Traditional banks are losing market share to a raft of new FinTech providers and challenger banks, impacting their ability to retain, cross-sell and acquire new customers. Yet, with access to precious data and the experience to offer quality financial advice, traditional players still have a distinct advantage.


In an era of big data and the ‘on demand economy’, some banks’ aggressive but poorly targeted acquisition campaigns are turning people off. It’s time for them to define and deliver on their brand promises, reconnect to their customers’ and solve real needs. We look at how banks can redefine themselves for a digital age, creating moments that drive revenue and deliver an authentic brand experience.
The world of banking is evolving at a blistering pace. Tweet thisDigitisation and challenges from FinTechs require even the most traditional banks to move with the times . It’s no wonder banks are feeling nervous: the rise of FinTechs and challenger banks have chipped away at market share by disrupting the way people bank with a focus on simplicity and value. Banks are responding to the needs of smartphone-savvy younger people by developing their digital services and closing branches: but apps cannot dispense financial advice. There is still a need for human, often face-to-face contact, particularly for older customers.

Plus, what once was viewed as loyalty has been revealed to be inertia: most banking customers fail to close accounts they no longer see value in simply to avoid life admin, whilst purchasing new products elsewhere. This shows how banks struggle to cross-sell, meaning they must find a balance between efforts to retain and acquire customers, particularly those attracted by offers of a seamless and personalised digital experience.

Indeed, this fractured approach to financial management may not feel too different for current customers of big banks. Complex customer journeys across touchpoints managed by different business silos, mean that interactions with them can already be convoluted. Compare this with the simplicity and convenience of a Monzo app, and the difference is starkly apparent.

Tweet thisBanks must simplify and digitise to keep up with people’s needs, but they must also revisit their role in specific moments of their customers’ lives to guard against challenges from competitors. A seamless, customer-centric approach with great products is nothing unless it is based on meaningful moments of interaction. The opportunity for banks is huge: in an age of big data, arguably, no one should know their customers as well as a bank. Access to spending habits should tell them volumes about who we are and what support or products we may need. The hot house of intense competition looks set to create some of the most interesting innovation to date. What does this look like for a sector in flux?

Focus on people’s needs, not products

Tweet thisThe wealth of customer data that banks hold is a treasure trove of useful marketing intelligence. Using that data to personalise your marketing and product offers can pay dividends, allowing you to predict and respond to individual needs as they evolve. Not only that, it allows banks to give their customers sound financial advice at the right moment, something an app would struggle to do.

Westpac brings together data and communications from across the customer journey to create a single view that seamlessly integrates multi-channel customer interactions. Customers still want personalised one-to-one service from their bank, but this had become impossible for Westpac with one staff member to every 500-600 customers. Westpac created ‘Symphony’, a tool which brings together data, learns from behaviour and customer feedback, and creates targeted and more meaningful communications. All communications are connected across channels to create a seamless conversation, so customers don’t have to re-start their discussion at each interaction, whether they’re in branch, reading an email or banking online.

Optimise your customer journey

Banks must identify the moments that are most important to their varied customer base and build their customer experience to capitalise on them. Tweet thisBy removing moments of friction with a focus on simplicity, banks can optimise their customer journeys, delivering positive experiences that reinforce a coherent brand experience and leads to increased retention and acquisition through advocacy. Not only that, but a deeper understanding of those touchpoints will allow you to surprise and delight customers along the way. If banks are to become the chosen brand, they must understand that brand equity is only ever as good as the last experience, and it is the experiences that define brand perceptions.

NatWest’s philosophy is simple: ‘We are what we do’. To live up to their ‘serving customers’ value, they developed a clever service in a simple and digital way to address the moment a wallet or card is lost. The NatWest app allows people to get cash from an ATM without their cash card, acting as a proof point to their promise and solving a real problem for their customers.

Define and live your purpose

Traditionally, banks were trusted partners, here to help us through life stages. Then, in 2008, came reform and recession. Many banks have since battled to rebuild trust, struggling to define themselves and what they stand for. Tweet thisDefining their purpose is essential for brands seeking to carve out a niche in a competitive marketplace. In a world where most people think that businesses should have a purpose beyond accountability to their shareholders, this purpose will be vital for brand equity and creating positive moments with your customers. Tweet thisBanks must re-connect to consumers by understanding the moments that matter to them.



