Digital Transformation and Innovation in the Financial Service Sector

Is your organization ready to adapt?

With the growing rise of the fintech industry, and the rapidly evolving nature of digital marketing, data, technology, and the customer experience itself across all industries, the challenges facing companies within the financial services sector are already radically different now and will continue to change going forward.

One of the key areas of change and transformation is the growing financial technology, or fintech for short, sector. Companies within this sector are currently disrupting key areas of the financial services industry, including mobile payments, money transfers, loans, fundraising, and asset management. Most pertinently, these companies are also at the forefront of digital technology, marketing strategies, and innovation, disrupting the industry with new and often better ways of conducting business. Making it imperative that financial services companies adapt in these areas to meet the challenges fintech poses, otherwise they risk losing out and falling behind.

One of the key areas in which fintech companies are leading the way is through their understanding of customers and the customer experience, as one senior global banking executive remarked “We thought we knew our customers, but fintech really knows out customers”. Changing the way in which financial services companies offer and optimize the customer experience is going to be vital for the industry going forward, especially given the digital and mobile nature of the customer experience across all sectors in the modern age.

This is something that is reflected in industry trends, with 36% of respondents in one survey citing the need to make the customer experience across their properties easier, more fun, and more valuable as a pivotal strategy going forward. These specific adjectives reflect the areas in which fintech companies are succeeding compared to their counterparts, as the popular perception of the customer experience with regards to financial services companies often invokes the idea that it is dull, inefficient and time-consuming. Whilst fintech companies benefit from both a fresh brand image and an understanding of how best to use new and emergent channels such as smartphone technology and apps, legacy financial services companies must contend with simultaneously changing their methods and public perception.

This makes innovation and marketing both key areas, as not only must they overhaul their actual customer experience, adapting to the needs and challenges of digital transformation, they must also be able to sell this change too, updating their brand image to compete with fintech companies. This is especially true given the expectations consumers now have in terms of being able to access financial services across multiple platforms, easily and instantaneously, with mobile banking becoming increasingly pivotal to the customer experience.

The final key growing trend for financial services companies is that of artificial intelligence and automated services. This can cover a range of technologies and areas, but the most salient concern is that of automation, whether that’s customer interaction through ‘Robo advisors’ or data collection and interpretation. Increasingly fintech companies are offering automation upfront, with artificial intelligence being used to administer financial advice and aid the customer experience, allowing for a cleaner and quicker customer experience.

This is something financial services companies are seeking to utilize for themselves, with the sector leading the way with a vast majority (61%) of companies looking to use artificial intelligence in the coming year. Likewise, with the increasingly personalized nature of digital marketing, as well as the new wealth of data that is available, taking advantage of artificial intelligence to analyze this data and identify trends and opportunities will be essential.

In light of this, SNB Digital has created a selection of courses that are unique to the financial services sector, which aim to provide insight, future trends and allow companies to understand the importance of adapting, innovating and digitally transforming your workforce and your organization.

Please Click Here to view our courses.