The COVID-10 pandemic put digital transformation in overdrive, fueling rapid digital adoption and innovation across financial services. And while it’s tempting to act quickly to keep up with the competition, a clear and compelling vision that serves as your program’s foundation is a necessary launching point for any successful digital banking product or experience you implement. With a vision for the future in place, you can turn your attention to the implementation. Consider these seven questions to assess and strengthen your readiness.
Question 1: Are you engaging the right people?
Look within your organization for people who could add valuable insights or play a critical role in the digital experience you’re building. Since tellers talk to customers the most, be sure to get their insights. But also consider how you can engage people across departments to get the most complete picture of as-is processes and opportunities to digitally transform them.
Don’t forget your customers. Consider surveying a subset to discover what matters most to them and the factors that would shape the best possible experience.
By gaining stakeholder and customer perspectives early in the process, you’ll better understand concerns and potential resistance. You’ll drive buy-in and adoption. And you’ll be better positioned to anticipate and address challenges along the way.
Question 2: How will you eliminate friction for your customers?
Eliminating points of friction is critical to creating a great customer experience. Do you know where yours are? It’s important to identify where customers encounter issues so you can prioritize those improvements in your digital banking program.
Mobiquity’s Friction Report is a proprietary tool that uses artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) to analyze thousands of customer reviews on mobile apps, websites, and similar tools to help businesses see what they’re doing well (and where they could use some help). The Friction Report also summarizes how these digital touchpoints, such as mobile apps, are performing across an industry. Check out the Banking Industry Friction Report to see how some of the best mobile apps stack up.
Question 3: How will you keep pace with change?
Digital is inherently dynamic. As technology advances and customer expectations evolve, how will your business make quick, confident decisions to address these and other changes? Making decisions in large, complex organizations takes time, and that’s ok. The more siloed an organization, the longer it could take to bring digital transformation to life. In that case, craft a game plan for how you’ll accelerate key decisions related to your digital program. Organize your team around your digital banking strategy to create digital traction with ongoing innovation development.
Question 4: What’s your plan for brick and mortar?
As you prioritize digital banking, will you continue to open new branches? Will you temporarily pause expansion of brick-and-mortar locations while you wait to see how customers receive your digital program? Some say bank branches may start to disappear, especially in the post-COVID world. While that remains to be seen, you should have a plan for how your retail banking branches will play into your new digital strategy. Your customers should have the same great experience whether in person or digital.
Think about how retailers and restaurants pivoted during the height of pandemic. Many transformed stores and restaurants into distribution centers. How could your bank reimagine the purpose and experience of your branches? Could your bank serve as a vaccination center? Food pantry? In what other ways might you reallocate your brick-and-mortar resources to better serve an evolving landscape?
Question 5: How will you align your business case to your vision?
Once you’ve organized your business, be sure to align this work to your digital banking vision. Is the team you created aligned to the vision? Does your brick-and-mortar strategy support it? Have you considered the technical feasibility and viability of the digital solutions you’re creating? At every phase in your journey, remember to pressure-test against your goals. Where you find friction, consider whether and how to alter your strategy to stay on track to achieving your goals.
Question 6: Have you mapped out unknowns?
Consider the idea of unconscious incompetence – that there are skills and knowledge you lack but aren’t even aware you need. Many digital transformation teams routinely struggle with these grey areas. Working to identify unknowns can be helpful. Market research, observations, hunches – even uncertainty itself – can all be catalysts throughout your process of digital innovation. Be brave.
Question 7: How will you leave space for innovation?
You can’t build digital experiences in a bubble. Everything is connected – from your website to your mobile app to your branches (if you have them). Leaving room for agile innovation and a way to receive external feedback is important with so many channels and factors at play. Be brutally honest with yourselves. However you are currently set up, does your customer have a seamless experience regardless of which channel they use?
Prepare for change
Whether you’re starting from scratch or enhancing an existing program, consider downloading our playbook, “A Global Guide to Digital Banking: Your Playbook for Creating Digital Experiences Customers Love.” It walks you through key steps to creating a digital banking experience that engages and empowers customers.
Ready to get started with your digital banking strategy? Reach out to us today for your digital banking consulting needs.
As an experienced turnaround manager and entrepreneur, Matt Williamson is Vice President of Global Financial Services, Mobiquity. Matt joined Mobiquity during COVID-19 to support the company’s growth trajectory and is a specialist in M&A, technology, product integration, strategy, and delivery. Matt’s career demonstrates his international expertise and ability to rise to a diverse array of challenges. Beginning his career as a fraud investigator at Thomas Cook and Travelex, Matt went on to run Travelex’s Global Business Payments Tech for EMEA and won a Sibos innovation of the year for the Geo Payments Network while occupying the role of UK Product Head. Following this, Matt was appointed by Citi Bank as its Senior Vice President of Technology for Treasury Trade Services and EMEA Head of Commercial Prepaid Card Technology. Matt has also been instrumental in the merger of Misys into Finastra, leading a successful hyper-growth strategy as the Global Head of Payments and Cash. In addition, Matt has worked with Fintech start-ups such as CoBa as Global Head of Fintech, and an international payment scale-up, FORM3, as its Director of Customer Success within its Enterprise and Partnership division to build its brand on a global basis. Matt is a thought leader on financial inclusion, the bank of the future, cashless societies, the digital banking experience, sustainability, fraud and security of payments.
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