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Publicis Sapient has released its 2022 edition of the Global Banking Benchmark Study, which sheds light on some of the major trends and developments sweeping the sector. Shaurya Sharma, Principal Client Partner at Publicis Sapient in Australia, outlines some of the key findings among banks in the country.
Australia’s banking industry is on the brink of collapse and the pandemic is accelerating the move to online banking and digital transactions. The Australian Banking Association found that about 80% of Australians currently prefer to transact online.
As a result, digital transformation efforts are focused on creating personalized customer experiences and using granular data to better understand customer needs.
According to Publicis Sapient’s ‘Global Banking Benchmark Study 2022’, more than a quarter of Australian banks prioritize improving customer experience to advance their digital business transformation.
In order to transform from a product-centric to a customer-centric organization, banks need to “scale fast” by developing agility in their organization.
A number of key initiatives are driving this change, including different team structures, cloud investments and better use of data. Despite this, only 20% of Australian banks report having a fully agile operating model.
Obstacles to digital transformation
Many Australian banks face a range of issues, from legacy systems to operational issues, that are holding back their digital aspirations.
A third of banks cite regulatory issues as the biggest obstacle, while a similar number struggle with older IT systems. Many report that increased use of digital channels has strained their IT infrastructure. Skills shortages are another issue holding back innovation in the development of core banking solutions and personalization.
Operational agility is also a key imperative for Australian banks, which has ranked as the second most significant obstacle to digital transformation over the past 12 months, behind only Covid-19. Of course, agility includes many components. It enables banks to scale quickly and eliminates outdated technology, stimulates change and collaboration between different teams, and fosters a culture that encourages experimentation and adaptability.
These factors are limiting digital aspirations, with 58% of Australian banks yet to make progress on their transformation plans. While improving the customer experience may be a top priority for banks, it is often not a requirement that banks are able to meet easily.
In addition, banks face increasing competition from digital challengers, including their peers in financial services, telcos, the retail sector and others, who have set the bar high when it comes to meeting rapidly evolving customer expectations.
Addressing barriers to digital transformation
Banks deal with these challenges in different ways. While some banks balk at the large investment required to move to cloud banking, they recognize that it is critical to meeting their digital transformation goals. Some banks prioritize cutting costs to enable their digital transformation and seek operational efficiencies.
When it comes to legacy IT infrastructure, the trend is to modernize outdated systems rather than replace them. Whether this approach will be adequate remains to be seen. With rigid and complex legacy core banking systems slowing the pace of transformation and preventing meaningful improvements to the customer experience, there may be limits to how much they can be upgraded to meet future needs.
Four in 10 banks are prioritizing the development of their existing talent for operational transformation to address the skills gap. However, talent development is still a priority for the middle order. Half of banks believe their organization is more likely to invest in new technologies than in the talent and skills necessary to use them.
Given the expertise required to implement core cloud-based banking systems and smart technologies, banks may need to rethink their approach to address this gap.
The road ahead
Australian banks must continue to digitize and embrace new technologies to remain competitive. As the macro environment tightens, it is imperative that banks prioritize their plans and accelerate initiatives that focus on value and customer experience.
Banks that come out on top will focus on creating channel and product differentiation for their select customers. Banks can do this in several ways:
- Create rich customer profiles using internal and external data. By deploying Customer Data Platform technology, also known as CDP, banks can create a 360-degree view of the customer. Using this information, financial institutions can drive experience personalization and campaigns to improve the customer experience.
- Digitization into modern basic banking systems break through the rigidity and complexity of legacy core banking systems that slow down the pace of transformation and prevent meaningful improvements to the customer experience.
- Rethink team structures by creating teams focused on improving a specific customer journey, such as opening a new bank account or applying for a mortgage. These teams should include individuals from the back-office and front-office and cross-functionally and meet regularly to discuss progress on key initiatives. These end-to-end teams can deliver change much faster because all the necessary stakeholders are involved from the start.
For banks to succeed and stand out from the competition, innovation and providing quality customer experiences are key drivers to increase customer base and ensure stable business growth.
Publicis Sapient’s Global Banking Benchmark Study 2022 was conducted across 13 markets, including the US, UK, Germany and Australia.
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