Middle East Banks Double Down on Digital Customer Experiences Post Pandemic

Mike Plimsoll Global Head of Industry Marketing, Sitecore sees that our region is enthusiastically forging ahead with digital banking innovation but that they should also consider mobile access, user experience, compliance, pervasive security and the right tools for success in this new era of digital banking

The pandemic has fundamentally shifted how Middle East banks deliver on customer experiences, rapidly shifting from a branch-centric, in-person approach to one that is digital-first, across websites, mobile apps, and customer call centers.

Having one flexible and composable digital platform that can unify how banks engage with their customers across all channels is vital for optimizing customer experiences and retaining their loyalty.

Banks should evolve their thinking from “the next best content” or “the next best option” towards combining the right content with the right insights in realtime to deliver “the next best customer experience.” In order to keep pace with the rapid pace of technological change, banks need to adopt an adaptable and composable architecture to deliver more relevant, consistent, and high-quality customer experience – regardless of new and emerging platforms or channels.

Gartner predicts that by 2023, organizations that have adopted a Composable Commerce approach will outpace the competition by 80% in the speed of new feature implementation. Leaders are adopting a MACH approach: Microservices, API-First, Cloud-Native, and Headless.

Already, the Middle East has been among the global leaders in transforming customer experiences. According to a recent YouGov survey of more than 650 IT decision-makers across the Middle East and North Africa, 88% said they fundamentally changed their customer experiences in response to the pandemic, leading to deeper customer engagement.

Mike Plimsoll Global Head of Industry Marketing, Sitecore

Emirates NBD and Mashreq Bank Lead Digital Banking Innovation

In the Middle East, leading banks such as Emirates NBD, and Mashreq Bank are all driving digital innovation to optimize employee and customer experiences.

At Emirates NBD, a new app and website with engaging, personalized banking and lifestyle content has helped Liv. to shake up the UAE financial market and become one of its top service providers. Sitecore’s platform

has delivered operational efficiencies and introduced new governance and analytics capabilities. The response from employees has been very positive with 80% liking the new experience.

More than 50 years on from Mashreq’s inception, the bank maintains an unwavering commitment towards customer centricity. Through Mashreq’s digital-first approach, customers can benefit from a banking experience that is convenient, tailored to their needs, and meets their evolving demands. A modern, intuitive, and user-friendly website is imperative in digital transformation.

In collaboration with Sitecore, Mashreq Bank not just enhanced the overall experience on its website, Mashreq Bank also implemented a Sitecore content management system that enables the bank to deliver content across all customer channels through an API, which makes it a powerful tool for its mobile and web developers.

Aligning Customer Experiences in Branches and on Digital Platforms

In discussions with leading Middle East banks during the recent GITEX Technology Week, we are seeing that Middle East banks have the bold visions to try new forms of customer engagement that are, in some cases, leapfrogging the legacy banks that are in Europe and North America.

The Middle East, and especially the UAE, have the advanced technology infrastructure and visionary CIOs, who can lead innovation. One key takeaway is that the era of digital banking will only continue to accelerate in the Middle East – with banks rethinking their in-branch experience and driving hybrid models that can meet customers at any time, any location, and across any in-person or digital platform that they want to engage.

The website experience is vital. Among MENA IT decision-makers, 88% said their customers will navigate away from a site and choose an alternative if they can’t find what they need in just a few clicks. And 87% said customers have less patience with slow or poorly functioning websites.

Among younger users, bank apps are taking on increased importance. Worldwide, 75% of Millennials say they use mobile banking apps, according to a recent white paper.

At the same time, banks have also had to fully onboard their senior citizen customers to use digital banking platforms. Based on our discussions, we are seeing that the two most frequent questions the customer service teams are getting: How do I log on to the bank’s website with my credentials? And is online banking safe? Banks need to place this front and center.

Videoconferencing has also taken hold during the pandemic for enabling remote work, and in turn also enabling a new level of customer service. If customers are already on their laptops or mobile devices, banks should be making it easy for one click to video chat.

At the same time, Middle East banks are also re-thinking the branch experience. Every country is different in the Middle East in terms of regulations and cultural differences. Many customers are still used to doing banking activities such as depositing checks or applying for loans, or just want someone to talk through any issue or question with someone in the branch.

Increasingly, Middle East banks are now adopting a hybrid model by installing videoconferencing kiosks in the branch. Customers do not have to wait in line to talk to a teller, but they can still talk to a member of the customer experience team face-to-face in a virtual format. Customers may prefer having sensitive financial conversations in the privacy of bank branches, rather than in shared apartments or offices that are less private and may have lower levels of connectivity.

As Middle East banks start planning and delivering on the next steps in their digital transformation journeys, they should consider mobile access, user experience, compliance, pervasive

security, and the right tools for success in this new era of digital banking. Open and composable architecture is the foundation for banks to future-proof their customer engagement by bridging data, content, and organizational silos with APIs and micro-services.

Moving forward, the best banks are mapping out digital strategies that include embracing real-time customer data, creating a strong content foundation, allowing experimentation and optimization, automating marketing execution, embracing new composable architecture.

HAVING A FLEXIBLE AND COMPOSABLE PLATFORMS IS VITAL FOR OPTIMIZING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES IN BANK BRANCHES AND DIGITAL CHANNELS

– Mike Plimsoll