Sudeepto Mukherjee, Senior Vice President, Financial Services Lead EMEA & APAC Publicis Sapient
Branches have always played a pivotal role in a bank’s ability to acquire and service customers. Historical surveys have consistently pointed to the fact that proximity to branches is one of the key reasons that determine who consumers choose to bank with. Even with the increased adoption of mobile banking in the past decade, research from data specialists CACI had found that surprisingly, the decline of branch visitors has been modest, equating to less than 2% per year, with digital channels supplementing the customer experience rather than replacing it.
The COVID pandemic has changed all of that. It has suddenly forced consumers away from branches into call centres and web/mobile channels to meet their banking needs. So the big question is what role should branches play as we recover from this pandemic? Will branch centric business models like that of Metro Bank still thrive or will the digital only banking offerings like those from Starling and similar win out?
Banks will always have 2 different faces to consumers. The first face is one that is human and relationship based. This is the part of the bank that consumers rely on to get advice on how to manage their life savings. The face that they call upon when they are in financial distress and need help overcoming that. The face that helps them make product choices on what credit type would best suit their circumstance. The second face is that of the bank as an efficient machine that uses the best available technology, data and AI to meet transactional needs quickly. This is the face that consumers rely on to make payments in real time and conveniently. The machine that provides the ability to quickly respond to queries around account balances and transaction history. The machine that alerts consumers when certain actions are performed on their accounts. Customers expect both these faces from their bank. However, the financial crisis and the PPI scandals saw banks loose the trust and credibility of customers as they were seen to be driven more by internal profits rather than consumer needs. The human face of the bank was no longer visible to most consumers and the machine failed to live up to the expectations set by the Big Tech giants like Apple and Amazon that seamlessly provided services via their digital platforms.
The Bank Branch can play a pivotal role going forward in re-establishing this human side by helping a bank build trust and become the primary advisor for our financial needs. Instead of just meeting transactional needs like check deposits and account openings, banks can now transition branches into relationship centres where their employees are 100% focussed on financial advice and well-being of their customers. They are teachers and coaches, life-cheerleaders and financial partners – they are many in number.
Historically this model has been difficult to achieve because of the high cost of such personalised service at scale in branches. However, advancements in technology/AI coupled with the propensity of customers to use digital channels for transactional needs now make this imminently within reach .
This transition will require a fundamental shift in 3 big areas:
- Creating a strong digital infrastructure to enable an omni-channel service: Banks will have to double down on their digital transformation efforts and build an infrastructure that can serve most transactional needs seamlessly via digital channels and call centres. The operational burden on both call centre and back office staff will have to be significantly reduced by automating as many processes as possible and providing the right tools and insight to help consumers efficiently.
- Culture and Capability: This will also require a big shift in both capability and culture. Every function of a bank (like risk, finance, product control) will have to get more comfortable in leveraging technology to do a majority of the tasks currently done by humans while investments will be needed in new capabilities so front line staff can focus on building relationships at scale and provide good advice to consumers.
- Bringing customers along on this journey: All this will work only if there is also a strong focus on educating customers on how best to interact with a bank and use branches only for the most complex needs while relying on other less expensive channels for day-to day banking services.
Making this transition will not be easy. Constrained finances and a higher compliance burden, have resulted in a large technology debt and complex operating models in most banks. Banks have to take a more ambitious approach to “jump” to this new model. Digital leaders like Amazon and Netflix have shown how a shift from physical stores to a more digital centric ecosystem can not only be more efficient but also create value for consumers.
Now is the time for banks to seize this opportunity to redefine the role of branches and re-establish them as essential advice centres for meeting their communities financial needs.
