A 2021 outlook on content management in Financial Services
In the early months of the global pandemic, Financial Services organizations focused on the safety of their customers and employees, simultaneously converting a traditional, in-person infrastructure to a remote working posture. In the midst of this change, key challenges and learnings were uncovered. With legacy solutions and infrastructure in place at the core of banks and insurance firms, responding to change quickly while delivering world-class business value to customers grew challenging. Customer experiences were neglected, highlighting the lack of omni channel support across services and alternative staff assisted channels. As cyber threats grew, so did the gaping holes in financial institutions' security postures - making it increasingly difficult to maintain security and compliance control across employees and partners.
These challenges have led to a monumental shift for large financial services organizations around the globe. Here we will discuss how this shift will manifest across financial services, what trends have emerged, and how cloud content management will solve for them.
Refocusing on digital transformation
As firms adapt to their remote work lifestyle, digital transformation strategies become topics of conversation - yet again. However, according to recent HBR report, 70% of digital transformation efforts do not reach their goal. With previous data in mind, there is a necessary shift required for upcoming digital transformation approaches [1]. Financial Institutions must identify a digital core strategy that aligns businesses strategic focuses to the technology change portfolio.
With this new age model, financial services can support banking and insurance of the future, including touch-less banking, reduced number of bricks and mortar branches, and the currency of omni channel experiences. By combining best-of-breed technologies and cloud-based providers, banking and insurance firms can create a cohesive tech ecosystem, connecting content, data, workflow, and security.
Firms that adopted cloud-first solutions were well positioned to weather the WFH storm, maintaining business operations across their organizations. With cloud technologies like Box, build a powerful best-of-breed cloud stack with a single content layer. That way, you connect the content flowing across your favorite business apps, anywhere on any device. Box enables seamless onboarding, collaborating on loans, managing M&A activity, and accessing and exchanging updated financial information. And it can all be done with unprecedented security and compliance.
Designing customer experiences from the outside-in
There is heightened competition that has emerged across the industry. Take for instance the low rate environment in lending, whereby rates are not the sole factor for customers choice in lender - most often than not it's the customer experience that truly influences business. A recent JD Power report states "documents are the enemy of customer satisfaction" proves the value of customer experience [2].
Lending is not the only area where customer experiences define a business. Wealth management is being redefined. As their customer base widens, the impact of customer loyalty is questioned by the impersonal aspect of the pandemic. Millennials are now accumulators of wealth and their expectations for digital experiences are defined by consumer-brands - setting the customer experience bar higher than ever before, increasing competition among financial institutions like never before.
Across financial services firms, IT departments are quickly realizing their legacy technologies are holding them back when it comes to creating innovative, customer experiences, something best-of-breed services and solutions are made to do. As firms move away from transactional interactions to relationship-based engagements, maintaining digital-first customer experiences - build from the outside in - is paramount. With Box, firms can create great customer engagements with easy online experiences, attract new customers, and help build loyalty. With a rich set of APIs to create tailored experiences, your firm can provide clients and financial advisors with a more effective and interactive way to work.
Driving responsible growth
The financial services industry is growing - and fast - new fintech organizations develop everyday, M&A activity is at an all time high, lending transactions double, and the notion of physical banking has all but disappeared. There is a huge demand to offer more with less, drive higher margins in transactional and advisory businesses, all the while maintaining regulatory compliance and security.
Financial services organizations must maintain sustainable growth. But, how do firms make smart choices for sustainable growth in the short-term for long-term growth across Retail, Private and Wholesale Banking, Advisory services and Insurance? Cloud content management is your answer. With cloud-first solutions like Box, financial services firms can optimize key business processes like onboarding and AML/KYC, ensuring their employees and customers work on high value activities, simplifying how they interact with loan or deal content in intuitive, collaborative workflows.
As we move through 2021, financial services will see a shift in focus on connecting employees, securing customers, and automating core business processes. With cloud content management at the center, financial services can support business strategy, create unforgettable customer experiences, and responsibly grow in order to maximize returns to shareholders.