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Regulators would like banks to use their mobile banking services to reach the unbanked and underbanked. Some, including Southern Bancorp and BBVA Compass, are working to create mobile features that will help them compete with check cashers and payday lenders.
September 22 -
Digital channels are not strategies in and of themselves, writes Kevin Tynan. In fact, three important customer groups are unlikely to be swayed by mass emails and pay-per-click advertising.
August 4 -
Community banks need to rethink their technology and marketing to ensure they are snagging a piece of the millennial generation. Big banks have the lead in reaching this demographic, but they are vulnerable, experts said.
July 25 -
The new American Express film Spent offers an opportunity to consider some emerging strategies aimed at helping low-income and struggling middle-class Americans avoid or get out of debt.
June 20
We live in the age of the customer, as American Banker's recent
First, the banking sector is placing increasing focus on developing products and services for the unbanked and underbanked, a category that includes
American Express's experience working with unbanked and underbanked customers has shown that the average person wants financial institutions to "show me you know me, reflect who I am and respect me," according to Mary Ellen Jelenek, who heads the company's Serve and Bluebird portfolios. That's a relevant message for every customer segment.
It's also important to note that mobile banking is an essential part of reaching and servicing this population. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Second, the financial industry is waking up to the fact that
Hubert encouraged banks to refresh their thinking about millennials and view them not as entitled but as a group with enormous potential. Young people today have been raised to feel confident about their ability to achieve their goals, Hubert explained. Banks can connect with this group by showing millennials how their products and services can help them realize their ambitions. She told bankers to work to "understand them like our future depends on it."
Lastly, banks are working harder to differentiate themselves from one another on the basis of service. In order to better serve their customers, companies are increasingly incorporating technical and digital skills into their marketing teams. A number of speakers talked about the importance of combining right brain (creative and intuitive) and left brain (logical and analytical) marketing talent. However, the broad recognition of this fact has created what some referred to as a "war for talent" in the realm of digital marketing.
Banks are also moving to a "test and learn" marketing approach. Senior executives recognize that their best ideas and extensive market research could still be trumped by actual customer behavior. Putting a new idea into the market in order to better understand how consumers will react is critical to hitting the mark.
On the subject of hitting the mark, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, PNC's senior vice president of strategic brand management, talked about the importance of demonstrating digital capability and functionality to customers. PNC is using videos that tell customers how to navigate that new app they've downloaded in an effort to make using the technology habitual. The entire service proposition was nicely summarized by Van Valkenburgh's explanation of PNC's goal: "When a customer comes to us, online, on mobile or in branch, we want them to get what they came for in such a way that they want to come back."
Derek Corcoran is the chief experience officer at customer experience management firm Avoka. Follow him on Twitter at @
