Illinois Banker Magazine | May - June Issue 2021

Page 13

SPECIAL EDITION • THE NEXT NORMAL

Accelerating Your Bank Toward the “Next Normal” By Kevin Quinlan, nCino

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has changed the game for financial institutions. Over the last few years, financial consumers were already growing more comfortable with conducting banking interactions via remote, digital channels like online and mobile banking, but the pandemic rapidly accelerated this trend.

• Creating a frictionless, digital-first experience for customers; • Deploying cloud banking to enhance efficiencies and empower employees; and • Enabling the Intelligent Enterprise to supercharge organizational growth.

As a result, many consumers are crossing the threshold of a traditional bank branch less frequently than ever before. In addition, a recent McKinsey study found that 75% of individuals who began using digital channels for the first time due to COVID plan to continue using them post-pandemic. For financial institutions slow to adapt to these evolving expectations, the window to change is rapidly closing. Banks must serve their current and prospective customers wherever they are, rather than forcing them into a single channel of engagement. If they don’t, someone else will gladly meet their needs. The key is to leverage digital technology to modernize and enhance the customer experience, without forgoing the human touch that has always been the mark of loyal, long-term relationships. To prepare for banking in the “next normal,” institutions should focus on three core areas:

According to a report published by the Financial Brand in late 2020, the goal to “improve [the] customer experience” was named a top priority by surveyed financial institutions, second only to “digital banking transformation.” The message is clear: today’s financial consumers expect the same convenient, frictionless access and seamless experience from their financial services providers that they receive from “Big Tech” companies like Amazon, Netflix and Google. To achieve this goal, banks must not only deploy leading digital customer engagement technologies and features like mobile banking, customer onboarding, online loan applications and digital account opening, but support them with an end to end “system of engagement” that is fully integrated across the enterprise. The customer experience must be consistent across all channels of engagement, whether in the branch, through the contact center, or via online

Creating a Digital-First Experience.

May-June 2021 •

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