Digital Banking: Understanding changes in consumer preferences
Although many financial institutions are investing heavily into digital infrastructure, many seem to be missing out on what consumers want. Only if they know what their customers want, can they programme their efforts and software towards satisfying customer needs. Surveys have revealed that the following are what goes through the minds of bank customers today:
“How inconvenient it is to go to a bank to deposit cheques when there are platforms offering the use of my mobile phone to take a picture of the cheques and immediately depositing into my account
“When looking for a house, wouldn’t it be great if I could also find financing for my purchase through an “app”?
“Why don’t I use the same app to help me find financing for a car?”
They also show that a growing number of consumers are expected to:
Engage in banking services through social media
Engage with banks based on context including looking for advice and/or financing
Use mobile apps for various purposes
Have more “one-click” experiences
Use banking services the same way they use other services on the internet
Open bank accounts as easily as opening with Paypal, Google Wallet etc
Digital transactions are having a profound impact on the retail business side of the equation, the most important being the omnichannel experience of consumers by their purchase habit of using mobile phones. Mobile apps today should therefore present not just the look of the physical store but have as much features as possible of a virtual store appearing. More than 50 percent of typical internet users’ time is through their smartphone or tablet. Thus jointly, the use of these devises has overtaken the use of laptops and desktops for internet activities. This trend will continue because of the capabilities of innate software as well as developments on the associated hardware for such devices e.g. improvements on the microphone, camera, low-frequency Bluetooth and biometric features that boost privacy and security for users.