In South Africa, mobile and digital banking is a hygiene factor, as the market is technologically ten years ahead of the curve in the banking sector compared to other countries around the world. So here the challenge is quite different. Capitec came to market with a cheaper banking offer by attacking competitors who had high rates and fees. Their positioning ‘Simplified Banking’ was brought to life through their ‘Bank better to live better’ campaign showing how simple they make banking in people’s lives. Capitec has now surpassed some of the giant banks in South Africa to become the largest retail and consumer bank in the country.

Research conducted by ANZ revealed that getting or changing jobs was one of the most significant triggers for opening up a bank account among 14-17 year-olds. ANZ became the bank for “your ‘first real’ job” by sharing stories that centred around ‘that moment you find out you’ve got the job’. ANZ showed they understood the emotional significance of the ‘first job’ milestone and had the right product to help. Not only that, but they retrained front line staff to better deal with the needs of youngsters, converting them to long-term customers.

A whole new world for banking

As the world of banking digitises, there are more and more opportunities to create personalised moments with customers. Increasing competition will, no doubt, create some of the most interesting and innovative developments in the sector for many years. It will always be a balance between innovating too quickly, alienating traditional customers, or being too slow and being left behind. However, banks that embrace big data, optimise customer journeys and differentiate in ways that benefit their customers, whilst coherently delivering against their brand promise, will lead the way.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/in-the-wake-of-a-wave-of-fintechs-banks-are-getting-personal/

Interesting

Abeg someone dat was able to read dat novel should kindly come and explain.

Hmmmmmm

Reminds me of Union Bank, those days, their old fat women used to make someone hate going to bank.
Them felt as if they were doing you a favor to attend to you.

I guess they never knew that someday people would be avoiding them like plague. Even to use their ATM, I rather trek a few distance to the next bank cos I don't know how many years it might take to resolve any ATM issues

Shadyswag:
Abeg someone dat was able to read dat novel should kindly come and explain.

Financial organizations are reading their customers more closely and offering more tailored services for more profitability.

In summary, persons who can't read are not going to make it.

tripleY:
Interesting

Not really relevant to Nigerian clime, we are too slow to adopt new measures so the banks are still having their ways.

The only thing that really "threatened their existence" was MMM.(as bank deposits drastically dropped) but now mmm is dead they can return to cheating Nigerians again

This one na epistle

Now even Fintechs are being overtaken by Cryptocurrencies and blockchain Technology... Just few days ago Bitcoin market share overtook PayPal.
Cryptocurrencies are going mainstream.


Funny enough , our Mods and Boss still thinks it's scam...

Ecobank's target customers are pensioners

ITbomb:
Reminds me of Union Bank, those days, their old fat women used to make someone hate going to bank.
Them felt as if they were doing you a favor to attend to you.

I guess they never knew that someday people would be avoiding them like plague. Even to use their ATM, I rather trek a few distance to the next bank cos I don't know how many years it might take to resolve any ATM issues

Long story... Lolss

Shadyswag:
Abeg someone dat was able to read dat novel should kindly come and explain.

Biko, shift for me as they are about to explain.

Shadyswag:
Abeg someone dat was able to read dat novel should kindly come and explain.

I join you dey wait, too early to stress one brain!

Okoyiboz3:


Financial organizations are reading their customers more closely and offering more tailored services for more profitability.

In summary, persons who can't read are not going to make it.

Hahahah you bad gan!

Poor banking culture and High level of illiteracy necessitates this write up.
Further more, the nigerian banking sector is characterized by high level of unqualified staff. It is in Nigeria that you will see a Computer Engr graduate working as a teller, these are the thing threatening the stability of the system. In fact, banks now prefer to hire an engineering graduates to people who major in either economic, acclunting or even banking and finance

okay, i have read and understood the trash you wrote.

Fintech cannot work in isolation without the bank, i don't need any further explanation.

Banking services have been seamless since a decade now with wide range of easy to use module, i think you should get acquainted with Banks' product before doing your ad.

Chukazu:


Not really relevant to Nigerian clime, we are too slow to adopt new measures so the banks are still having their ways.

I may want to disagree with you. There are many innovative and disruptive fintechs in Nigeria that will take away market share from traditional banks within the next few years. Most are payment processors but will evolve to operate in other niches: Flutterwave, Paystack and Kudi are examples.

