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Sydney’s recent Digital Financial Services conference canvassed a wide range of issues faced by the industry as it views the challenges and opportunities posed by the digital revolution. One point of consensus? That innovation and adaptation need to be at the heart of any digital banking strategy.
Alex Sion of Moven (formerly Movenbank) offered the following five predictions for the future of personal banking to the audience of marketers at the recent two-day event held in Sydney:
1. Customer atrophy
Remember Borders? The bookshop that was all about the in-store experience. Then along came Amazon. Sion predicts that one (or maybe more!) of the large banking institutions we see as household names will go under because it failed to keep up with customer needs and purchasing habits.
2. Slashed marketing budgets
Customers are seeking experiences and peer-to-peer recommendations, not the ‘look at me’ one-way broadcasting of advertising. Budgets will be steered away from traditional channels towards social, PR and word-of-mouth.
3. End of rewards programs
Moven’s insight is that customers under 35 see through rewards and value adds that have appealed to other generations. The value offered by brands will need to be redefined.
4. Return of retail bank branches
The worst salesperson has a 25% better conversion rate in a face-to-face interaction than digital marketing. This refreshing reality check shows that while a lot can be done online, we are all still humans with basic relationship needs. Phew!
5. What is a bank?
This is the question a (sober) college student will ask their parents. Future generations won’t know banks as physical places, they’ll use the various services we know today to move or leverage money through service-based technology.
We’ve mined presentations from the conference for five actions chief marketing officers in banking organisations can take now to take address these predictions.
1. Define your value proposition and then know how you’re going to execute it effectively.
2. Simplify. Ask if your loss leader products are going to achieve your business goals in the future. Think about where you can simplify to make the tough journey into innovation easier.
3. Be there. Know that people are going to continue to experience money anxiety and are going to talk about it on social platforms and in communities. Don’t miss the opportunity to host and participate in the conversation.
4. Leverage existing assets. Recognise the huge brand awareness advantage a physical footprint offers a retail bank and consider how to leverage it better to seamlessly integrate the online and offline experience for customers.
5. Upskill. You have to have innovation, speed, creativity and flexibility in order to give it away. This should influence your future hiring decisions and appointment of the partners you choose to work with.
Article links: Digital Financial Services Conference; Alex Sion; Moven
