The Road Ahead
Increasing product complications, diverse customer sets with distinctive needs and changing regulations have altered the ways in which banks function. For instance, banks now deal with two distinct sets of customers—the traditional and the electronic generations. Both these sets have different needs and models of services. Traditional customers, who still form a large section, require a personalised approach to service and products. However, new-age customers are keener on alternate approaches, the primary drivers being agility and convenience. Listen to their customers and have advanced analytics in place to listen to and at times, pre-empt client needs.
• Integrate multiple channels for servicing customer requests
• Implement advanced analytics to pre-empt client needs
• Let customers define the service they need and also their preferred channel and time
Banks are acknowledging the significance of seamless delivery across multiple channels for enhanced customer experience and reduction in costs. They are using technology to provide enriched and seamless delivery across service channels. Today, customers are constrained for time and are looking for flexibility and 24/7 cross-channel capability. They expect to move across different channels anytime from any place. Hence presence in different spheres of delivery channel is important Therefore customers should be enabled to shift easily between different channels, and complete an activity in a channel different from where it was initiated. Banks that build seamless multichannel capabilities will enjoy rich economic rewards over the next phase of growth.
Conclusion
Much of the financial services, software and hardware discussed has been around for some years in some form or the other, but new iterations are constantly being developed, entirely new applications launched, and new hardware designed to integrate delivery channel in highly evolved architecture and using analytics intelligence can be derived from this advanced platform – so banks need to ensure that they are as up to date as possible. Legacy applications and systems still work, of course, and therefore have their place, but ultimately they need to be phased out and replaced with the latest applications and systems if bank modernization programs are to have any real chance of success.
Many banks still have their products, channels and lines of business in silos, or they are only partially integrated. Non-integrated systems prevent them from having a critical enterprise-wide view and cripple organization-wide efforts to improve customer experience; nor do not allow banks to adequately monitor operational activities. Banks need to introduce applications that are service-oriented and standards based not only to gain competitive advantage but to redefine cost and time efficient operational model.
The technological advancement and intervention in the banking sector will not only facilitate the banks to offer value added financial services to its customers, but also help to maintain the bulk volume of daily financial transactions and constructing a wide range of data warehousing.