The retail banking industry is implementing digitized solutions to optimize banking processes and enhance customer experience.
FREMONT, CA: Digitization has led retail banks to implement innovative applications for their services. It has been a significant change for the retail banking system because its customers have accepted this change efficiently. Customer acceptance has encouraged these banks to adopt new technologies to optimize their business processes and enhance customer relationships.
Emerging hybrid banking models
Despite gradually expanding their digital offerings, retail banks maintain in-person experiences while incorporating technology. In the past few years, both have become increasingly popular with customers. Everyday banking transactions are often but relatively unimportant, so they tend to use digital channels for them. There has been a rapid emergence of a hybrid banking model known as the bionic distribution network, which allows seamless digital and in-person experiences without branching out. This hybrid model allows customers to meet virtually with their product specialists, regardless of whether they are present in the branch or not. It is possible to exchange proposals and contracts electronically, electronic signatures can validate deals, and in-person meetings are not required frequently.
Offering a hybrid customer journey
A hybrid customer journey can significantly enhance customer relationships with banks. But banks need a vast, upgraded infrastructure to offer a hybrid customer experience. Remote work culture, high-end technological applications, secured network connectivity, and efficient employees can enable the retail banking sector to shift from conventional banking processes.
The hybrid customer journey will allow banks to adapt to changing economic conditions as well as customers' needs. It is currently, one of the most significant disadvantages of branch networks is that they have fixed costs, which make ramping capacity up during good times and scaling back during tough times a challenge. Bionic distribution networks, however, must also be engineered and managed to generate income and costs that can match traditional distribution networks on an ongoing basis. Hybrid customer journeys also require new customer journeys and touchpoints. SSs/RMs and product specialists will need the journeys to be flexible to accommodate customer requests.
Doubling Down on Analytics and AI
Bank-customer relationships can improve through analytics and artificial intelligence. The use of analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) in customer service helps service specialists/relationship managers and product specialists maximize the time they spend with customers in person and virtually. This, in turn, helps them to deliver the most appropriate information and proposals to customers at the perfect time and in the most appropriate channel.
