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Scenario-based planning is one of several services SunTrust is making available to mass-affluent and high-net-worth clients. The launch comes at a time when banks see an opportunity to tailor personal financial management services to affluent clients in spite of low general adoption .
February 18
Citi Private Bank has quietly overhauled its app for customers with at least $25 million in net worth in recent weeks.
The app, which previously provided thought leadership content, now comes stocked with a number of data-driven services, including what-if scenarios, portfolio views, performance analysis tools, customized reports, and a vault to store documents like passports, among other services. Whatever the feature, the tech lets a banker and a client see the same financial data view to improve collaboration.
"It's way more than an app," says Dena Brumpton, COO of Citi Private Bank. "It's a client engagement tool."
The software is debuting at a time when banks across the country are looking to digitize more parts of their businesses ? including their wealth management services. These investments are designed to improve customer retention and acquisition (including of those who inherit the fortunes) as branch floor traffic is dropping and disrupters are emerging. SunTrust, for example,
Citi's new app, called In View, is not a means to replace bankers but to supplement personnel with another access point to financial data at a time when consumers are used to accessing data from wherever they wish.
"We use Kindles to read newspapers. We use tablets to do our shopping," says Brumpton. "Frankly, it's just how the world is going."
Citi Private Bank plans to upgrade In View in July to include a feature that will let clients set up and conduct video appointments with bankers.
Other expected upgrades to the In View app include: enhancements that will simplify onboarding, the industry term used to describe the process of signing up a new customer. The bank plans to pre-populate forms whenever possible so as to save the customer from keying in data he has already provided the bank.
Peer review could also come to the In View software down the road.
"The concept of 'people like me' is becoming hugely relevant," she says. "Financial services will go in the same way."
The app is part of Citi Private Bank's Project Sheen, a broad effort to revamp the entire client experience ? including the design of the physical private banking offices. Eight, one of Apple's design partners, helped re-design Citi Private Bank's London and New York offices and the In View app.
