Shakeup in retail banking strategy spurs product and branch innovation

Rising interest rates will send banks 'back to the future:' They’ll lean more heavily on deposit-gathering strategies in a way the industry has not seen in nearly two decades, but also start to wrap that into a more holistic relationship approach for their customers, Accenture banking consultant Michael Abbott predicts. This effort will evolve into a dramatic shift in overall retail strategy for years to come, accelerating product innovation and the trend toward greater personalization. Abbott also expects to see much more intense focus on having the right types of branches in the right locations.

Significant changes in how banks and credit unions conceive, design and promote consumer banking products are starting to develop, according to Accenture.

As this trend solidifies, more banking institutions will craft packages of products and services similar to Amazon Prime accounts, where customers gain advantages by bringing multiple relationships to the same institution.

In a sense this Accenture prediction could mark a return to a more favorable view of “cross-selling,” a term that fell out of favor in the wake of the Wells Fargo sales scandals. But this new version of cross-selling would be accomplished differently than in years past, taking the form of a package of customer “benefits.”

Radical personalization also will start to occur in coming years, with dynamic packaging tailored to an individual’s needs and pricing tied to the overall banking relationship.

 

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