Bank customers will mainly operate their accounts using digital systems by 2015, as younger consumers drive demand for mobile and computer platforms, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP have reported in a study of more than 3,000 banking customers globally.
Digital banking could prove a significant source of revenue for banks as most consumers say they’re willing to pay as much as 10 pounds ($15.29) a month for the service. Social media notifications, electronically-protected loyalty cards and tailored financial services are popular draws for customers, mostly in their teens and twenties.
Stephen Whitehouse a PwC partner said in a statement “Banks are clearly missing a trick if they don’t start to invest in their digital offerings and only see digital as a way to reduce costs. The majority of banks still only provide basic mobile and Internet banking services.”
In the U.K. almost 65 percent of respondents said they would pay just over four pounds a month for a bank loyalty card that converted points into cash.
To me it’s perhaps unsurprising that more and more banking customers are expected to favour online interaction in a relatively short timeframe, but this being the case, banks cannot underestimate the task in hand. As an organisation that’s had a team of over 120 people working on such a project for as much as two years is by no means unusual for an initiative of this scale. In order to ensure that this is not exceeded, banks planning to revisit their online offering would be well-advised to ensure that certain core lessons are learnt sooner rather than later – ideally during the planning phase, rather than as afterthoughts.
Building an online bank based upon the usual collection of diverse, pre-existing technologies found in many banks would undermine the design from the start. To justify the significant cost and effort required to build a new on-line presence, banks should consider designing a modern, sustainable platform using industry-standard frameworks and techniques. This will be ultimately more reliable and secure both in the short term and, due to its inherent scalability, the long term too.
In the process of building the new platform, banks must make sure they include the ability to appreciate what their customers are doing on the site. There is no point in them providing a new service if they do not have a detailed knowledge of how it is being used, right down to the individual level. Giving customers the options to personalise their online experience according to what information is important to them is highly valued by consumers, and any marketing efforts that are presented should also be appropriate to the individual.
When designing an online offering, banks too often focus solely on the functions they wish to provide now. Instead, banks can save themselves time and money by paying attention to upcoming changes to the industry and engaging with industry experts to ensure that likely but as yet unannounced changes to the industry can be easily accommodated should the time come. For instance, any bank currently considering redesigning their online provision would be well-advised to take note of the Payments Council’s determination to shorten the account switching process to an industry-wide guaranteed maximum of seven days by September 2013. This important initiative increases the need to design for enhanced customer experience to ensure in customer attraction and retention.
It goes without saying that regulatory compliance is paramount and should be a prime consideration at every step of the planning process. However, it is important to note that security – one of the most important factors for consumers when deciding whether to bank online or not, and therefore also when choosing which bank to use – is designed into the build from the very start, and not overlaid onto the design retrospectively. This is ultimately a less costly, time-consuming and even more reliable approach to a secure online offering.
Tags: Banking, digital future, Finance, Internet Banking
