Time for Banks to Ditch Silos for Omnichannel

This time of year we hear, more than ever, about how e-commerce has pushed retailers to the brink. Smart companies, however, survived and thrived, as Dawn Wotapk reports in Banking Strategies explains, by offering consumers as many consistent and seamless options as possible—letting them quickly jump between the offline and online worlds and learning about those consumers well enough to anticipate their needs and wants.

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Indeed, BCG last year estimated brands that personalize experiences for customers by integrating advanced digital technologies and proprietary data have seen revenue climb 6 to 10 percent. That’s up to three times faster than those that do not. It also estimated that in the next five years, the retail, health care and yes, financial services companies that get this right will join an elite group. It could boil down to “a revenue shift of some $800 billion to the 15 percent” of companies that succeed. That’s quite the incentive to get omnichannel firing on all cylinders.

Back in 2016, BAI ran a contributor piece that forecast as much in general terms, so it’s not that banks don’t understand it. Rather, the process just isn’t easy, says Marko Koic, solutions marketing manager with Infobip, an omnichannel communications platform.

“Banks know what they should do and are willing to do it,” Koic says. “However, due to the complexity of their systems and the sheer time needed to make some significant changes, that process takes some time. Fintechs have helped to speed up that process but it’s still not going as fast as banks would like.”

Why? The article notes that there was little demand and/or technical capability available to provide a better customer experience — but that has changed.

Consultancy PwC’s “Making Omnichannel Work: The ‘To Do’ List for Banks,” is a white paper that accurately sums up the issue:

“It’s tempting to think of omnichannel banking as a technology issue … but delivering a consistent, appealing customer experience—online, in a branch, by phone, on an app—requires a different way of thinking. Everyone in the bank has an important role, including channel managers, customer teams, product developers, marketing and sales leaders, and those in charge of technology and analytics.”

The banking industry has been trending towards the personalized, consistent experiences for customers through all channels. Incorporating technologies that integrate throughout the omnichannel is one step on the path to success in a “post retail” world.

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