Finacle Whiteboard

Banks have long since known that they must speak the customers’ language to retain them. While the service experience itself must impress customers, it must not overwhelm them…like the last morsel of a chocolate bon bon that’s much too sweet to really relish. Just what customers need to know…addressing their prime concerns…and delivering it all in terms that they understand. That’s the simple-enough formula for success that banks can adopt.

And understanding each customer qualitatively and individually can truly make a world of difference. Consider for a moment, a home loan customer with a clean track record who is forced to default on account of a job loss. He must be treated with greater lenience versus a habitual defaulter. If the bank were to propose a temporary waiver or a restructuring of the loan, it would not only secure the customer’s loyalty but also reduce the risk of future non-payment.

With messaging regarding the bank being a ’true partnering entity’ transmitted consistently and effectively across all channels, even when there is no human interface, the quality of customer experience delivered can prove meaningful for customers.

It’s that ‘touch’ that matters… bringing true authenticity to the ‘banker-banked’ relationship, fortifying customers’ faith in the institution. Finally, what we are just talking about here are the ‘Known Knowns’. So why not communicate it loud and clear? That would be as powerful a differentiator as any.

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Posted by Basudev Banerjee at 06:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mobile payments are what I’m talking about. Mobile banking is expected to lead the way to adoption of serious utility driven mobile value-added services. The promise that it holds for a bank is very tempting.

Not surprising. All signs have always pointed to the mobile device fast evolving as a preferred information access device. Already we have around 3 times more mobile phones in circulation that fixed PCs. And the percentage of these devices that can be classified as smart phones is fast increasing. The device capability baseline is racing upward and almost every device that’s going to be introduced in the market in the next year or two is expected to be ready to run online applications. The most important factor, in my opinion, is really not how capable mobile devices are becoming but how end users are becoming extremely comfortable with the idea of a mobile phone being more than just a phone.

But are enterprises truly ready to extend their services to the mobile world? What of the challenges posed by the multiplicity of devices out there? How to optimize services delivery across the entire gamut? How to deal with ever-changing wireless technology? Then there are the hurdles of different bandwidth and intermittent network connectivity. Even the diversity of browsers to be engaged, come with their own challenges. That’s where tech-innovation can play the role of a messiah.

Ask the messiah…and the trillion dollars can still be yours!

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Posted by Puneet Gupta at 06:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A thug considering bank robbery would possibly have to yell just that, standing in a long line at the bank.

Not surprising, considering most banks have built islands of automation, and the operational complexities and redundancy that surrounds it is bound to diminish their ability to respond to customers. It doesn’t take a genius to see that banks must connect processes and information in ways that allow them to flexibly react to the dynamics of customers and competitors. What this really means is that a bank’s agility would be significantly improved when it leverages an integrated banking platform.

Think of it as having a direct pipeline for feeds into the bank about all the customer insights and changes happening out there…then an engine to funnel it all for analysis and a mechanism to feed all of this, in a meaningful and relevant form, to the entire eco-system of business participants. This then sets the transformation engine in motion that in turn factors all of this input and churns out offerings that the customer is waiting for out there!

And best of all building this integrated setup need not be a risky undertaking. If fused in a phased manner with the help of a trusted transformation partner, it can offer banks what the best-of-breed solution never has – ease of use, happier customers, lowered costs, increasing profits – all born from the new-found agility.

And yes! It can keep the line moving…let’em security guys deal with the thug!

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Posted by Jaymalya Palit at 06:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My little girl is a sight to watch when she gets to open a box of her favourite assortment of candies. Not for her the red apple flavoured one first…followed by a lime or cherry. It is chubby fists stuffing them all fast into her mouth…the mix of tastes all so evident in her gleeful face. A perfect instance of how sometimes innovations don’t necessarily have to work in increments.

Like at banks, today. The need for speed in these dramatic times calls for revolutionary measures. And the emergence of Web 2.0 technology has opened up possibilities that until now were the stuff of dreams. We all see people out there come together on social networking platforms such as Facebook and Myspace. What’s to stop a bank from forming a closed-loop community within the organisation to facilitate info-exchange across its breadth – about a product launch, revised price, change in organisation structure or whatever? This loop can easily be extended outside the company firewalls to include partners and customers. As momentum picks up, top customers can be invited to form a panel through which they can recommend new products and services, and even refer the bank to others.

Who today has not used the IPhone with GPRS and GPS technology, through which Yahoo Maps are delivered? A bank can build-in its ATM or Kiosk network, complete with details of services offered through these channels, by way of a separate application which can reside on the same phone. A customer trying to locate an ATM online via mobile is directed immediately to the one that is closest, and briefed about all that is on offer out there.

Really these innovations are only limited by our imagination. And even better…it can all happen together! The day is just round the corner when banking customers will ‘do-it-themselves’ on a bank’s Wiki coupled with Mash-up, on which they mix and match products and services, while also choosing the channel of delivery.

Let’s do it…let’s mashup innovations!

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Posted by Rajashekara V. Maiya at 06:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)