If innovation doesn’t deliver value to customers, what’s the point?
Innovation comes in many guises and serves many purposes. Innovation is used to address unmet customers needs, save time and effort and help banks cut costs and remain competitive. The disruption it has brought to financial services is ongoing, and will continue to evolve as banks and non-banks reshape their business and operating models to adapt to changes in the way people and organizations perform financial transactions.
Future possibilities are limited only by the imagination. A recent thought-leadership piece on operational open banking, produced by global financial industry consultancy GFT, states that in the digital age, technology is far more than a processing engine—it is the digital manifestation of a bank’s brand that supports all customer touchpoints. “Today, technology must do more than drive down processing costs and the cost of manufacturing financial products,” states the report. “Technology is at the heart of a great customer experience, which supports ‘life moments’ that have financial consequences—for example, a wedding, graduation or new job.”
Enabling life events rather than focusing on banking products lies at the heart of the evolving customer experience and explains why banks are increasingly turning to automation and data analytics to provide friction-free experiences. As well as updating banking processes, banks are creating chatboxes and robo-advisors to provide 24/7 interactions with their customers—which, in turn, gives banks even more contextual data and insights about their customers. Banks are also taking advantage of the webchat services offered by social media apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Twitter as they strive to provide innovative customer experiences and position themselves for the future.
Our Innovator honorees embrace new thinking while keeping a close eye on the ultimate purpose: providing superior service to customers.
