Following NCR findings this week that consumers’ personalised banking needs are not being met, Nigel Arthur, Managing Director of a digital growth company Urban Airship, looks at the need for the banking industry to modernise.
The banking sector has long dragged its feet in the evolving technological landscape, and with NCR’s recent findings that 94% of consumers believe banking should be seamless across devices and platforms, but only 18% believe they currently get this level of service, it’s clear that the sector has a way to go to ensure they deliver a personalised and frictionless customer experience across channels.
Banks need to realise that consumers now expect to be served immediately and individually wherever they are, online or offline. Interactions tailored just for them are rapidly becoming the new expectation, rather than a request. It’s essential that banks start to recognise this and ensure things like customer notifications sent over web and mobile fully utilise all of the data derived from their consumers across all channels, in order to provide targeted and real-time messages on a one-to-one basis.
Some disruptive startups in the mobile banking space are already achieving this by sending real-time notifications on mobile devices each and every time a user makes a purchase. These notifications provide updates on a user’s account balance and even include the currency conversion rate if they are traveling abroad.
Providing this level of tailored service can also help to prevent fraud by notifying consumers of suspicious transactions. No matter what channel consumers are using, ensuring customer engagement is personal, contextual and as close to real-time as possible is core for building consumer confidence in banks.
As technology continues to drive consumer expectations forward, the banking sector will need to modernise its services or risk losing customers to their tech-savvy competitors and disruptive startups.
This starts with understanding how to create a personalised and frictionless experience across channels, whether that’s emails, websites, apps, or voice-enabled smart home speakers, and ends with utilising real-time customer data across the organization to ensure value and convenience on every touch to even anticipate what customers need before they ask.
By Nigel Arthur
Managing Director EMEA
Urban Airship