Digital Bank

Regarding social media, we think the future will be about integrating Big Data on your CRM to increase the knowledge about your customers and provide a more personalised experience. This Big Data will come from different sources: conversations on social networks, credit card transactions, social reputations like Klout, etc.

First, a bank should not try to make money out of social media. Social media is not there for money making but for customer engagement, which then leads to money making

For example, Wells Fargo in the United States provides personalised ATM messages. Its ATMs include customised screens based on customer preferences, and favourite activities are highlighted on screen based on previous usage of the ATM by the customer. There is also a tool called ATM Cash Tracker that allows customers to visually track their monthly withdrawals. The tool allows customers to set a monthly withdrawal target and see details about how much they withdrew the previous month, as well as their average withdrawals per month over the past year. This delivers consistency across channels from personalised ATMs to personal financial management.

So then we get to the core of the discussion: Who needs branches? People who like their contact with the staff in the branch? People who want to feel there is a physical space to see where their money is? People who are resistant to change? People who have not been introduced to the alternatives? People who are unsure of the alternatives and need to be educated to discover what they can do?

They designed their operations specifically on the basis of being remote but want you to feel a relationship with their brands by the amazing service you receive. Their remote services are designed to be as simple, easy and convenient as possible, and when you need to talk to someone, the someone you talk to is amazingly impressive. They are customer focused and engaged, and deal with you as a human and not an account number. They work without scripts and think on their feet, and on their handset. That is why these financial providers consistently get stratospheric customer service results.

an extra 5 per cent discount if you use our bank to pay as they are our bank’s loyalty programme sharing partner. Save more than 10 per cent of your earnings per month and we will give you a “Saver King” or “Saver Queen” badge to share with all your friends on Facebook.

How would you build today’s bank if digital networking is its foundation, and call centre, Internet, mobile and the branch are just the cream on the top of the cake? Where would you build branches, and how would you build them, if the branches are ancillary and perfunctory to the electronic foundations? Who would you employ, and how would you employ them, if the core differentiation of the bank is its digital base rather than its branch structure?

branches (pre-1970s), call centres (1980s), Internet (1990s) and mobile (2000s). Each launch therefore has a layer of legacy, which is the challenge for the traditional bank to keep up.

Some banks have already started such a process—HSBC with First Direct being a case in point—but the idea of a bank that brands by channel is not yet a clear strategic market move, but maybe it should be. A bank that has a branch-based bank brand (HSBC), a call centre based bank brand (First Direct), an Internet-based bank brand (Smile) and a mobile-based bank brand (Moven).

For all those years, we did the best we could to keep up but we failed. We failed because multichannel simply does not work. Instead we created mixichannel. Mixi meaning “mixed up”. Instead of focusing on these new channels of innovative offers for new products and services, we added these channels as cost reduction programmes for self-service and branch rationalisation. As a result, call centres, Internet and mobile services have been added onto existing operations rather than engineered specifically for these services.