Fintechs have been busily transforming the banking industry for years now. Key areas in which they’ve made their mark include lending, personal finance/financial wellness, and digital payments. Low-overhead digital banks are making inroads with their sophisticated mobile apps and innovative products and services. Cryptocurrency exchanges have been having tough times, but will likely rebound eventually. And fintech investment companies have been using advanced technologies to serve their wealth management clients.
Consumers increasingly judge their financial institutions on such qualities as ease of engagement, responsiveness, empathy, and transparency. To support experience-based initiatives in banking, financial institutions need to eliminate silos and accelerate digital transformation while shifting focus from customer communications to customer experiences. Initiatives to consider for 2023 are humanized digital experiences, delivering an omnichannel service experience across all touchpoints, using data to create personalized experiences, enhancing self-service support options, and considering all factors (including employee engagement) in an integrated approach to service delivery.
A new bank consortium seeks to help community banks adopt the technologies they need by pooling resources and fostering collaboration between banks and fintech startups. This can generate results with less cost and risk. The initial group of member banks includes Customers Bank, East West Bank, Farmers National Bank, First Community Bank, and Peoples Bank. While some of the consortium members might be considered to be competitors, they feel they have more to gain by working together than they have to lose.
BaaS provider Coastal Community Bank has created an immersive 3D website called ‘Coastal World’ that promotes the 11 fintechs and neobanks that uses its services. Rather than just renting out access and services, the bank is extending its vision to create a cooperative venture with its fintech partners. Visitors to Coastal World are asked about their interests and presented with a gamified opportunity to learn more about the services of their partners with a heavy emphasis on financial education. Designed the appeal to younger customers, the site offers an interesting alternative to the metaverse.
Marketers often struggle to understand generational differences and how to appeal to different groups. Arbitrary segmentation based on birth year can mask a broad range of individual interests and needs, but each of the generations exhibits some significantly different characteristics in the aggregate. This guide attempts to create a standard definition for each generation as well as highlight some of the key differences of each group.
