We’re living in a time when not only is the banking landscape extremely competitive, but also one where customers are always wanting a top-tier experience. Often, when financial institutions take a look at their current offerings they might use a tool called a technology roadmap that outlines the feature capabilities of any application. However, as the engagement banking era ignites, this type of roadmap simply won’t drive us into a sustainable banking future. Instead, it can hamper the potential of realizing true business value. So, what’s the alternative? A value-driven roadmap.
Improved business outcome with a value-driven roadmap
The essence behind a value-driven roadmap for a financial institution is to establish the definition of value for an enterprise and its customers. It offers a pathway to achieve this in the most optimal way. This style of roadmap is also about showcasing how the value directly correlates to a higher net promoter score, revenue growth, and cost reduction for the business. During this article, we’ll explore how the value-driven roadmap uncovers gaps in the existing strategy, creates organizational-wide alignment, and fosters a culture of ownership and innovation.
Understanding the ‘status quo’ for improved value
One of the biggest challenges that banks face when trying to define a value-driven roadmap is understanding its status quo. This initial part of the process takes a microscopic look at the current state of the financial institution via evaluation and benchmarking. In turn, a clear picture surfaces of pain points, inefficiencies, and gaps in the existing strategy for customer acquisition, customer servicing, operating model, and employee efficiency.
For instance, at Backbase, we recently crafted a value-driven roadmap for a US-based credit union. To kick off the undertaking, we evaluated the existing end-to-end customer journeys and related operational processes. Then, our value consultants benchmarked key performance indicators which uncovered areas the credit union needed to focus on during the initial and later stages of its digital transformation. From this, the company decided to first fix the basic servicing of existing customers and then launch digital onboarding for new customers.
By working alongside value consultants and crafting this type of roadmap, banks gain a great starting point for value-driven improvements. Also, defining the value levers, key performance indicators, and having a benchmark of the status quo allows companies to easily track and measure the progress of their transformation program.
“The Backbase Strategy team helped us to get a fresh perspective on our digital platform vision. Combining industry-wide perspective and insights with our bank’s operating models and data, they delivered an achievable, customer-focused, and data-driven ROI-based roadmap.” — Marcel Bezak, Chief Architect, Postova Banka