Catering to every customer with channel optimization
Digital transformation is rapidly reshaping banking. Today, 65% of customers interact with their banks through multiple channels – from mobile banking on their phones to visiting physical branches and ATMs1. New trends and channels are emerging quickly, and many people are leaving face-to-face interactions with tellers, paper checks, and cash completely behind. But some customer segments are less tech savvy, forcing banks into a delicate – and costly – balancing act across channels.
The modern banking landscape – competing channels and digital demands
The banking industry is increasingly competitive and digitally demanding. As operating many physical locations and call centers is becoming even more burdensome2 leading financial institutions are optimizing for digital channels. Major companies, like JPMorgan and Citigroup, are closing hundreds of physical branches and building on their digital products and services3. Some have created “full-service automated financial assistants” that can help customers track budgets and make payments. Digital channels are more efficient and cost-effective, and forward-looking banks are improving the quality of and access to digital offerings.
Optimizing for digital channels provides banks with a tremendous opportunity to increase margins, streamline operations, and improve customer satisfaction. Digital banking offers customers services that are accessible anytime, anywhere, while enabling banks to cut back on expensive physical operations, drive higher margins, and acquire valuable customer insights. A digital customer interacts with providers 12 times more than a non-digital customer4 – providing 12 times as many opportunities to better understand customer needs, to present more relevant offers at the right time and place, and ultimately to increase retention while selling additional products.
Banks have every incentive to cater to customers’ digital demands – the difficulty is in migrating less technologically literate customers. The good news is that one-fifth of all banking customers are now digital-only, having abandoned physical banking entirely5. And while certain customer segments may still prefer some in-person banking, studies show that even the older, less technologically-engaged demographics are eager to include other channels and expand their web or mobile-based interactions6. Unfortunately, many banks are struggling to balance these customers across channels, with studies showing that customers who interact with their bank across brick-and-mortar locations and digital channels find the experience seriously lacking7. Now more than ever banks need to help customers migrate to digital.
Customer Insights for Banking enables financial institutions to optimize their channels
Customer Insights for Banking empowers banks with a holistic, 360-degree view of customers – enabling bank employees to drive more informed conversations and to more easily migrate customers to digital channels.
Imagine a customer walks into a physical branch of your bank, and an employee immediately pulls up a complete view of that customer. The employee notices that the customer has been making many visits to physical bank branches to deposit checks, and has recently been calling the bank’s customer service center less and using the online self-service portal more. Armed with all of this data, the employee helps the customer set up mobile banking, explaining how to deposit checks on their phone without ever having to visit a branch, and how to access assistance via the mobile banking app on the go. Later, while the satisfied customer is reading about taking out a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) on the bank’s online knowledge center, they receive a personalized offer on a great HELOC rate via an ad in their mobile banking app. The happy customer easily starts their HELOC application in the mobile app – and doesn’t need to step foot in a bank branch again.
Leading financial institutions aren’t sitting on the sidelines. As just one example, a financial service provider with over 1 million clients used Customer Insights for Banking to significantly improve customer service. With a complete view of each customer, including static data, existing products and services used by the customer, and detailed interaction information, employees were able easily leverage consumer insights and personalize account planning to drive channel optimization. The company achieved a big jump in sales volume – and dramatically increased customer satisfaction and engagement frequency.
Another firm, a large investment bank with over 50 branches, utilized Customer Insights for Banking to enhance efficiency across channels, improving cross-selling and up-selling based on customer history and significantly boosting retention rates. Many financial institutions are leveraging deep insights to drive channel optimization now – why should you wait?
It’s time to enable data-informed decision making and a seamless customer experience across all channels – so you can compete in the increasingly difficult, digitally-driven modern environment. Discover more about Customer Insights for Banking today and learn how you can transform your customer relationships.
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1 McKinsey & Company, “The Future of US Retail-Banking Distribution”, 2014
2 The Financial Brand, “New Branches Are Rarer, Smaller and More Expensive Than Ever”, 2013
3 Forbes, “How Banks Are Rethinking Customer Engagement In The Digital Era,” 2016
4 Accenture, “Banking Customer 2020,” 2015
5 Accenture, “Banking Customer 2020,” 2015
6 Accenture, “Banking Customer 2020,” 2015
7 Accenture, “A Critical Balancing Act: US Retail Banking in the Digital Era”, 2013
