Omnichannel expectations from the consumer perspective

by. Karen Postma

There’s been a lot of talk about omnichannel banking lately. The term refers to the fusion of delivery and/or communication channels to create a unified customer experience. Essentially, it’s the convergence of physical and virtual channels, allowing for the experience initiated in one channel to be seamlessly transferred to another.

Modern consumers want omnichannel banking. In fact, a recent Cisco research report found that, although branches will not entirely disappear, consumers want access to financial services and advice across a variety of digital channels. These include mobile devices, online, video conference and social media networks.

The survey of 5,300 consumers in seven countries also concluded global consumers still value branches for personal attention and favor expanded services that include different kinds of financial advice.

Specifically, 78 percent of consumers in developed markets and 72 percent in emerging markets prefer to use financial institution (FI) web applications for paying bills, managing accounts, checking balances and managing other basic transactions.   Additionally, 13 percent of consumers in developed markets and 18 percent in emerging markets prefer to use mobile banking applications for real-time expense tracking, personal finance management and payments.

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