Banks and payment services have certainly shaken up the way we pay for things these days. The coming of the digital age has encouraged the financial services industry to get smart and put ease, convenience and flexibility to the forefront of their marketing mantra.
The emergence of payment services built purely for a digital world is bringing new founded speed and convenience to consumers’ banking needs. A great example is TransferWise, a peer-to-peer money transfer service that allows users to transfer money between countries and make foreign payments using the mid-market exchange rate. And then there’s the Venmo app allowing you to exchange payments with people in your social circles via your smartphone. Square Cash is another service making “cashless society” a reality; people can email cash directly from their debit card to anyone else’s, regardless of what bank each party uses. Paypal, meanwhile, has been trialling a FourSquare-style app for use in local, independent shops that allows users to check-in when entering or approaching a store. Each is intended to offer customers and retailers, the two constituents of payment services brands, added value.
The convenience and added value that online payment service companies have introduced has spurred unprecedented changes in retail banks by putting digital firmly at the centre of their infrastructures. MasterCard launched a service that will see shoppers targeted with offers from retailers as they pay for their parking as a result of a global tie-up with parking services provider Parkeon. Last year Barclaycard launched Bespoke that promises to offer recession-hit UK consumers thousands of personalised promotions from the likes of Tesco, Starbucks and Shell and followed it with a major push for its Freedom Rewards cards, which awards users points after a purchase using the card that can be redeemed at thousands of retailers.
Banks are increasingly putting digital at the heart of their infrastructures to adjust to the way consumers pay their way. But beyond this, they’re starting to act like retailers. Most recently, Lloyds Banking Group announced that it’s plotting a digital overhaul over the next 12 months to ensure it delivers its products to customers "through the channels they prefer". To "capitalise" on its achievements to date, Lloyds has created a new Digital, Marketing and Customer Development function to "focus investment and ensure success in retail is replicated by sharing digital product development across all divisions". The bank said it has over 10.5 million active internet banking users, as well as four million customers who regularly use mobile banking services.
But despite the rise of online and mobile enabled payment services, we still need banks on our High Streets. The reasons that consumers choose to visit a bank in person, for that face-to-face interaction, reinforces the importance of customer services in this sector, which is not set to disappear just yet. Metro Bank has put all focus on customer service , where branches, or “stores” as they are known are open seven days a week – the only bank to do so – and staff are trained to give a warm welcome. But it’s about how the bank brings offline and online together by placing digital at the core. This includes finding ways to successfully integrate the in-store experience with other services offered by the company, such as mobile banking. A seamless customer journey from one to the other must be effortless for the customer.
Devices are becoming increasingly connected and consumers are searching for new and easier ways to interact with their bank. The bank of today must become a digital destination to cater for the new type of consumer. The bank of tomorrow will have digital embedded across all facets of the organisation, so that the customer always comes first.
By Peter Veash, CEO of The BIO Agency.
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