Four Digital Lessons from the Pandemic

2020, so far, is the year of digital interactions.

Without the ability to interact in the physical world, digital channels became the focal point of contact for everyone. Industries like retail and restaurants experienced a surge in the use of digital services like Instacart, DoorDash and others.

This trend is the same for banks and their customers. In a survey conducted by Aite Group, 63% of U.S. consumers log into financial accounts on a desktop or laptop computer to check accounts at least once a week, while 61% use a smartphone.

The coronavirus pandemic has certainly accelerated the move to the digital channel, as well. In a Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) survey, 45% of respondents report changing the way they interacted with their financial institution because of the pandemic. The increased adoption of the digital channel is here to stay: 30% of respondents from the same survey noting they plan to continue using online and mobile banking channels moving forward.

The same is true for payments. FIS finds that consumers are flocking to mobile wallets and contactless payment to minimize virus risks, with 45% reporting using a mobile wallet and 31% planning to continue using the payment method post-pandemic.

This pandemic-induced shift in consumer preferences provides a few important lessons:

1. Experience Matters
Customers’ experiences in other industries will inform what they come to expect from their bank. Marketing guru Warren Tomlin once said, “a person’s last experience is their new expectation.” No matter where it came from, a great digital experience sets the standard for all others.

Banks should look to other industries to see what solutions can offer a great customer experience in your online and mobile banking channels. Customers’ service experiences with companies like Amazon.com’s set the bar for how they expect to interact with you. Their experience making payments with tools from PayPal Holdings, like Venmo, may inform their impression of how to make payments through the bank.

2. Personalization is Key
Providing a personalized experience for customers is key to the success of your bank, both now and in the future. Your bank’s online and mobile tools must generate a personalized experience for each customer. This makes them feel valued and well served – regardless of whether they are inside a branch or transacting through a mobile app.

Technologies like artificial intelligence can learn each customer’s unique habits and anticipate specific needs they might have. In payments, this might look like learning bill pay habits and helping customers manage those funds wisely. AI can even make recommendations on how users can ensure they have enough funds to cover the month’s bills or save anything they have left over.

AI is also able to look at customer data and anticipate any services they might need next, like mortgages, car loans or saving accounts. It brings the personal banker experience to customers in the digital world.

3. Weave the Branch Into the Digital
The ability to interweave the personalized, in-branch experience into the digital world is crucial. There are positives and negatives in both the branch and digital channels. The challenge for banks is to take the best of both worlds and provide customers with an experience that shines.

Customers want to know that someone is looking out for them, whether they can see that person or not. A digital assistant keeps customers engaged with the bank and provides the peace of mind that, whether they are in the branch or 100 miles away, there is always someone looking out for their financial well-being.

4. Embrace the “Now” Normal
To state that the Covid-19 pandemic changed the world would be a big understatement. It has disrupted what we thought was “business as usual,” and irrevocably changed the future.

The “new normal” changes day by day, so much that we choose to more accurately refer to it as the “now normal.” The increased dependency on digital has made it critical to have the right infrastructure in place . You truly never know what is coming down the line.

Customers enjoy the ease of digital and, more than likely, will not go “back to normal” when it comes to banking and payments. Now, more than ever, is the time to examine the digital experiences that your bank offers to further ensure its prepared for this endless paradigm shift that is the “now normal.”