Now that you’ve successfully onboarded your customers, how do you ensure that they continue to stay and enjoy banking with you?

In this article, I share my insights on how a unified banking platform acts as a key enabler in creating a five-star retail banking experience that supports upsell opportunities, expands share of wallet, and retains customers.

Enabling more than just traditional banking

Traditional banking function services are no longer enough to satisfy consumer financial demands and needs.

As Mohamed Almaraj, CEO of ila bank, a digital, mobile only bank in Bahrain powered by Bank ABC mentioned, banking is no longer seen as using a card that can be spent at a merchant or a card that can be used to withdraw money from an ATM.

As digital innovation gains pace, banking consumers now expect next-level customer experiences on par with established technology giants such as Netflix or Amazon. Similarly, consumers are now presented with a plethora of choices from digital challengers in addressing their financial needs.

For banks to remain relevant and continue to be the go-to providers, there is a need for a unified platform that enables banks to deliver products and services at various stages of their customers’ lifecycle.

Empower your customers with seamless experiences

Consumers are growing increasingly less tolerant of processes and experiences that are inconvenient and tedious.

With digital challengers looking to provide enhanced product offerings and services that cater to the demands of retail banking customers, banks must step up and be better aggregators of their retail customers’ financial journeys. This includes having the right banking infrastructure to provide value-added services and alternatives across multiple engagement touchpoints.

In Vietnam, Techcombank partnered with Backbase to accelerate the digitalization of its retail and corporate omni-channel engagement.

The collaboration allows Techcombank to optimize its end-to-end customer experience as it scales up its digital offerings via Backbase’s platform. This has allowed the bank to provide a comprehensive approach in enabling access to the next generation of financial services across multiple touchpoints, via a single platform.

WSECU, a credit union in the United States utilized Backbase’s configurable unified retail banking solution to increase the breadth of their products and services, and create consistent customer-centric experiences.

This resulted in an increased number of active digital users, with the credit union hitting a record number of more than 700,000 digital transactions in July 2020.

Uncovering opportunities through consumer insights

To compete and stay ahead of new digital challengers, banks need to have a comprehensive view of their customer to prioritize services that are both engaging and tailored to their customer’s needs.

In our recent State of Banking and Financial Wellness in Asia Pacific study, conducted by Forrester Consulting, we found that there was a mismatch between the tools that consumers want and what banks are prioritizing. Additionally, 63% of financial institutions in the region shared that they were struggling to keep pace with consumers’ evolving expectations.

In The Financial Brand article, Backbase Product Director, Retail Banking & Wealth Management Karan Oberoi shared that the adoption of a single platform enables financial institutions to provide huge amounts of value across the board for customers.

This includes personalized recommendations and data based on customer behaviors for effective targeting and relevant upselling opportunities that can help banks increase their market share and ensure customer loyalty.

Most recently, Vietnam’s SeABank incorporated personal financial management tools into its digital banking app after noticing a demand by customers to better understand their spending habits.

The result?

SeABank’s approach towards personal financial management saw higher engagement rates on its banking app, resulting in three times the number of transactions.

As digital challengers and alternative financial players emerge, banks must start thinking about customer-centric solutions and services that can provide a seamless banking experience. By leveraging the power of a unified banking platform, banks can now enrich their customer experience and transform their banks to improve consumers’ interactions.

This helps encourage customer loyalty and ensure that customers enjoy their banking experience.

About The Author

Riddhi Dutta is the Regional Head for ASEAN & South Asia at Backbase.

Riddhi oversees Backbase’s sales and go-to-market success for his territory in Asia Pacific. He helps financial institutions turn their digital ambitions into reality, helping them with designing digital transformation initiatives which are feasible, tailored, and creative with instant business value.

Riddhi has an excellent track record of championing legacy modernisation initiatives in several banks across the region, where he consulted and helped banks move to open banking platforms, including modern core banking and treasury solutions. Prior to joining Backbase, Riddhi held several senior roles at Infosys Finacle, Fintellix Solutions and ITC Infotech.

Riddhi earned a Masters of Business Administration in Marketing and Systems from the University of Delhi.