LONDON, UK, 28 March, 2022. 11:00 hrs –Two senior leaders at digital business transformation company Publicis Sapient today delivered a blunt warning to large high street banks – that without differentiation and stand out in their experience, they’re at risk of losing large numbers of customers to challengers and neobanks.
Simon James and Magnus Fitchett, who have been researching customer experience at banks and the impact on net user growth, told the MoneyLIVE summit in London that digitising human experiences is more complex than the industry initially anticipated and that action should be taken now to address the issues and impacts of “copycat” digitisation.
Magnus Fitchett, CX and Innovation Consulting Lead, Publicis Sapient said:
“According to research by Gartner, 89% of companies across all sectors now compete primarily on the basis of customer experience, more than a two-fold increase from 2010. We all know this is key growth topic for banks”
Fitchett continued:
“But our research shows that the vast majority of customer experiences with many large high street banks are forgotten. These interactions fall into the grey area between especially good and especially bad – they broadly meet our expectations and deliver the outcome we were seeking, but don’t surpass them to deliver memorable experiences that impact future consumer decision making.”
James and Fitchett pointed to the differences with challenger and Neobanks, and the threat to more established brands:
“The Monzos, Revoluts and Starlings each individually stand for something,” James said. “They are becoming known for brave features and innovations which they added to the banking mix. They stand for something and have tapped into their brands DNA. We see other brands outside of banking creating memorable experiences with their product. Love it or hate it, who can forget the Tesla ‘parking dance’ once they’ve seen it? The mainstream banks, however, are just not making this level of impact on experience. They need to step out and be genuinely innovative, rather than only following a well trodden digitisation path.”
The two addressed:
- The difficulty in measurement of customer experience
- The need for banks to tap into emotion, not simply function
- The critical importance of memorable experiences
- Why copycatting competitors is a deadly threat
Simon James, Head of Data Science and AI, Publicis Sapient said:
“Acts of spontaneous kindness are memorable, and create a bond. The rush to create humanoid bots led to a belief that that was all that was needed. This is not the case, according to our research, the industry appears to have fallen asleep on the job in terms of tracking what is going on with customer relationships. Our research has revealed the traditional ways of measuring customer experience do not go far enough to guide banks on where to focus their investments in CX”
Publicis Sapient plans to release the full report on their research of banking customer experience in Spring 2022.
Publicis Sapient is a headline sponsor of the MoneyLIVE Summit at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London 28-29 March 2022.
Jesse Pitts has been with the Global Banking & Finance Review since 2016, serving in various capacities, including Graphic Designer, Content Publisher, and Editorial Assistant. As the sole graphic designer for the company, Jesse plays a crucial role in shaping the visual identity of Global Banking & Finance Review. Additionally, Jesse manages the publishing of content across multiple platforms, including Global Banking & Finance Review, Asset Digest, Biz Dispatch, Blockchain Tribune, Business Express, Brands Journal, Companies Digest, Economy Standard, Entrepreneur Tribune, Finance Digest, Fintech Herald, Global Islamic Finance Magazine, International Releases, Online World News, Luxury Adviser, Palmbay Herald, Startup Observer, Technology Dispatch, Trading Herald, and Wealth Tribune.