In the Digital Age, business leaders across industries are understanding the need to transform the way they conduct business to become truly customer-centric. Modern technologies have created new possibilities for businesses to interact with existing and potential clients, and those who still follow traditional business models are seeing their customers defect to more innovative competitors.
The banking industry is no different. Digital transformation is becoming more than a nice-to-have; with pressure from changing regulations and customer expectations, banks are realizing that now is the time to digitalize.
A bank’s greatest competitive advantage is its customer service. Through our research, we found that 70 percent of purchasing decisions are based on how the customer feels they’ve been treated. Eighty percent said they would pay more for a better customer experience. With this is mind, it’s clear that a customer’s interactions with a bank can either build loyalty or open the door for another business to steal the relationship.
The right technology, however, can help banks win customer loyalty.
Client demands are keeping pace with technological progress and because many of their services are “going digital,” they are now able to decide how and when they interact with an organization. With many services, the client chooses the channel, device, and how much time they invest. This shift in power has triggered banks to play catch-up. In short, they are adopting digital technologies that prioritize customer experience and can deliver in real-time.
So how can banks make the shift to digital?
The solution is to employ a single platform that supports collaborative and iterative development processes. Following a central orchestration approach allows businesses to apply changes to all channels once through the platform. This approach is flexible, enabling organizations to easily scale as they build and continually release new processes and digital services.
The platform should also make it easier for businesses and IT to collaborate around developing new applications that satisfy rapidly changing customer demands.
For example, customers are shifting away from on-location servicing toward more digital interactions. This means that customers are becoming more involved in processes that were once handled solely by businesses. In order to provide the best experience for customers, however, banks need to hide the underlying complexity of banking processes behind applications that are easy to use and deliver a connected experience from any channel, whether on a desktop, mobile device, in person, or even in combination.
Using digital tools to give customers more control over how they connect to their bank doesn’t just improve customer experience, it also empowers bank employees. The platform approach allows banks to choose which tasks to automate, dramatically reducing manual administrative work. The time relationship managers save from gathering and keying data, as well as scanning documents, can instead be spent on value-driving tasks like providing advice and maintaining customer relationships.
It’s imperative that banks employ the right technological approach for their digitalization initiatives. Since adopting a customer-centric perspective is vital to sustaining a competitive advantage in the banking industry, the orchestration of processes on a single platform is the key to success. Only then can banks build the foundation to achieve digital operational excellence.
About Appway
Appway builds software for today, and innovates for the technology of the future. With over ten years of industry experience, Appway guides the leading financial institutions, both big and small, as they build sustainable and scalable solutions that quickly adapt to changing conditions.
Headquartered in Switzerland with offices around the globe, Appway’s award-winning software suite serves over 420,000 users worldwide. More than 225 institutions rely on Appway to improve internal efficiencies, engage customers across all channels and keep ahead of regulations.
