Onwards & Upwards
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Onwards & Upwards John-Paul Edwards, Chief Digital & Information Officer at Foresters Financial chats to Editor Anna McMahon about the company’s digital transformation journey.
Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Tom Barnes
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A financial servic unique history, Fo started life 145 ye
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t is now headquartered in Canada, with over 3 million customers and members across the UK, Canada and the United States. Foresters continues to offer a range of simple and affordable financial solutions for working families, from savings and investments to protection. John-Paul Edwards, Chief Digital & Information Officer at Foresters Financial, said, “We are proud of our longstanding heritage and ensuring that our members benefit from our strength of purpose. As a UK mutual organisation, our members can also receive a range of benefits, from fun family community events to a university scholarship, or even a community grant to organise and fund community events themselves, making us different from other financial services organisations. It may sound like a clichĂŠ, but our vision in the UK is still around
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helping everyday families to enrich their lives, and for our members to do business with us in a way that suits them.� Foresters Financial offers their customers a choice in how they do business including a team of financial advisers offering a homebased personal planning service, a fantastic team of customer services
based in the UK, and the ability to take out a plan and manage it online. It is especially important for the company to not forget about its baby boomers
ces provider with a oresters Financial ears ago.
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and generation X customers, as well as adapt and change for millennials and generation Z customers, given the fact that over 1 million of its customers in the UK are under the age of 18. John-Paul explained, “Our society is changing – these changes are reshaping the expectations of both customers and employees. It is important to recognise that with different generations we need to make experiences frictionless for everyone. My challenge as CIO is to identify what elements in the marketplace provide some of the key elements of success, to know the customer and make it easy to engage with the right services in the digital age. We need to embrace digital transformation to stay relevant to our customers because if we don’t adapt quickly, they will switch to one of our competitors.”
John-Paul’s core role is to look at digital transformation as a way of reframing relationships with Foresters Financial customers, members and employees through the new technologies in order to connect and engage with them in novel ways. John-Paul said, “Every business is going through some form of digital transformation to merge internal processes. It goes beyond the technology aspect, and is more about perceiving digital as a way of streamlining the entire business. We are still operating with some legacy systems, but we know we need to adapt to improve processes, cut costs and encourage fluidity. Technology is impacting on the financial services industry in a multitude of ways, and executives need to be able to address new business models and culture change.”
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“Armed with adv and omni-chan Foresters Finan exceptional custo Junior ISA
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Transfer Your Child’s savings to us
vanced analytics nnel solutions, ncial can create omer experiences� Adult ISA
Top up or gift to a child’s savings plan
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“The data is not enough on You need to consider every point and customer interac for a complete view, buildin automatic trigger points to the business process effect Today, CIOs have a number of considerations when adapting to change regardless of industry, from blockchain, robotics and AI, through to the cloud, security and regulations. However, it is John-Paul’s view that the customer experience will become a key predictor for many organisations in their drive to become more relevant and agile. He explained, “For Foresters Financial, it’s about building on the customer experience to continue to provide positive experiences that stand out from our competitors. We are looking at our work style to facilitate more collaborative team structures, and our organisational model is moving towards digital DNA, with a mix of traditional and non-traditional stakeholders.” The most valuable, untapped resource, however, especially 12
for financial services, is data. JohnPaul added, “Armed with advanced analytics and omni-channel solutions, Foresters Financial can create exceptional customer experiences. Protected, secure data is critical to transforming the customer experience, as we need to guide our customers to meet their goals. It goes back to digitisation again, connecting that data, putting in the foundations, and making sure that those foundations allow us to leverage the data to create business value. Our next step is to change and optimise business processes by leveraging the digital technologies and automation. A third layer will involve business resources, capabilities and the new business model to leverage opportunities of digital technology. Our priority over the next two years is updating the model – and preparing ourselves for the new normal.”
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A further element will see Foresters Financial adopting APIs to give the organisation greater agility, providing open architecture that will connect to anything anywhere. John-Paul said, “The technology is the easy part, but how do you go about transforming the business model? Add in the regulatory side, and it is very challenging. Large financial services organisations need to transform at a pace that will also not disrupt their current services, continuing to serve their existing customers whilst building their trust.”
change, with advances in analytics and machine learning bringing robo-advisers to the fore. However, there is some uncertainty over how digital financial advice will evolve It is this trust aspect that makes over the next three to five years, but security a priority for Foresters the information age in which we find Financial, as well as preparing the ourselves means today’s generation architecture in a way that pays wants to be able to operate at attention to what their members the touch of a button. That said, want, building a 360-degree view according to John-Paul, it is necessary of customer interactions. John-Paul to achieve a balance between added, “The data is not enough on human and digital interaction. its own. You need to consider every touch point and customer interaction He explained, “The savings and investment industry is at an inflection for a complete view, building on point. About half of customers still automatic trigger points to make prefer some level of human advice, the business process effective. This is especially when it comes to big where open architecture comes in, moving away from closed proprietary decisions over family savings plans, for example. We therefore need to legacy systems to an open make sure we can offer a ‘hybrid’ architecture, connecting different model enabling customers to do systems and business partners for a their business however they like. This seamless customer experience.” means putting the channels and business processes in place within One thing is for sure, the field of the regulations to allow customers to financial advice is undergoing rapid 15
“We need to get under the s of our customers, shifting servicing, advice and mark from a transactional functi to helping the business bet interact with customers” have that seamless blend of human and digital engagement.” Foresters Financial is working closely with a number of partners to help drive the business forwards. JohnPaul said, “We have a very strong relationship with Schroders, who manage the Forester Life Stakeholder Managed Funds, where products like our ISA, Junior ISAs, and some of the Child Trust Funds are invested. We also have a longstanding relationship with iPipeline, who provide technology and software services around our core administration system. We will continue to work with Schroders, iPipeline and other technology partners as we introduce new cloud and mobile services, and advance on our digital transformation journey.” As final food for thought, John-Paul added, “Being ‘digital’ means seeing 16
digital technology advances as a way to change the way business is done – by getting closer to customers, empowering employees, and transforming internal business processes. Customers want to feel listened to and expect a tailored experience that meets their needs. We need to get under the skin of our customers, shifting servicing, advice and marketing from a transactional function, to helping the business better interact with customers”. CIOs more than ever need to deliver this by listening and collaborating closely with customers, placing them at the centre, and integrating online and offline touchpoints across products and services the customer values. For further information visit www.foresters.com
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Tel: 0333 600 0333 service@foresters.co.uk
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