Tag: Banking

Ideas, Innovation

Rethinking the Role of a Bank

Can banks transform themselves to remain relevant both in the financial economy and for the network economy? Traditionally, the role of the banks have been to be collect money from people who have money, aggregate the same and loan out the money to people who needed it. The banks were needed as there was no way that people who had money could know about other people who needed the money. Also, banks could assess the risks associated with the loans and cover the risk by way of lower, but guaranteed returns on income for people who deposited cash with the […]

Business Model, Innovation

Crowd Funding Platforms and Banks

There has been a consistent growth in the number of Crowd-funding platforms all around the world. This is quite understandable given that they address a niche segment of the market that no other financial system has been able to address well. Some of these crowd funding platforms are now moving from crowd-funding (in lieu of kind & merchandise) to becoming crowd investing platform (in lieu of equity). What surprises me is the fact that banking institutions have not led the way and adopted this model so far but look at these as competition or threat. If I were leading a digital channel for a […]

Customer Engagement

An Example of True Customer Centricity – When Banking is No Longer Just About Banking

Fifth Third Bank and NextJob came together to address a challenge faced by most retail banks – Mortgage defaults. According to the press release from the company, Steven Alonso, executive vice president and head of Fifth Third Bancorp says – “Up to half of mortgage delinquencies are due to job loss. With NextJob, we immediately recognized an opportunity to go the extra mile to assist our customers. This is specific, one-on-one training that helps people identify their transferable skills and re-gain the financial stability of a new job.” Mortgage defaults can eat up a banks profits very quickly, hence most banks look inwards […]

Customer Engagement

Customer engagement in a digital era

There have been reports that the overall customer engagement at banks for customers using one of the digital channels like Online banking, mobile banking, etc. One of the most important aspect of customer engagement, is in fact engagement. You need to continuously engage with your customers through out their journey with you. This implies that you need to know what a customers journey is with your organisation: – What are the touch points where you come in contact with your customer; – What does the customer want to get done at each of these touch points & why? – What […]

Business Model, Ideas, Innovation

Idea for a disruptive biz-model innovation for banks

There is a lot of discussions and activities around the revival of the good old ATM. Some are trying to make these machines more Customer-centric like Wells Fargo. Some are trying to improve the overall user experience of the ATM like Diebold. However, the true question should be the following: “Do we even need an ATM? Is there a better, easier, faster way to manage cash than via an ATM?” The first bank to figure out the answer to this question has the potential to truly disrupt the banking industry from a cash management perspective. One way that I think could be […]