Title: Anytime, Anywhere: When It Comes to How They Do Their Banking, Customer Today Want It All. That Requires Some Serious Channel Management
Abstract: Just as one would not buy a television set that could not get all the channels one wants, consumers today require access to their banks in all the ways possible--through branches, ATMs, online, mobile, call centers, tablets, debit cards, remote deposit capture, and whatever else technologists dream up. Nothing is optional. Banks have to be active and competitive in all channels. expect and demand convenience, and are not tolerant of having big gaps in channel delivery, says Bob Meara, senior analyst at Celent. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Customers are looking for ways to do their banking business no matter where they are and 24 hours a day. Banks in the future that will be able to meet those kinds of parameters are going to be the ones that are going to be successful, says Ken Burgess, chairman, First Capital Bank of Texas, Midland, and vice-chairman of ABA's Community Bankers Council. It's not one channel over the other. When they say they mean all, and statistics by Raddon Financial Group bear this out. In its spring 2012 survey, it finds usage by the entire U.S. population all above 50% for the relatively mature channels: lobby, 79%; ATMs, 60%; online, 62%; credit card, 73%; and debit card, 62%. Mobile banking, still in its building phase, nevertheless saw usage by 20% of all bank customers, and 37% of Generation Y customers. Everyone is talking about channel integration. ATMs and branches have always had a connection, but now we're seeing increased reliance on online and mobile banking, which adds another set of dynamics, says Suzanne Galvin, director of Product Management for Elan Financial Services. The bank's challenge is to be cognizant of the fact almost every demographic of their client [base] is going to have a multichannel experience with the bank. They need to know that that experience is delivered consistently, says John Gordon, executive vice-president and gen1 manager, FIS. Consistency and convenience rule Seamless communication between channels and among systems--or at least apparently seamless--are basic to channel strategy. The watchword today is very much 'consistency,' says Gordon. Tom Berdan, vice-president of product management, Harland Financial Services, provides an example: a customer walks into the branch and sits at a desk and says, 'I was on your internet banking site the other night and started to apply for an auto loan, but I got sidetracked. Can you help me finish that?' If [the banker] can sit down and retrieve the application and complete it, then [he or she] has delivered a good experience from that consistency standpoint. Bank of America, with 5,600 branches, 400 homeloan offices, 16,000 ATMs, and millions of online customers, presents a channel integration challenge. SVP Robert Aulebach, integrated distribution executive, is responsible for developing and managing the bank's channel strategy. Convenience is still the No. 1 factor for consumers picking a bank. define convenience as anytime, anywhere, he says. We spend a fair amount of time trying to determine what those integration points could be. By integrating mobile banking and ATMs together, for example, we're trying to see in what ways would that make life easier. Integration of mobile into the ATM channel plays a significant part going forward in tying all the channels together, Galvin agrees. The ATM still sits in the middle of tying the experience for the customers together, but having a mobile app that gives a consistent experience across the channels is important. What do they really want? Even if you accept the premise that customers want everything, every bank's population is different and, at least for the present, it behooves management to figure out what their own customers value most. At Sound Community Bank, Seattle, Wash., transactions at branches, ATMs, and other channels are tracked closely and results are used to determine future strategic moves. …
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-09-01
Language: en
Type: article
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