Bank Customers Help Guide Transition to Digital-Everywhere Banking

Digital banks are gaining market share, especially among small business owners, freelancers and millennial customers. Increased security and the latest innovative features appeal to many favoring digital banking, but many, particularly older customers, still make good use of FIs’ physical locations.

Mobile is surely the preferred banking method, but customers who stick with their branches are devoted to the human touch they provide. The physical interactions of in-person banking can nurture the relationships and support that customers seek in loan applications, new account openings, account changes or fraud reporting.

The “Digital-First Banking Tracker®” explores how consumers are looking to their primary FIs to offer money management advice and personalized attention in a challenging economy. By merging the digital with the physical into a single, omnichannel banking experience, FIs can be digital-everywhere and relevant wherever their clients need them, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Around Digital-First Banking Space

Consumers love their mobile banking apps so much that two-thirds say they cannot live without them. Digital payments, requesting card replacements and managing credit are among mobile banking apps’ most popular capabilities. Consumers also prefer to do their banking from a single app, putting increased emphasis on a streamlined customer experience.

Digital transformation has engulfed banks so quickly and fully that a void has been created in many FIs’ remaining physical locations. These locations are known as “ghost branches” and are especially prevalent in Argentina, where complex regulations have contributed to keeping many branches open. Repurposing and revitalizing these branches represents a major opportunity for banks to maintain a human connection while offering the digital services customers demand.

For more on these and other stories, visit the Tracker’s News and Trends section.

An Insider’s View on Managing Change for Digital-Everywhere Success

With the banking industry under scrutiny due to a pair of high-profile collapses, consumers need their FIs’ support more than ever. Especially during challenging times, this means they need human interaction. Listening to customers and prioritizing change management can ensure banks implement the right technologies to support customers when and where they need it.

To get the Insider POV, PYMNTS spoke with Barb Jacklin, senior vice president, head of retail product and digital customer experience for Wintrust Financial Corporation, to find out about managing change for digital-everywhere success.

Why Digital-Everywhere Is Moving Banking Forward

The rise of digital banking has been so powerful and impactful — an astounding 99% of consumers think their bank’s app experiences are good or excellent — it can be difficult to determine which features are essential or merely convenient. In response to the pandemic and increased competition, more banks are closing branches, considering new business models and driving digital transformation across their organizations.

This shift allows banks the opportunity to optimize their physical locations and reinvent the branch for the digital-everywhere age, enabling customers to choose their preferred method for specific financial needs. With many customers still citing human interaction as an essential part of financial services, a hybrid model focused on customer value will provide the omnichannel banking experience that wins more customers.

To learn more about why digital-everywhere is moving banking forward, read the Tracker’s PYMNTS Intelligence.

About the Tracker

The “Digital-First Banking Tracker®,” a collaboration with NCR, examines how the banking industry is evolving from digital-plus-physical to digital-everywhere footprints for FIs and how banks are accommodating that change while still offering the human touch.