Most UK citizens want digital services of banks to be on par or exceed those provided by financial technology providers, a study found.
More than two-thirds (82%) have this attitude about lenders, according to a survey of 1,000 people commissioned by Fiserv, a banking software developer.
The study also revealed that 86% of the respondents are ready to change banks if they cannot manage their accounts online with ease.
What’s more troubling for banks is more than one-fourth (28%) of the people polled responded they are satisfied with the online services they currently receive.
While developing and deploying digital experiences that are aligned with customer demands can be daunting for banks, neglecting digital channels will reduce the number of their customers. Hence an excellent strategy with the help of robust technology can start the growth of healthy financial relationships, Nick White, Fiserv’s product and marketing vice president for EMEA, said,
Around 54% of the survey respondents said they would be more likely to use additional services from their existing financial services provider if they could contact and manage them effortlessly online.
Some of the leading British banks have started to collaborate with tech companies to provide customers with a better digital experience. One of them is NatWest SME lending platform Esme Loans. The firm has signed a deal with Microsoft. In the agreement, the software giant will build a cloud-based data warehouse for the lender’s automated decision making.
Esme Loans pledges its customers to reduce the application time for a loan to 10 minutes for small and medium companies.
The AI-powered data warehouse will support Esme in reaching its promise of making quick decisions on loans. The lender will also use the resource to develop an AI-driven chatbot that will respond to customer questions on its website. Microsoft’s technology will be launched starting next month.
