"It is a rather pleasant experience to be alone in a bank at night"
A bank is a financial organization licensed by a government. Its primary activities include providing financial services to customers while enriching its investors. Many financial activities were allowed over time. For example banks are important players in financial markets and offer financial services such as investment funds.
Traditional banking activities
Banks act as payment agents by checking accounts for customers, paying cheques drawn by customers on the bank, and collecting cheques deposited to customers' accounts. Banks also enable customer payments via other payment methods such as telegraphic transfer and etc.
Present Working of Banks
Online banking solutions have many features and capabilities in common, but traditionally also have some that are application specific. The common features fall broadly into several categories
Transactional (e.g., performing a financial transaction such as an account to account transfer, paying a bill, wire transfer... and applications... apply for a loan, new account, etc.)
Electronic bill presentment and payment - EBPP
Funds transfer between a customer's own checking and savings accounts, or to another customer's account
Wire transfer
Our Solution
Our Banking practice provides consulting and IT-based services and solutions to customers across the world. We offer a comprehensive set of solutions to banks through our unique three-dimensional model, which encompasses Technology Services, Enterprise Solutions, and Industry-specific Solutions. We leverage our collective knowledge from these three dimensions to deliver business value to our customers.
Improving Usability:
Usability improvement is practiced relentlessly by bankers in terms of the value it provides, effectiveness of the navigation, continuous efforts of renewed and impressive presentation, reinforcing trust, and providing customer convenience. Newer techniques in web designs, incorporation of web 2.0 and RIA features have been utilized to bring about the best value to the e-banking spectrum.
Transition of Web Based Banking Over Time Horizon:
As seen in the introduction; use of internet has been evolutionary within the banking world. From a period of unidirectional static websites, Internet Banking has taken a new shape in terms of bi-directional and interactive Web Real Estate in which the prospect or a customer is informed, communicated, involved, listened, suggested, recommended and serviced.
Today, while customers get services from any channels of their "choice, need and convenience"; e-banking complements in-tandem with other channels or it can provide independent service.
The current generation internet banking channel aims towards "enhancing customer experience" as a key objective in their vision to keep in pace with the new era of multi-channel deliveries. In fact, currently banks identify "customer" as a focal point and various channels such as Branch, ATM, Telephone, Internet, Mobile, Kiosk and others as more of servicing locations.
Therefore, the customer relations is not channel centric, but relatively "customer-centric and channel agnostic". Channels such as branch, internet, kiosk, telephone and others have to be strong enough to service, but also enable creation of new customer segment and service multiple segments. With these principles, a customer is no longer only a branch generated customer, or internet-based customer, but is a subject-matter of all the banking organization across multi-channels
This principle enables banks to service various customers across regions, channels, and segments. In addition it provides an opportunity to the bank to cross-sale and up-scale the products and services across multiple business segments and operating units. Figure 1 explains the way Internet Banking world has moved in various phases.
How web world in banking has progressed in decade plus time...
While dot-com era gave rise to a new generation of "Internet Only" banks, creation of independent "Direct Platform" as an alternative to traditional "Click and Mortar culture" is being incrementally experimented by many of the existing banks. While "Internet only" banks have found a mixed response in terms of brand recognition and customer connect; some of the existing banks have successfully created the Direct Platform while cashing on their established brands.
"Goals of the Internet Banking Channel:
Our Banking practice provides consulting and Goals of Internet-banking sites are much different today than a decade ago. Following is the summary of what Internet Banking sites should aim to achieve today
Enable independent revenue generation
Complement revenue generation with other channels
Ensure customer retention,
Improve customer experience
Provide new avenues and never touched offerings
Build a brand, nurture and enhance it
Provide offline to online migration (need based)
Ensure cost reduction
In fact, Internet Banking today is being incrementally seen as vital e-real estate for a bank and not just must-have URL location to stay in the competition. Therefore it demands a 360 degree assessment of space, contents, services, return on investment (ROI), and customer experience among others.
Post global financial turmoil in 2008, banks across the world have taken various initiatives to achieve growth of the top line, restricting customer attrition, growth of bottom-line by extensive cost containment and rationalization, and improvement in operational efficiency. Internet Banking is a key channel for addressing various factors for sustaining the growth or helping a bank to retain its dwindling numbers. However at this post-turmoil era, introspection by various stakeholders of Internet Banking channel is needed to radically improvise the comprehensive utilization of this channel from both, strategic as well tactical view. Many banks across the globe are increasingly attempting to culturally shift from Internally-focused enhancements to value-driven and proactive market-driven externally focused strategies. Every bank need to introspect whether goals similar to those mentioned in this section above have been thoroughly reviewed in their channel strategy, while mapping to their overall organizational objectives. Figure 3 displays the "e-banking real estate", which would be designed to achieve following objectives in a transformation journey extending on the goals defined in the figure.
Enriching Customer Experience in the Multi-Dimensional Coverage
Customer experience is an evolving phenomenon and is studied from multiple-dimensional perspective as described below:
Customer convenience and servicing:
Customer services enhanced by providing of various tools, self-assisted advisors, customized multi-dimensional reporting, multi-language supports.
Bi-directional communication:
Today's internet banking communicates customer about his whereabouts, recommends or guides the roadmap, listen to needs and enable him customized services
Collaboration, education, and participation:
Customer participation is paramount for the growth of the net banking. Various practitioners of the internet banking have successfully handled participation and education of customers in terms of test marketing, feedback drives, social networking and others.
Customer relationship:
Banks across the globe are utilizing new, automated campaigns using the best of the solutions involving automation utilizing Sales Campaign Manager, CRMS-enabled banner, and Customer preferences analytics. Specific studies are conducted for understanding generation based assessment to analyze customer behaviours, trends and thus targeting customization of the channel based on this analysis.
Enhancing Value-chain:
Banks are enhancing the value-chain of the customer offerings by collaborating with new supply chain constituents, enabling multi-channel servicing, cross-selling the profiled customers, and enhancing servicing capabilities blending the channel deployment with offline services.
Transaction enrichment:
Various internet banking offerings have been enriched to cover service offerings across the globe. In addition, this includes covering the entire life cycle of the transaction. Various new types of offerings have been made specifically for promoting internet-only products e.g. promoting Internet-only term deposit product offering higher interest rates than the regular deposit product.
Illustrative Case of Wallet Share Improvement Strategies Employed By Global Banks:
Internet banking channel is increasingly enhanced to derive multiple benefits. Recent initiatives of some of the banks to design value-blended product compositions in order to attract new prospect segments or to cross-sale to the existing customer is evident from various innovations carried out by these organizations. Attempts of various banks trying to create an environment to offer value-additions during presales and sales cycle are visible across the global banks. Instances of these attempts are
PNC bank offering virtual wallet for new generation customers especially the Generation Y, enabling insightful automation while they handle financial management mindful of their inexperience
Bank of America Add-it up 'online mall' targeting crunched online shoppers with cash back on buys at over multiple e-tailers (An e-tailer is a retailer that primarily uses the Internet as a medium for customers to shop for the goods or services provided.)
Interactive social websites of Wells-Fargo in targeting connect with web savvy users.
ANZ banks' "be money confident" initiative for customer involvement through education. These are some instances of innovations that some of the banks have employed.