Mobilising Digital Resources And Experiences In These Times Will Enable Us To Cultivate And Connect
The accelerating pace of technological change is the most dominant force within the ecosystem, today. While digital becomes mainstream, technology driven innovations and adaptations have become a key to survival. So revisiting and reimagining the existing business model is indispensable to encounter the new normal. Amidst this reality, it is important to analyse the landscape and ask some tough questions – on what next – what are the emerging trends to help reengineer and transform. Further, embracing these disruptive trends, redefining the processes and channels may involve exploring and co-creating to integrate and deliver on real - time seamless experiences.
Going forward, data will play a more domineering role and further create hyper connectivity and power analytics, to anticipate customer preferences with greater precision. Making it imperative for banks to leverage the existing customer base built on trust and security, and offer services, which do not entail manual interventions and longer processing or response time. In all this, branches will continue to play a prominent role but with hi – touch interface that would be enabled with hi – tech infrastructure especially for financial planning and advisory services. A major breakthrough in digital transformation that offers the potential of wider financial inclusion has been achieved with the support of regulators, in laying down the foundation for extensive technology innovation. Due to this, the emergence of various interoperable platforms has produced multiple use cases that are driving financial inclusion for the masses. Conceptually, merging this with the newer digital archetype will allow to repurpose and re-serve better.
In the last few years, digital transformation has been indispensable for most banks and seen as more of a necessity than a reason for progression. Therefore, this is the time to rebuild capabilities for all those who could not start in time or were just concerned with basic readiness. Also, it is our best chance to make banking stand on digital pillars such as open architecture, APIs, data science and analytics, collaborative workflows and agile methodology. Banks tend to hold on to not just legacy systems but also workflows, processes and mostly a legacy mindset. Now is the time to break out of all that and restructure a new way of how we serve customers. While it’s logical to keep reducing resistance in customer interactions, it’s equally important to remove friction within the internal processes and procedures.
Moreover, if the employees of a bank are not digitally equipped and enabled, adequately supported and disposed of with developing a technology enabled customer centricity mindset – there can be a growing mismatch in what customers expect and what banks deliver to them. We must use this time to re-on board all our internal teams (employees) and help them with up skilling. Equally important is how internal workflows can be reconfigured to bring about better collaboration and outcomes. Therefore, organising change readiness initiatives to shape the desired culture and dynamic relationships, will pave the way for a future-oriented and passionate culture to look beyond and succeed.
Overall, digital platforms are helping us to build a promising future, empower people, and create new growth options. While banks will expand and improve efficiencies to bridge the gap; this in turn will open more avenues and generate a safer framework for our diverse population. The current situation will give us an opportunity to explore technological interventions across all cross sections of business, to emerge and build newer ways. As always, banks will continue to embrace and engage with customers and communities - to sustain and innovate for the future.
