By Matt Iliffe, CEO of Beyond.
In today’s digital age, the banking landscape has evolved significantly, and having a strong online presence has become essential for financial institutions. The quick transition from high street branches to online and in your phone has also shaped user expectations and put different aspects of customer service under the spotlight. Before, the focus was on in-person interaction, but now customers expect easy-to-use, secure banking apps that enable them to manage their finances on the go. The pandemic has accelerated the shift away from cash towards contactless payments, making the need for seamless digital experiences even more crucial.
Today, an app is no longer a feature but rather an expectation. It’s at the core of the modern banking experience. People lead busy lives and demand the convenience of banking at their fingertips. They expect intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that enable them to carry out transactions seamlessly. Therefore, banks must adopt a human-centric yet tech-focused approach to ensure their platforms cater to all customers, regardless of their technological proficiency or accessibility needs, while also ensuring the technology performs to an extremely high standard.
Disruptive new providers
The emergence of new online banking providers has challenged traditional legacy banks. The digital-first institutions offer a wide range of services, including insurance, savings techniques, and loans, often without the hoops and hurdles imposed by legacy banks. These new providers prioritise delivering a seamless customer experience (CX) that caters to modern banking needs. Traditional banks are often slowed down by the cumbersome platforms they operate on, while new providers can create new products and services rapidly without being burdened by old infrastructure. If they want to stay competitive in the fast-evolving financial landscape, legacy banks must learn from these disruptors and find new ways to enhance their user experience (UX) while navigating the challenges of their old systems.
Investing in enhancing the UX can yield significant benefits for banks. By knowing how customers use their services and enabling them to carry out those core actions more easily, banks can differentiate from competing providers. They have to understand their customers’ needs, and where the tension and pain points arise from, and develop features that accurately address them. For example, is it easy to move money between currencies? And is purchasing through e-commerce websites optimised on the app with minimal typing? If the answer is no, two types of customers might find the UX lacking in features that are vital to them.
The CX can also be optimised for certain types of customers to help give banks a unique position in the market. Some accounts, for instance, might be investment-focused, while others can be designed as first bank accounts to help teach children about managing their money with various options for parental control. Customers on a lower income could benefit from an app with savings features, visualisations of balance and outgoings and advanced budgeting options and alerts, while the offer for higher income customers could include investment options and features to simplify donating to charities.
When customers experience a smooth and user-friendly interface and features that are tailored to their needs, they are more likely to stay loyal to the bank. This increased retention enhances stronger customer relationships but also reduces acquisition costs. Satisfied customers are more likely to recommend the bank to others, attracting new customers and boosting reputation and credibility.
Empathetic design
To offer a superior CX, banks need designers who can empathise with customers and understand their specific pain points. By doing this, they can create the most user-friendly and valuable solutions. This human-centric design approach ensures that the digital banking experience is personalised, intuitive, and tailored to individual customers needs.
Accessibility is key, and app and web design must cater to people wanting to manage their finances on the go. The interface needs to be easy to read in all lighting conditions and interactions user-friendly to enable quick navigation regardless of whether users are reviewing their transactions while catching the bus or checking their balance at supermarket tills.
Emphasis should also be on inclusion. Is the CX equal for all users, regardless of their background and gender? Customers who are faced with an experience that doesn’t meet their expectations, for example, when it comes to the options offered in digital forms, can easily move on to a competing provider with a more inclusive approach.
Neglecting UX and CX
Due to the highly competitive field of banking, if you cannot offer a good UX and CX, users can simply switch banks, while also airing their frustrations on social media. In a digital era where customer feedback spreads quickly, banks cannot afford to neglect the importance of delivering exceptional experiences to retain their customers.
In the evolving world of online banking, good UX and CX have become imperative for banks to thrive and retain their customer base. By offering intuitive, user-friendly platforms that cater to customers’ needs, banks can foster customer loyalty, reduce acquisition costs, and enhance their reputation.
Empathetic design and a deep understanding of customers’ expectations are crucial elements in delivering a seamless digital banking experience. As customers increasingly demand control over their finances and expect banking services to be available anytime and anywhere, banks must prioritise investing in UX and CX to stay relevant in the competitive financial landscape.
