for SMEs and acts as a far-reaching solution for proactive liquidity planning. As an AI-driven and data-driven solution, the BFM provides comprehensive analytics and enables you to keep your cashflow under control at all times. As a result, business customers not only gain more security and unrestricted control over their finances; they also save valuable time that can be spent on their core business.

The Personal Finance Manager increases the relevance of digital banking in the lives of private customers. Daily updated key figures to control spending behavior, such as “Left to spend” as well as personalized insights derived from algorithms help customers to better understand their finances and achieve their financial goals.

Stefan Lüthy, Head of Multichannel Management & Digitalization at Luzerner Kantonalbank, explains: «We are pleased to be able to offer our private customers a modern extension to LUKB’s e-banking and e-banking app with the Personal Finance Manager. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, our customers have increasingly bid farewell to cash and now opt for electronic means of payment. With detailed transaction overviews and existing planning elements, customers always have an up-to-date overview of their expenditure and receive valuable additional information on each individual transaction.»

Dominik Wurzer, CEO of Contovista AG, adds: «In addition to private customers, some of whom are experiencing financial bottlenecks due to reduced working hours, SMEs in particular are more than ever dependent on better understanding their financial data and having an overview of their cash flow. However, most of them lack suitable solutions, especially in e-banking - we are proud to meet these needs with LUKB.»