A financial institution is only as good as a consumer’s most recent digital experience.

 

For most financial institutions, the pandemic sped up accountholder demand for digital. Projects that were once several years out on organizational roadmaps moved to the front of the line. That pace of change was necessary in the face of extraordinary circumstances, when access to a wide range of digital banking experiences suddenly became necessary for everyone.

With so much at stake, financial institutions should take steps to ensure their transformation efforts successfully unlock the opportunities that digital banking can provide, including increasing digital engagement, growing customer acquisition and wallet share, and lowering costs through increased efficiencies. It means working to improve consumer journeys, personalize interactions and modernize experiences with real-time data, automation tools and AI, to name a few.

 

What factors can lead to transformation success? Our 10,000 financial institution customers give us a unique vantage point to understand how organizations are most effectively moving from the rapid – and sometimes reactive – deployment of the last two years to forward-looking digital strategies designed to meet consumers’ evolving needs.

Our customers with successful digital transformations – from community banks and credit unions to large financial institutions – have these key approaches in common:

Create a culture of empowerment. Encouraging employees to try new technologies and take ownership over transformation initiatives cultivates internal champions and accelerates progress. This is often led by a digital visionary – a Chief Digital Officer or Chief Experience Officer who can paint the picture of what great looks like and help celebrate when your teams get it right for your customers.

Be clear about your needs and approach. Moving as quickly as organizations did in the last few years forced some to spend less time on the basics. Now is the time to revisit the planning process and address key questions, such as:  What key customer touchpoints can be simplified and improved with digital transformation? What organizational interdependencies and coordination are necessary to achieve our goals?  What benefits do we expect and how can we measure them?

Adopt a mobile-first mindset. According to Fiserv 2022 consumer trends research, Expectations & Experiences: Cards, Credit and Consumer Control, 69% of credit card users manage their accounts through their mobile phone and 81% of consumers 40 and under used mobile banking in the past 30 days. These are not outliers. Digital wallet use is way up and so is consumers’ willingness to stay with an all-digital bank.

The implication? Every touchpoint you choose to focus on in your digital transformation efforts should include a mobile solution. This is just as important for small and mid-sized institutions as it is for large ones. 

Seek expertise from a trusted partner. As financial institutions look to transition their quick-turn digital offerings to long-term digital transformation strategies, they are turning to expert partners like Fiserv. We’re helping clients accelerate their digital roadmap and meet consumer and small business needs through a simple, connected financial digital ecosystem we call Experience Digital. It allows institutions to pursue the path that best meets their transformation objectives, with a range of turnkey solutions that can be configured to individual institution needs. 

 

Experience Digital accelerates time to market with:

• Integrated solutions mapped to customer/member journeys, including opening accounts, managing money, making payments, seeking advice, and tapping into intuitive and popular small business banking tools
• Best-in-class digital journeys and underlying technology that can be trusted for security, resilience and reliability
• Complementary groups of data-rich intelligence tools enabling intuitive, personalized experiences
• Forward-looking innovation and agility to quickly drive digital innovation

Where to start

Once your digital strategy is in place, here are some digital experiences to consider:
 

Account/Loan Origination

Enable consumers and small business customers to start the process of opening a new account or applying for a loan and mortgage through any digital channel, in a simple and intuitive way.

For example: Northwest Bank saw the importance of digital transformation in customer acquisition. Between 2021 and 2022, the bank increased digital account openings by 173% with Deposit Director Flex, designed to support end-to-end mobile applications and a consistent online experience across channels.
 

Digital Payments

Provide simple and fast access to a range of digital payment options users need – from bill pay and person-to-person tools like Zelle^® to account-to-account transfer options.

For example: When the Milford Bank rolled out Zelle, employees immediately adopted it, which quickly translated to customer adoption. Jorge Santiago, the bank’s Executive Vice President, explains, “The speed and ease-of-use of Zelle has been positively received by customers. As one customer said to our Call Center, ‘This is too easy’.”
 

Money Management

Help users manage budgets, track spending and access the financial management support they need.

For example, FinLocker chose the AllData Aggregation platform to help lenders create a digital borrowing process. But it found a larger opportunity in consumer engagement by seeing a bigger picture of consumer behavior.
 

Card Management

Make it quick and easy for users to get a new card, use it digitally or physically, manage it on the go and understand spending habits

For example: Cornhusker Bank recently transformed their debit card platform with CardHub, enabling everything from digital onboarding and rapid card replacements to transaction alerts and self-service card management – all at a lower cost and fewer service calls for the bank.
 

Preparing for what’s next

Consumers and businesses will always expect financial institutions to adapt to the ways they live and work today – and anticipate what they need tomorrow. Financial institutions that can successfully execute their visions for digital engagement will gain the most momentum.

Fiserv is here to help. Experience Digital is a reflection of our commitment to continually evolve our offerings to help you stay ahead of emerging technologies, marketplace developments and changing consumer expectations.

Learn how to move forward in your digital journey.