BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - September 14, 2010) - Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (
This pressure is due to factors such as soft consumer spending trend, price or rate sensitivity of consumers, possible fall-out from financial system regulatory changes that can impact revenue streams and customer relationships, and lagging global market recovery which has slowed down consumer banking. Moreover, the need to ensure timely response to continued growth and the evolution of non-traditional consumer banking channels (e.g. in-store retail banking, online, call center, and mobile) is a pain-point for 44% of retail banks. "The business impact of digital banking (mobile and online) is profound and banks of all sizes do not want to be left behind. Banks and credit unions are and will continue to implement tools that help embrace the digital consumer," says Sahir Anand, Research Director, Retail and Banking and chief author of the report.
As a response to the business pressures, leading retail banks (top 20% of banks surveyed) are focusing on unleashing consumer-driven retail banking strategies rather than a single-minded focus on sales and operations. Forty-seven percent (47%) of leading banks compared to 35% of all other banks are refurbishing bank branch operations. "This action is an essential shift to create a more responsive customer service culture with an aim towards acquisition, re-engagement, retention, and re-activation of lapsed customers. Multi-channel integration at the branch is a key step for creating a unified view of all bank brands," says Anand.
In order to create a consumer-driven service culture, a third of leading banks are re-structuring customer service touch points across all channels. Such a strategy requires process upgrades and technology convergence across channels and touchpoints. In some cases sizeable branch and bank headquarters technology upgrades have been undertaken due to legacy IT infrastructure and lack of inter-operability between customer and operational functions.
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