Every day, more and more credit and debit card transactions take place without a customer ever touching their card.
From Venmo to Apple Pay, bigtech and fintech players are launching services that erode banks’ interface with customers, making it harder than ever for financial institutions to build and maintain brand loyalty.
What’s more, these mobile wallets and payment apps also collect rich customer data that their parent companies use to personalize and optimize customer experiences. The features offered by eWallets — from streamlined user interfaces to tailored content — further strengthen their customer relationships while weakening the bank’s. Both new and established tech companies are already leveraging transaction data to launch financial products of their own, challenging financial institutions directly.
How can banks compete? By offering a better digital experience, to start.
To thrive in an age of disruption, banks must de-silo their data, modernize their marketing tactics to focus on the customer experience, and embrace the digital future. This level of transformation is challenging for any organization, but for banks — enmeshed in complex regulations and with complex management structures that can slow change — the transition can be particularly difficult.
Fortunately, the most embattled group within the bank is also best suited to lead the way forward. Armed with copious historical data and the potential to improve customers’ most frequent touchpoints with their banks, the payments group is perfectly positioned to kickstart digital transformation for the entire organization. However, they’ll need to make some changes to internal processes and paradigms first.