A new White Paper reveals the rapid acceleration of mobile connectivity is dramatically changing consumer behaviors and engagement patterns in the payments market.
Today, just six years after the first mobile banking apps appeared, financial consumers fully expect anytime-anywhere access to services and the ability to transact when, where and how it is most convenient for them — all while demanding the peace of mind of enhanced protection against the growing trend of data breaches – writes Ray Wizbowski, Chief Marketing Officer, Entrust Datacard.
Today’s consumers eagerly and easily seek out services that meet these expectations. Connected technologies put innumerable competitive options — including a growing force of non-bank alternatives — literally at customers’ fingertips, and make switching allegiances as easy as clicking a button. In fact, more than 50% of financial customers have opened or closed accounts in the past year.
These heightened expectations and new engagement patterns shift the playing field for financial institutions, making the need to establish and nurture customer loyalty more important than ever. To stand out in this new landscape, financial institutions know they must deliver what Ernst & Young calls the “omni-channel experience”: consistent quality and convenience — at home, on the go and in the branch.With the focus on anytime-anywhere service, it is tempting to isolate digital channels
as the key to the omni-channel approach. Financial customers are progressively moving
to digital channels for many of their interactions with financial institutions. However, a
2013 Nielsen study showed that customers’ preferred channel is dependent on the type
of transaction.
When customers want to check their balances or make a quick transfer, they turn to the mobile channel. When it’s time to pay a bill, they are split: About 40% of customers have used their smartphones to pay a bill — and that number is growing rapidly — but the majority of consumers use an online bill pay option.
To make a deposit, or when they’re seeking account or investment advice, customers still prefer to visit a traditional branch location. The ATM remains the preferred method of obtaining cash, and for resolving basic account issues, Nielsen found that customers prefer to contact a call center.
These varied preferences grow more complex when comparing generations and demographics, but this variance only reinforces the underlying lesson for financial institutions: for financial customers, convenience doesn’t always mean digital — it means having the choice of how to interact, and the assurance that the interaction will be simple and intuitive, no matter the channel.
To read the full White Paper CLICK HERE
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