Banking executives gave their companies only middling grades on their digital transformation efforts in a recent survey. Areas of current interest that emerged from the study were enhancing support for digital payments and partnering with fintechs to spur product/service innovation. Also on the list were the related topics of emphasizing the personalization of offers and more effective use of data and AI to uncover opportunities for increased business.
Financial wellness is a critical concern for customers in order to have a sustainable life and achieve long-term financial security. Financial institutions can play a significant role in this by providing resources to improve financial literacy and help customers make better choices. Using customer-level data banks and credit unions can proactively offer meaningful insights and provide links to additional educational material.
‘Quiet quitting’ is another word for employee ‘disengagement’. Estimates are that roughly half of the workforce could be classified as ‘quiet quitters’. This creates a tremendous drain on company resources and is a barrier to growth and innovation. Ways to combat the problem include ensuring that compensation packages are fair and competitive, creating career advancement opportunities (and proactively communicating them internally), and training managers to more effectively spot and develop talent.
Rather than a focus on cost-cutting alone, spending wisely can help increase profitability. A recent study identified four areas of emphasis when allocating budget and capital investment funds: data-based targeted marketing, technology enhancements to improve digital solutions, improving awareness of community development efforts, and providing employees with incentives that reward excellence.
Gen Z customers have diverse financial needs and are feeling stressed by the current state of the economy. Some of their main concerns relate to furthering their education and careers, creating an emergency fund, saving for retirement, meeting day-to-day expense obligations, and building credit. Financial institutions have an opportunity to strengthen relationships with this group by providing financial education and promoting financial wellness through physical and digital channels.
