Technology
04/11/2011

Disruptive? Mobile? Regulated? Check, check, check


It’s funny the things that cross your mind in an airport. I snapped this picture of a classic American plane docked in Chicago pre-flight to China this morning. Patiently waiting by the gate must have been 200+ people, 95% of whom appeared glued to their iPad, iPhone or Android-powered mobile device. To say I was impressed is an understatement. Users of mobile technology are known for being many things: patient is not one of them. They want new tools, new applications and they want them today. Maybe I should have photo’d the departure lounge…

aa-flight.jpg

From the board room to a branch office, it’s no state secret that today’s mobile banking customers expect access whenever and wherever they are. With so many banks investing in new technologies that allow customers to complete transactions, manage accounts, and perform banking research via their mobile devices, one can see why. Mobile banking services — think remote deposit capture, two-way text banking, apps for locating branches and ATMs using GPS and bill payment — have become the norm. So how to differentiate your bank from your competitors?

In my next few posts, I’ll take a look at this question.  With banks (both big and small) riding the mobile wave to strengthen relationships and add to their bottom lines, I thought to set the table with insight gleaned from our friends at PwC.  Last month, the Banking & Capital Markets group published “How Retail Banks Can Thrive in a Disruptive, Mobile, Regulated World” to assess the implications and opportunities created by mobile phones and social media.  My cliff’s notes:

  • Social media continues to provide banks with new ways to improve brand recognition, expand customer reach, enhance a customer’s experience and introduce new products (for more, see these posts we ran in January about how to benefit from social media and social networking platforms);
  •  While most large national banks have slowed their pace of retail bank acquisitions because of regulatory limits, banks with access to capital continue to view acquisitions as a growth opportunity. Such acquisitions benefit banks by enabling them to (a) reduce combined operational costs by eliminating redundant back-office functions, (b) spread technology investments and regulatory compliance costs across a larger base, (c) gain access to new markets and customers for cross-selling, (d) increase the ability to invest in state-of-the-art technologies; and
  • Leading institutions are adopting a new customer-centric model to replace outdated product- centric models.

A few big takeaways for me? Bank execs need to quickly and decisively adopt new approaches or risk being left behind. Moreover, by tailoring channels to a specific customer segment or purpose, banks are capitalizing on the distinct and complementary roles of distribution channel, all while managing costs. Yes, this is the land of opportunity, and the applications of new mobile technologies and strategies bears close watching. More to come next week.

WRITTEN BY

Al Dominick

Board Member

Al Dominick serves on the board of DirectorCorps, Inc. The former CEO of Bank Director | FinXTech, he is a partner at Cornerstone Advisors.

Prior to Cornerstone and Bank Director | FinXTech, he ran the business development efforts for Computech, a Bethesda, Maryland-based information technology firm (now part of NCI — NASDAQ: NCIT). Before that, he worked for Board Member, Inc. in a variety of revenue-generating roles.

A 1999 graduate of Washington & Lee University, where he majored in Politics and was a four-year letterman on the varsity baseball team, he earned an MBA from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business in 2007.