Banking & Branching Changing Forever
by Mark Arnold
I recently had the opportunity to hear Brett King, author of Bank 2.0 and founder/chairman of Movenbank talk about “How Customer Behavior and Technology are Changing Banking Forever.” King issued several challenges and warnings for all financial institutions.
“We often talk about the experience with face to face engagement,” King said. “We measure service excellence primarily by how branches perform. But customers don’t wake up and go to the branches. Consumers now think mobile is the best customer service.”
King adds that warning signs are going off throughout the industry (for example, average member/customer age increasing). He also noted that in a recent survey consumers were asked, “Does your bank or credit union give you good advice?” Ninety-five percent of respondents could not remember their financial institution doing so. So advice is a myth, King argues. He notes that 80% of consumers start their mortgage search online (in other words, not coming to your branch for information/advice).
“People just aren’t visiting the branch anymore,” King says. “Customers think of branches as a hassle or problem; we see them as an asset or differentiator.” King then pointed that research in 1990 showed consumers visiting branches three to four times per month; now it is three to four times per year.