Banks are contending with a lengthy list of up-and-coming competitors. Fintechs, neobanks, and born-in-the-cloud banks are taking an increased market share thanks in large part to their ability to provide the personalized banking experience that customers now expect.

Today’s customers want personalized banking with the ubiquitous access that comes from a seamless, omnichannel experience. They expect to be able to communicate and interact with their bank anytime they want, anywhere they want. To stay competitive, banking organizations need to meet this expectation.

Different from hard-goods companies, many financial services organizations offer similar products and services as their competitors—which makes it challenging for organizations to cut through the sea of sameness to attract new customers. In a “switching economy” where consumers are more apt to shop around for the best deal or experience, it’s difficult to retain existing customers. Personalizing the banking experience is one key way these organizations can differentiate themselves, that’s why we’re seeing a lot of them invest heavily in customer channels.

What does a personalized customer experience look like?

Providing a personalized customer experience means delivering the right message at the right time in the right channel. Banks need to go beyond next-best offers and targeted marketing to create relevant end-to-end experiences for each individual customer.

To create this individualized banking experience, organizations must leverage their data in new ways to get a comprehensive view of each customer and pinpoint their individual needs. Banks should focus on four key areas, or pillars, of a seamless customer experience:

1. Customer engagement

The customer engagement pillar is where banking organizations get a 360-degree view of the customer and track their interactions, usually with a traditional customer relationship management (CRM) system or customer system of record. CRM systems help organizations establish a baseline and serve as an important foundation for customer data.

2. Customer insights

The second pillar, customer insights, provides a deeper understanding of these customers. This might involve adding other data elements like lifetime value and social presence. The goal is to add more context to the data you’ve already compiled so you can better tailor each customer’s interaction with your business.

3. Predictive analytics

The predictive analytics pillar is all about using advanced analytics and machine learning to identify trends and patterns, then using that information to identify latent needs and preferences and take proactive action.

4. Augmented intelligence

The final pillar is augmented intelligence which is critical to the creation of a truly seamless customer experience. Ideally, AI is used in conjunction with human-led channels as a way to augment and complement them.

The key to a truly personalized banking experience is combining all four of these pillars in one easy-to-use process. Banking professionals need solutions that not only capture but interpret data so they can tailor offerings to each individual customer’s needs and wants.

To help bank employees create more personalized, differentiated customer experiences, Microsoft has created Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services. With capabilities to deliver differentiated experiences, empower employees, combat financial crime, and increase compliance, this cloud solution is specifically designed to help financial services organizations reach their current and future goals.

Source: https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/dynamics365

Global iTS is a leader in business applications on Microsoft technology, driving digital transformation for enterprise clients including BFSI, Government, Energy & Utilities for two decades now. We enable next-generation digital services for our clients across multiple channels and deliver them on a platform of customer choice. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, we are present across GCC countries with a team of 200+ professionals. We have our core expertise in the banking industry across corporate, retail, investment, and compliance. We enable customer digital journeys bringing unprecedented levels of customer delight, helping FSI adapt to change, and improving their decision-making process.