
Why should you read
The Engagement Banking Revolution?
Traditional banking is experiencing a crisis. Their systems aren’t built to service customers holistically, leaving the door wide open for competition from tech titans and digital challengers. Yet, this presents an unrivaled opportunity for financial institutions to change for the better – by leveraging a unified platform that is built around the customer. This book will show you how.
Architect banking around your customer
Make the right technology investments
Shift to a platform operating model
Create new banking revenue streams
Build a culture that embraces innovation
A change maker's handbook

The Engagement Banking Revolution brings together the perspectives
of some of the foremost thought leaders of our time.
In their respective chapters, they address the crisis in the banking world and suggest steps to move forward. In this book, you’ll learn…
Why a radical shift towards a platform operating model is essential for financial institutions to survive in the next decade
Lessons on transforming the culture in your financial institution
How to create your business case for getting board buy-in
…and much more.
The time for half measures is over. The next generation of banking is here.
Will you join the revolution?
For change makers, by change makers
frameworks, and insights you need to lead the change at your own financial institution.
Get a glimpse inside
Preface
Welcome to the revolution
By Jouk Pleiter
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Backbase

“All of us, collectively, have an opportunity to enhance the lives of our customers and help them to better manage their money; to deliver them newfound freedom to engage with their finances in ways that weren’t possible even a few years ago.”
Discover why Jouk Pleiter, one of Engagement Banking’s pioneers, brought together change makers to create this book, and how it will inspire you to transform your bank to deliver this freedom.
Chapter 1
Why do people love platform businesses?
By Tim Rutten
Senior Vice President of Strategy, Backbase

Platform businesses have triggered a paradigm shift across many industries and have realized a 10x improvement in customer experience and engagement. Tim explores what it is about platform businesses that makes people love to use them, and how this relates to banking.
This chapter will inspire Engagement Banking change makers to visualize what your bank could look like when it’s transformed into a bank that people love.
Chapter 2
Platform economics: how to increase banking revenue and delight customers
By Sangeet Paul Choudary
Author; Founder, Platformation Labs

Platform economics have become the central component of corporate strategies. This has enabled platform businesses to completely disrupt industries and transform customer expectations. It’s this technology that gives banks the opportunity to make it infinitely easier, more affordable, and ultimately more profitable to transform their value proposition.
This chapter explains the fundamentals of a platform strategy, and outlines the actions that banking leaders and their organizations must take to realize the benefits of platform economics.
Chapter 3
The Engagement Banking revolution
By Jouk Pleiter
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Backbase

“The Engagement Banking revolution is happening. You can’t stop it. You can‘t even slow it down.” That’s the clarion call to all potential change makers and banking leaders to use platform strategies and technologies to evolve their organisation and operating models.
In this powerful chapter, Jouk describes what true customer engagement looks and feels like. He gives actionable insights for change — and fuels imaginations with his vision of how Engagement Banking is going to revolutionize the industry.
Chapter 4
The path to business model innovation
By Paolo Sironi
Author; Global Research Leader, Banking and Financial Markets, IBM

How do change makers upgrade their banks’ business models to derive higher-level value? How can you uncover hidden value in your client engagements? How do you embed services that create new value from sources that are typically net-new for banks to deliver to users?
Paolo provides compelling insights for this new world of Engagement Banking. The key decision points and actionable takeaways he outlines are some of the most important factors in business model innovation.
Chapter 5
Discarding old biases and norms to embrace disruption
By Ben Morales
Chief Technology Officer and Operations Officer, Washington State Employees Credit Union

Ben Morales is one of the few successful Engagement Banking pioneers who has both transformed a traditional bank and built a neobank from the ground up. Here, he shares his experience of leveraging disruption to successfully drive Engagement Banking transformation and create a bank that people love. He provides learnings to help shake off the norms and biases that prevent organizations and their teams to embrace disruption. His real-world experiences are key learnings for all change makers, banking leaders, and board members alike.
Chapter 6
Defining the KPIs for Engagement Banking transformation success
By Mayur Vichare
Head of Value Consulting, Backbase

Correctly defining KPI metrics from day one will not only allow a bank to accurately track and report its Engagement Banking transformation, but also aid in the transformation itself.
In this chapter, Mayur Vichare shares learnings from his deep experience of Fortune 100 companies’ end-to-end customer journeys and platform models, as well as FinTech and banking digital solution development. It will enable you to gain alignment across your bank, to provide a framework to measure and demonstrate success, and provide powerful ways to secure executive sign-off for your Engagement Banking transformation.
Chapter 7
Five crucial decisions: how to successfully start your Engagement Banking transformation
By Heidi Custers
Digital Transformation Director, Backbase

How a bank begins its transformation is key to realizing the promise — and avoiding the perils — of the Engagement Banking journey. To form the bedrock of the transformation, there are five ‘DNA-aligned’ decisions that a transformation leader must make within the first 90 days.
Heidi provides you with the actionable insights and blueprints to make those decisions. She explains how to navigate the blind spots, so they don’t derail you, and shows how to showcase your successes throughout your journey.
Chapter 8
Culture: the driving force of your bank’s transformation
By Eric Berridge
Author; Executive Vice President, Salesforce; Co-host, Customer Obsessed Podcast

Culture can help or hinder any transformation project — and successful Engagement Banking transformation requires a questioning look at your organization’s culture.
How can you inspire your employees to embrace digital? How do you align your executives to your Engagement Banking transformation? How can you use data to empower an engaged banking experience? Discover the proven techniques for gaining executive buy-in to cultural change and employee buy-in to an Engagement Banking transformation.
Chapter 9
The technology choices that empower change
By Greg Fahy & Yogesh Mulwani
Global Senior Vice President of Technology Customer Success, Backbase | Regional Vice President of Technology Customer Success, Backbase

Digital platform technologies are reshaping how customers bank and manage their finances. But how do you navigate the technology options to facilitate that shift? How can you create transformative Engagement Banking applications? What questions should you ask of your technology teams to ensure you’re making the right technology choices?
Greg and Yogesh empower banking leaders and change makers with the information and questions to have the right discussions and make the right technology choices for their bank’s transformation.
Chapter 10
How the digital officer can drive sustainable Engagement Banking transformation
By Andrew van der Hoven
Head of Digital and eCommerce for Consumer and High Net Worth, Standard Bank Group

Many traditional banks already have great customer engagement which they’re not leveraging to their full advantage. Some report that as many as 50% of their monthly active users log into banking apps daily, yet this engagement isn’t being used or monetized effectively.
Andrew van der Hoven taps into 20+ years of digital strategy experience to explain how you can make Engagement Banking sustainable and drive your bank through the successful transformation it needs.
Conclusion
Leading the revolution
By Thomas Fuss
Chief Technology Officer, Backbase

We have the rare opportunity to reshape the banking industry. To enhance the quality of life for ourselves and our customers. To help people better manage their money and deliver the newfound freedom of Engagement Banking. Thomas shares the final steps for change makers to address objections, and highlights the action points for joining the Engagement Banking revolution.
All proceeds go to the Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign
Established by the Financial Times, FLIC is a charity that aims to democratize financial education by providing free and engaging content to those who need it most: young people, women, and disenfranchised groups, including minority ethnic communities and migrants.