The digital age is upon us with almost everything available via an app with limited human interaction. Financial institutions are facing challenges improving customer experience and staying relevant in this digital marketplace. Many have begun to identify ways to connect with customers who are focused on experience and service. Retention, upselling and cross-selling are critical to the success of a bank and rely on customer engagement, forcing banks to understand their customers wants and needs to successfully engage them, made possible by a Single Customer View.
According to the Digital Banking Report, over 70 percent of financial institutions globally place “improving the customer experience’ as one of their top three strategic priorities in 2017.” Using a Single Customer View approach allows bankers to see each customer in the context of their behaviors, accounts, demographics, and geography, which determines how they will target and engage them. With companies like Amazon and Facebook pioneering customer experience, customers are now expecting the same level of innovation from their bank.
Banks like HSBC are taking steps in the right direction by investing in major technology that will improve customer experience. With a $131 million investment, HSBC is set to introduce a virtual assistant named AiDA, automated, immediate digital assistant, which will cater to all customer needs. Along with an electronic document reader, e-sign services, 24/7 live chat on the website, and increased technology throughout branches, HSBC is positioning itself to increase customer engagement by understanding what their customers need.
“Six of the 10 most used applications today are messaging applications. Consumers have spoken, and they have a preferred communication channel,” says Bob Guidotti, EVP and President for Software Solutions, Pitney Bowes. “Today’s empowered consumer expects businesses to meet them where they are. Businesses must recognize this and integrate technology capabilities that allow them to have immediate, data-driven conversations with their customers.”
Compiling and analyzing data to understand a customer isn’t the easiest task. Traditional data-management systems have outdated structures that fail to deliver a comprehensive view of a customer. Transformational graph-database technology allows bankers to gain a 360-degree view of their customers with valuable information that can be used for targeting and cross-selling. Older systems often provide inconsistent, incomplete or inaccurate data that makes it impossible to analyze and use. This new technology creates separated, siloed systems for credit cards, loans, billings, and more to keep information accessible and neat. Collecting concise, easily interpreted data is key to developing a Single Customer View to engage consumers on multiple platforms. Research firm Gartner, estimates the average financial impact of poor data on businesses to be about $9.7 million per year.
“It’s clear traditional banks need to embrace digital advances, such as those under the FinTech umbrella, to drive opportunity. Not only will this improve efficiency and help to manage risk; it’s critical to sustainable success,” said James Turner, managing director of Turnerlittle.com. “In fact, it is understood embracing digital innovation will provide banks with the key to reach their goals in 2018 and to appease fed up consumers. It’s time to move with new advances, rather than wasting energy, money and custom fighting the tide.”
Turnerlittle.com analyzed Global Banking Outlook 2018, a study released by EY, and determined that sixty-two percent of banks are positioning themselves to expand the ability “to acquire, engage and retain customers.” Technology such as the Single Customer View can help banks achieve the engagement and retention they strive for by providing a 360-degree view of the customer, offering insights into relationships and sales opportunities.
Implementing a Single Customer View approach can help banks streamline interactions, enhance self-service, target new and existing customers, and increase digital engagement. With customers seeking digitally innovative services, it’s important for banks to adapt. Using a graph-database approach, bankers have real-time insights into their customers that were never possible before, making new and existing customers easier to target, engage, and retain.
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