Composable banking allows financial institutions to offer tailored experiences by combining pre-built business solutions through APIs. Powered by technologies like cloud computing, AI, and blockchain, it focuses on modularity, reusability, and adaptability. This enables banks to improve their technology infrastructure by leveraging components provided by external partners. This helps increase agility, speed innovation, and provide a more personalized customer experience. New Jersey-based Cross River Bank is one example of an institution that has successfully implemented this approach. Future trends in composable banking include greater API adoption and standardization, expansion of Banking-as-a-Service platforms, enhanced use of AI and ML, increased collaboration between banks and third parties, and integration with emerging technologies like blockchain and IoT.
Paze, a new digital wallet coming from Early Warning Systems isn’t trying to compete directly with existing digital wallet solutions. And it’s not something that will reside on people’s phones, but will instead be used exclusively for e-commerce transactions. One incentive for online merchants to participate in the program and offer a Paze option at checkout will be access to customer data such as email addresses. Paze will be introduced this fall, with the customers of the 7 large bank owners of EWS receiving access to Paze wallets in time for the holiday shopping season. But the value proposition for consumers is unclear, so whether Santa will be good to EWS this year remains to be seen.
Banks and credit unions should practice effective public relations to prepare for potential crises rather than waiting until one actually happens. Establishing relationships with local media and offering to be a source of stories and commentary can create visibility and trust with the public. Being proactive with PR, rather than waiting for negative coverage, can position financial institutions as trusted advisors and community champions. Building relationships with journalists and providing valuable information can generate goodwill, and preparing employees to handle PR situations ensures consistent messaging. Regular training and sharing expertise further establishes credibility and trust.
Full-service virtual assistants in mobile banking apps are still rare, with only three true virtual assistants among the 17 banks in Keynova’s “Mobile Banker Scorecard”. These include Bank of America’s “Erica”, U.S. Bank’s “Smart Assistant”, and “Truist Assist”. Virtual assistants, incorporating AI, predictive analytics, and natural language processing, improve the mobile banking experience by helping users navigate app functionalities. As more banks add virtual assistants, they are expected to become table stakes. A Wells Fargo-sponsored Ipsos survey found that 65% of Millennial and Gen Z respondents prefer using virtual assistants for customer service needs. Besides aiding navigation, virtual assistants also offer proactive support, such as warning users about potential overdrafts.
A digital banking conversion gone bad is everyone’s worst nightmare. But it happens from time to time. Steps to take to avoid this scenario start with doing a good job of negotiating vendor support for the conversion process up-front. Then communicate with users in advance of the conversion, and do it often since most of your messages will be ignored. And finally, have a relentless testing program that seeks to identify ‘edge cases’ that may break the system, along with testing across different device types.
But some conversions do go well. As a counter-point to the above, this article shares an in-depth post-mortem of a successful 2022 digital banking system conversion. It highlights some of the factors that contributed to the success, as well as discusses a variety of lessons learned from the process.