Quite true.

Fintech is the future of banking.

Back in 1994 Bill Gates made the following statement
"Banking is necessary but bank's are not"

He must have seen a future where banking services are driven by technology and delivered via e-channels.

Well we are the early arrivals in that future thanks to mobile technology, ATMs and the internet.

Communication companies' Fintech are becoming bank's of some sort while bank's are becoming Fintech- both finding creative ways to encroach into each other's market.

Now add the growing awareness of digits currency /block chain technology to this equation and the traditional bank is in big trouble.

Other countries like Kenya are far ahead of Nigeria.
The only saving grace for banks is the bureaucracy of our regulators and their resistance to change.

MTN applied for mobile money license but was denied by CBN/NCC. But for how long?

BTW 99% of Nairalanders will not find this topic interesting since it is not about tribal bashing. If the elders will not allow us lead in politics are we also willing to allow them lead in technology? They are digital migrants, some of us are digital natives.

Expect much more disruptive technology when robots go mainstream .... They are coming!

they work hand in hand

Cryptocurrency is going to weaken the banks hold even more

eluquenson:
okay, i have read and understood the trash you wrote.

Fintech cannot work in isolation without the bank, i don't need any further explanation.

Banking services have been seamless since a decade now with wide range of easy to use module, i think you should get acquainted with Banks' product before doing your ad.

The world has moved on from this pattern of thought I see up there. You better join the train.

Have you heard about mpesa mobile money in Kenya?
Bank's are now working for Fintechs

It may interest you to know that Interswitch has no single retail customer. All their customers are actually bank customers. They don't have deposit targets and all those banking stress, no branches, few staff and they make cool profit without sweat.

Now do you see how banks are working for Interswitch?

The writeup just emphasized that this trend will eventually push traditional bank's to the background unless they innovate. And it's happening already

amnwa:
Great News

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So long as currency bills remain the preferred means for financial exchange in this clime, fintechs have a steep slope to climb.

Migration would take a while but the traditional banks still have the upper hand as they possess the finance and the luxury of years of accumulated customer data.

Moreover, the banks have different form of in-house financial tech platforms in place. The challenge remains their inability to properly sell these innovations to bank customers.

Market share for fintechs still remains very low owing to public reception.

Okay...


When is Buhari coming back home, I want to ask him something.

Iamzik:
Quite true.




Other countries like Kenya are far ahead of Nigeria.

You mean with mobile banking?

Iamzik:


MTN applied for mobile money license but was denied by CBN/NCC. But for how long?

Are you on support of MTN operating mobile banking in Nigeria?

Chukazu:


Not really relevant to Nigerian clime, we are too slow to adopt new measures so the banks are still having their ways.

The only thing that really "threatened their existence" was MMM.(as bank deposits drastically dropped) but now mmm is dead they can return to cheating Nigerians again

No. MMM did not threaten banks at all. The money that MMM subscribers were transferring to one another was still in the banks. So their total deposits couldn't have gone down. In fact, banks made more money from the fees on the many MMM transfers.

The article is true though.

ITbomb:
Reminds me of Union Bank, those days, their old fat women used to make someone hate going to bank.
Them felt as if they were doing you a favor to attend to you.

I guess they never knew that someday people would be avoiding them like plague. Even to use their ATM, I rather trek a few distance to the next bank cos I don't know how many years it might take to resolve any ATM issues

Hahahaha..
Oh you spoke my mind.
Even the younger staff look like they've never seen civilisation, acting like they're doing you a favor.

No lies, the week I opened my account was the week I closed it, two days interval.

Mazeltovscotty:
Poor banking culture and High level of illiteracy necessitates this write up.
Further more, the nigerian banking sector is characterized by high level of unqualified staff. It is in Nigeria that you will see a Computer Engr graduate working as a teller, these are the thing threatening the stability of the system. In fact, banks now prefer to hire an engineering graduates to people who major in either economic, acclunting or even banking and finance

Engineers revolutionised the banks.
Union Bank is not employing Engrs but banking and finance graduates, look where they are today.

Iamzik:


Expect much more disruptive technology when robots go mainstream .... They are coming!

They are here already!

Fearlez:

Are you on support of MTN operating mobile banking in Nigeria?

Hmm, nice angle!