By: Leonel Cuevas – Solution Sales, LATAM Region
The financial industry, as with many others, is being transformed by technology. To keep up with this transformation, banks are being forced to change their business model and the way they relate to their clients.
Since it is currently possible to open and close an account with just a few clicks, the primary challenge faced by banks is to remain relevant to their clients, and this is why the user experience has become more and more important.
When we talk about user experience, we are referring to the set of factors and elements in an interaction between the user and the bank, and which cause a positive or negative perception. This concept is present each time the user accesses a service via any banking channel, even before becoming a client. It is the user’s level of satisfaction with the bank.
It makes sense that banks are taking more and more care to offer a better user experience in all of their channels, since understanding their clients results in generating more value for them.
But, what does a bank need to achieve this? There is no doubt that, in the age of digitalization, it is essential to have a framework that keeps the client center stage, and that be in line with the transformation strategy selected by the organization. To do this, it is crucial to take into account aspects such as Security, the Use of Multiple Channels, Modularity, and bundling.
Security
Security should be present in all components involved in a user’s experience. If he or she notes that their information or assets are not properly protected, it will be impossible for them to feel satisfied.
Security is built into all services, but recent cases have demonstrated that a secure service is only provided when all links of the chain are taken into consideration. Grand security policies for access to a service will be of no use if all persons involved are not taught to contribute to the overall level of security. Providing a secure service does not only depend on technology, but also on the members of an organization, its clients, and also its suppliers.
In contrast, excessive security measures will end up encumbering the user’s experience, which can and up having a strong effect. What good is a long, complicated password if users can’t remember it? To address this, biometric authentication methods are now a reality, allowing for greater security while enriching user experience, but, again, they can’t be the only method upon which the channel’s security rests.
Finally, it is important to take security into account from the time of conception of each service. In the case of digital products, best security practices must be implemented from the time of the product’s encoding to prevent possible attacks on the system.
The Use of Multiple Channels
The days of going to the bank to access a service are over. Users demand 24-7-365 access to services. Technology makes this a reality, but certain precautions must be taken to implement the multiple-channel strategy efficiently.
First of all, the user’s experience must be homogeneous over all channels the bank provides. For this, it makes sense to think about developing functions that can then be implemented over all channels, thus avoiding having to create each function for each channel. This way, on one hand, duplicate effort can be avoided, reducing costs; and, on the other, a sensible user experience can be created.
To do this, the framework to be implemented must be able to orchestrate all services and, in turn, it must provide the banking core with flexibility. That is to say, it’s impossible to make updates and modifications to the core that can keep up with the speed of innovation, and that is why, while the core will maintain its own pace of evolution, the framework will handle the constant changes, whenever they are truly necessary, to the services consumed by the user.
Finally, the customer journey must be designed as something that cuts across all of the bank’s channels. The user’s needs must be placed above all, seeking to eliminate friction between channels. This prevents the user from constantly entering the same information when using each channel. For example, it is likely that a user will make the first queries on a product from their cell phone, that they will then continue their analysis on their work computer, and that they will finally make their decision with their family, from their tablet or laptop. A smart design will allow the user to continue their “journey” exactly where they left off, even if they change channels.
Modularity
Modularity allows us to build a complete solution by adding a small package of functions at a time, like building a Lego house; it also means we can interchange them whenever necessary. With this approach, we seek to build a function only once, such that it is available to be used for each of the channels.
This gives the bank more agility when making changes to its services, while allowing it to improve or redesign each function independently, reducing the impact on other components.
On the other hand, it is possible to achieve a high degree of customization for users over each of the channels. The “one-size-fits-all” scheme is now obsolete and must be replaced with another system where the user can select what information to see, depending on their preferences. For example, a welcome panel including information on each of the user’s products should be customizable based on the user’s interests and products. That is, a user who wants to invest will be more interested in investment opportunities, but a user with a consumer profile will be more interested in discounts and promotions.
Valid has successfully led projects for the implementation of financial solutions in multiple countries for a variety of clients, wherein the primary focus has been the end user. This experience has given Valid vast knowledge in the industry, which has been leveraged through the Valid Secure Service Hub (VSSH) platform.
Stay tuned to learn more about our VSSH solution and how it helps to create better user experiences.
