People often say that the only constant is change. While some embrace change for driving progress and others fear it for the uncertainty it brings, it’s clear that an industry’s ability to evolve has often been the deciding factor in whether it falters, survives, or thrives. The banking industry has been able to get by for millennia on incremental change, using stopgap measures to adapt to shifts. That approach will no longer suffice.
Die Transparenz, die die Bank über ihre Angebote und Abläufe bietet, wird zu einem entscheidenden Faktor.
Reinventing relevance
Over the past 40 years, digital changes have increased the urgency for transformation. We, as clients, have new standards for our banking partners. Those who do not meet these expectations risk being replaced. Those that embrace opportunities to reinvent their relevance in today’s world stand to succeed.
There are three phenomena that are currently making the shift from a legacy banking partner to a contemporary one increasingly attractive.
- Immer mehr Menschen suchen nach unmittelbaren, persönlichen Dienstleistungen.
- Die Transparenz, die die Bank über ihre Angebote und Abläufe bietet, wird zu einem entscheidenden Faktor.
- Da die Hürden für die Teilnahme an der Branche niedriger sind, drängen immer mehr innovative neue Spieler auf den Markt.
Setting new benchmarks
Historically, the standard of excellence for service delivery within the banking industry was assessed in relation to the legacy competitors. Today, that is not the case. The benchmark for success is technology companies.
Technology companies have redefined the way in which a service provider should interact with its clients. By leveraging emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, and application programming interfaces (APIs), technology companies have demonstrated that today’s client interactions can be simpler, more intuitive, and more powerful than those of the past, raising the bar for all other industries.
Most of us are no longer willing to wait several days to open a new bank account. We, from the client’s perspective, want to do it in 10 minutes or less. We want to be able to exchange currency at no cost and immediately. And we want to complete banking services wherever and whenever.
The digital tools that have allowed technology companies to individualize a user’s experience and outcome have not yet been fully realized in the banking industry. There is untapped potential for banks to optimize their user experience, taking less time to provide clients with a better overall output that is more tailored to their preferences.
Am wichtigsten ist, dass die Banken ihren Kunden aktiv zuhören. Eine erfolgreiche Strategie ist eine, die den Menschen in den Mittelpunkt stellt.
Building trust
Banks must also respond to increasing demands for transparency. The banking industry has traditionally been opaque and difficult for the average client to understand. Too often banks have unclear fees and fail to adequately disclose their internal values, vision, and impetus.
Yet in a digital environment where people have easy access to information – where questions can be answered at a click of a button and a competitor’s offerings easily compared – banks cannot afford to let clients remain in the dark. They must be upfront about all costs and open about the handling of the historically veiled inner workings of their operations. In today’s digital environment, increasing transparency is necessary to gaining and keeping the trust that is the foundation of banking. Entrepreneurs across the world have recognized both of these shortcomings, and many have mobilized to fill the gaps by introducing banking offerings of their own.
Rewriting the definition of banking
So, what can banks do to grow?
- Die Banken müssen von der Vorstellung, dass Technologie eine Kostenstelle ist, zu der Überzeugung übergehen, dass sie das Unterscheidungsmerkmal ist. Technologie kann auf dem heutigen Markt nicht mehr zweitrangig sein. Die digitale Strategie muss ein integraler, integrierter Bestandteil der Zukunftsplanung einer Bank sein.
- Banken müssen eine agile Denkweise annehmen und sich ständig verbessern. Es reicht nicht mehr aus, jährliche, schrittweise Entwicklungen zu planen. Die Kunden erwarten von ihren Dienstleistern, dass sie ihre Dienstleistungen konsequent optimieren. Das bedeutet, einen flexiblen Ansatz für technologische Veränderungen zu wählen, der es den Banken ermöglicht, auf veränderte Präferenzen zu reagieren. Anstatt technische Neuerungen im Abstand von Monaten oder Jahren zu planen, müssen Banken ein kontinuierliches, ganzjähriges Innovations- und Implementierungsmodell anstreben.
- Am wichtigsten ist, dass die Banken ihren Kunden aktiv zuhören. Eine erfolgreiche Strategie ist eine, die den Menschen in den Mittelpunkt stellt. Das grundsätzliche Vertrauen, das die Kunden von ihren Bankpartnern erwarten, wird wichtig bleiben, aber die Banken müssen auch dafür sorgen, dass die Kunden glauben, dass ihre Bank den veränderten Erwartungen an Service und Transparenz gerecht wird.
Today, there is clearly an effort to rewrite the definition of banking.
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