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It is no secret that banks are under pressure to digitally transform and drive innovation in their operations and improve their customer service practices. They should always strive for ways to innovate their operating systems and ensure that customers are able to access the best service possible across all platforms. Thus, creating a truly omnichannel experience.
Recently, Mark Aldred, Vice President, VP of Sales International at Auriga spoke to Robin Amlôt, Managing Editor at IBS Intelligence and host of the IBSi Podcast, about the future of banking and why traditional banks should rethink their branch closures.
Throughout the podcast episode, Mark and Robin discussed why it is important for banks to acknowledge that there will be technological and monetary challenges and obstacles to overcome when creating omnichannel operations. Spending on research and development in the right areas is key to create innovative solutions for new customer needs. However, a balance needs to be struck between moving rapidly to new technology and delivering new services versus leveraging the platforms and technology customers are already using.
Mark outlined that
“legacy infrastructure isn’t as flexible as it has needed to be. So, looking backwards, that lack of flexibility has created the challenge into the future, therefore everybody is forewarned that flexibility is key.” Yet, flexibility does not only mean new technology, but it also involves changing strategy, and this ties into the bank branch closures which have been ever-present across the UK in recent years. Mark highlighted that “many banking services are best delivered face-to face in-person, or at least in a space which is considered secure and bank owned”.
The podcast episode also covered the technology banks can use to deliver these in-person and omnichannel services which gives customers more choice in how they want to bank be it in-person, online or mobile, for example. As well as, how software and hardware, cloud and AI is driving investment in banking of both legacy banks and neobanks. Mark and Robin also discussed how financial services organisations can build and deliver efficient, resilient, flexible and future-proofed banking which is accessible, reliable and trustworthy for both the bank and their customers.
And what about security? Following other outages in the UK and elsewhere, financial services institutions must take omnichannel banking much more seriously, and include providing high-quality, in-person and physical channels as part of their service offering. These outages can undermine customer trust and a bank’s brand value, so it is important for them to ensure that they have a physical presence on the high street or other locations to respond to crises like this and answer everyday demand for free access to cash.
Would you also like to learn more about trends in the banking industry?
You can listen to the full podcast episode here:
