Powering Remote Work in the Financial Services Sector
The ability to work from anywhere, securely, is propelling the financial services industry forward. How internal teams remain productive at home, portfolio or asset managers engage with their clients, or how the extended enterprise manages culture shifts is disrupting traditional in-office operations.
In a conversation with technology leaders at Texas Capital Bank, AllianceBernstein, and TPG Global, Box and American Banker explored the ways Financial Services firms are adapting to this sudden shift to remote work , anticipated trends for the future, as well as if, and when, banks will convert to a completely on-demand digital customer experience.
Here are 3 takeaways from the conversation:
1. Moving to remote work is only possible with a digital-first infrastructure
Enabling teams to work remotely was surprisingly easy, but only when you have a digital-first infrastructure in place. With cloud and mobile-first technologies, like Box, financial services firms can easily access and share their files from anywhere, on any device. With built-in sharing controls and visibility, threat detection, and security reports, sensitive information never ends up in the wrong hands and global operations can drive forward.
Casey Santos, AllianceBernstein's SVP, Head of Business Process Innovation, Workflow and Automation, noted how quickly AllianceBernstein got their teams to remote work ready, "It took us a matter of days - we were all very vigilant." She went on to mention how prepared they were as an organization by previously investing in cloud and video technology.
2. Your employees are the foundation for change, so get leaders on board
It's becoming more clear that the pandemic will alter digital strategies in Financial Services for years to come. Dynamic cloud technologies will be critical for employees to deliver on business initiatives remotely. With Box, you get a single cloud platform for employees to collaborate across teams and external parties and work in any app (like Slack, Zoom, DocuSign, Teams, Office 365, G Suite, etc), all with frictionless security.
Many say this experience will change how employees will work and engage with their clients in the future. Specifically, in speaking with Texas Capital Bank's CIO Hina Shamsi, she recognized her internal team for their ability to work faster and smarter to deliver PPP (Paycheck protection program) loans. Shamsi said, "I would argue you can't have a digital external experience if you don't transform internally" attributing their success during this time to her agile workforce and models in place.
3. How customers engage with their financial services firms is sure to change forever
In Financial Services, face-to-face meetings won't disappear forever. But, without them, there are opportunities to optimize solutions like Box to deliver real-time digital experiences to even more clients. With Box, you can digitize day-to-day client processes like on-boarding, collaborating, and quickly accessing and exchanging information with ease.
AllianceBernstein's Casey Santos said it best, "the genie is out of the bottle!" It's safe to anticipate even more digital exchanges in the future, as clients develop a new understanding of how easy digital on-demand experiences can be with their financial advisors. Santos even went on to say, " it's a great opportunity to take those technologies and compose solutions that are a good experience for the end user or the client."
To hear more candid thoughts from technology leaders in Financial Services, watch the full webinar.