
Whereas relationships between customers and bankers at their local branch used to be long-term and personal, we’re now in a market where customers are willing to change banks often for better rates. Customer behavior is changing and a Gartner report from 2020 showed that more than 50% of retail banking customers want to manage their daily finances digitally. This is driving demand for on-demand digital services for retail and private banking. Value for money is now the most important factor for financial services consumers. And fantastic remote meeting experience can be a major differentiator. For more established players to remain relevant in an evolving market, they need to provide a range of services that meet the demands of today’s customers. The choices being made by consumers are evolving: according to a recent study by Accenture referenced by StarDust, “nearly 60% of insurance customers are open to purchasing policies from neo-insurers or other tech companies looking to break into the industry,” and this increases to 80% when only considering millennials. Personalized, face-to-face remote meetings can be a useful tool when guiding customers to the right insurance products, especially when they are facing life-changing events like buying a home or starting a family. Video meetings can streamline this process by greatly eliminating many of these traditional touch points and providing fast, personal advice. A typical mortgage in the United States takes on average 46 days to complete, involves six unique roles, and uses more than 30 touch points. Typically this advising session would happen at an in-office meeting, but video can be just as effective, and more time efficient. Mortgages and loans are some of the most complex financial products for consumers, and many banking customers want support from someone in an advisory role.

Video conferencing can help re-imagine that connection and modernize the customer experience. The growth of digital finance has contributed to a one-size-fits-all model of customer experience, rather than delivering a relationship-based service, delivered by highly trained staff. Another key finding from the report is that the rush to provide digital services has been at the expense of human-driven services that customers feel are important. The Accenture study mentioned above showed that customers’ trust of their bank has dropped to 29% compared with 43% two years ago, which could be attributed to a greater trend toward digital banking. But keeping customers engaged and loyal with digital banking and other financial services can be a challenge. The modern state of digital finance is demonstrated in the Cognizant report The Work Ahead in Banking & Financial Services 2021, which showed that the banking industry expects to boost its revenues from digital channels by 54% by 2023.

Read more: How will video transform consumer banking in 2021? And the service you choose needs to be simple to access, on-demand, and personalized. If your financial institution wants to provide a rounded customer experience, video needs to be a core offering. According to the Accenture Banking Consumer Study from 2020, only 15% of customers had spoken to a bank advisor by video call before the pandemic, but 46% said they would be prepared to do this when branches reopened, and 35% would now prefer video to a face-to-face meeting. This is especially true for Generation Z and millennial digital natives who enjoy the experience of personal interaction, but prefer face-to-face meetings to be conducted remotely.īut it’s not just the younger generation driving this demand there is now an appetite for video banking across all demographics. Today, customers expect more – and higher quality – video communication with banks and other financial organizations than ever before. Video is no longer a perk - it’s an expectation
