Finance Monthly August 2019 Edition

giving their customers a frictionless experience, whether in the branch or online. Remember, the customer should be at the centre of every interaction. If a process or system is cumbersome for the bank, you can guarantee the customer is going to suffer, too. Convenience is king, and nothing is more convenient than conducting your financial life whenever and wherever you want. At the same time, financial institutions should think innovatively about how they engage with their customers. If you have one platform, then digital isn’t a disjointed experience. You can easily transition from simple to complex products based on the customer’s needs. This means you can think like Amazon, and find ways to meet your customers where they are, in the channels they’re already using. Finally, financial institutions must design experiences for the customer. You can be in all the right channels with the best platform in place, but if your journey is only designed to make it easier for the bank, it won’t be very effective. If you look at FinTechs that have succeeded thus far, it’s not because the product was cheaper. It’s almost always because they gave their customers what they wanted faster. The biggest winners at this point are going to be those institutions whose maniacal focus on their customers leads to delightful experiences that don’t sacrifice the safety and soundness of the bank. By tackling these challenges, embracing digital transformation and prioritising customer experience, financial institutions will be able to compete with Amazon and any other tech giants who may want to enter the banking sector. And if Amazon ends up losing sleep over their inability to take over the financial services industry, I’m happy to recommend a good dummy. “ “ One misstep and Amazon could go the way of Facebook, which has spent years struggling with trust issues and data breaches. 72% Baby Boomers 53% Gen Z vs Trust their primary financial institution the most with their money Less trust means more opportunity for competitors like Amazon. Source: PwC 2019 Digital Banking Consumer Survey 13 www.finance-monthly.com FRONT COVER FEATURE - BANK OF AMAZON