Digital banking Is dead. Long live banking!
Nobody ever said “I want to do my digital banking now.” Instead, the average consumer thinks “it’s time for me do some banking” or “I better take some time now to check out my current financial picture.” They reach for their phone or pop open a laptop and “log-in.” That’s right, they’re just doing their banking.
Consider what’s happening:
Fewer people are heading to branches.
The digital and branch experience is merging.
Surviving branches are becoming evermore digital.
Our lives are becoming more complex.
Banking is a chore that consumers must do. It’s a necessary evil that we all face in order to survive. Increasingly, digital banking, data and other technologies, provide consumers with a more pleasant, easier and contextual experience. Ideally, digital empowers the consumer.
Digital is not a channel. Digital is now simply part of our personal and professional lives, and the divide between offline and online has more or less disappeared. Consumers interactions with live people in person and across digital platforms has become interchangeable. Digital technology should no longer be a vertical, but rather a horizontal layer leveraged across the financial institution. It’s the core to any consumer-centric delivery strategy.
Banking is alive and well. It will also remain a chore for the vast majority of us. Financial institutions that leverage digital as a platform and enabler, will be alive and well for generations to come, because they know that digital banking and banking, have become one. Digital has transformed the way consumers bank, so if you’re not investing in digital, you’re not investing in banking, nor your future.
