TSYS and FICO have released a report which reveals that in order to be credible competitors in the industry, banks cannot rely on customer details such as age or location, especially when new technology is emerging.
Payments company TSYS and software firm FICO have released a report which reveals that in order to be credible competitors in the industry, banks cannot rely on customer details such as age or location, especially when new technology is emerging and consumer mobile phone and social media habits are crucial information.
The report called “Engaging Customers: Why Should Financial Institutions Move Toward a “Bring Your Own Persona” Approach” explores how customers are demanding customisation in their banking services.
Using responses from the 2015 TSYS UK Consumer Payments Engagement Survey, the company was able to identify key consumer preferences when interacting with financial institutions. The results also enabled the provision of four instructions that banks have to follow in order to promote a “Bring Your Own Persona” approach.
Alongside this, categorisation of customers depending on their level of digital knowledge is essential. “Financial institutions can differentiate themselves by understanding their customers’ preference for digital communication and their degree of trust in sharing financial information through digital channels,” TSYS reports.
Bruno Courbage, senior director of product management at FICO believes that traditional customer service is not the way forward. “Relying solely on data such as income, age and geography isn’t enough. In the digital age, customers expect banks to understand their preferred communications channels, willingness to share personal data in various scenarios and ability to transact,” Courbage says.
Group executive of product and market development at TSYS International, John Goodale, elaborates on Courbage’s point and explores the importance of big data for banks. “Financial institutions’ relationships with their customers are changing, largely driven by two key influencers — the adoption of enabling technology and the insight available from big data. Banks that embrace big data, use it to better understand their customers’ habits and preferences and combine it with the user experience will have a true strategic advantage,” according to Goodale.
Banking Technology reported a Deutsche bank finding that was one of the most striking statistics behind this report: on average banking consumers interact with their bank up to three times more than those who bank online and 20 times more than who bank at their branch.