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Digital Transformation in Banking: Starting from a Clean Sheet
Most companies today are facing the challenge of digital transformation: the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business to fundamentally change how the business operates and delivers value to customers.
Financial institutions are facing a stiffer challenge than most companies. Their transactions are highly complex, they’re very sensitive – to the point where customer security is enshrined in federal law – and customers have very high expectations of the companies they trust their money to. For this reason, banks and other financial institutions need to do more than add a few digital options: they need to reinvent themselves digitally, according to a recent article by Jim Marous, Co-publisher of The Financial Brand and CEO of the Digital Banking Report.
“Simply enabling a customer to process a transaction or execute a process like opening a new account or applying for a loan is no longer enough,” wrote Marous. “Customers expect to be able to engage with their financial institution seamlessly, with the same digital speed and simplicity delivered by the digital giants. This can’t be done with legacy back-office processes and operations created decades ago. Now is the time to transform back-office operations with a supporting shift in culture.”
Many organizations have tried to accommodate digitization by simply adding a digital channel and hoping for the best. But without complete transformation in the back-office – including in customer support channels – this is little more than window-dressing.
“Organizations must start from a clean sheet of paper as opposed to trying to digitize outdated process flows,” wrote Marous. “To reach the full customer experience potential and achieve operational efficiencies, organizations must take advantage of new advances in robotic process automation (RPA), cloud technologies, sensors, machine learning, and even the internet of things (IoT). These technologies will impact all elements of existing business models and help to future-proof the institution.”
Edited by Luke Bellos