Digital development does not have a single direction. It is aggregated initiative of several processes in multiple areas of a typical financial institution
As this is no question for startups, they make use of existing and the newest technologies available as is, however it is more difficult task to endeavor for the more traditional banking players. They call the process “digital transformation” which consumes most of investment money in recent years.
The all known truth: without transforming to digital technologies, traditional banks lose their competitiveness. Customers will gradually choose the easier way of banking.
User Experience (UX) is everything
The importance of UX cannot be overestimated. Simple UX decides between success and failure of customer the facing application. As part of our business consulting projects, we approach UX in the most scientific way possible measuring customer interactions. Our conclusions are then converted into a set of mockup screens to confirm the insights and to build an ideal customer journey.
Having said that, there is a decision to take by a traditional financial institution: the new technologies also simplify operating model almost in each activity area. We can use it for the benefit of more efficient customer acquisition e.g., migrating Know-Your-Customer (KYC) procedures to remote channels, or for the benefit of simpler, faster, cheaper new product development or future integrations by taking advantage of internal APIs. Such decisions are on any financial institutions daily agenda.
Where the value of external advisory lays is in approaching a field of uncertain decisions in the field of digitisation with clear, fact-based priorities for investments.
Digitalisation budgets tend to grow significantly. Decisions on its allocations are therefore of the highest importance to an organization. There are few high-level considerations I would give:
These considerations are obviously not exhaustive. We have seen a lot of attempts to digitize processes that would not necessarily benefit a lot from a transformation. Our advice, however, is to think it over carefully. Take time. Invest in external consultants to guide you through the process of upgrades and leverage digital technologies available. For more on our Payments consulting services please see here.