user experience Archives - Financial Marketer https://financial-marketer.com/tag/user-experience/ Insights from The Dubs Mon, 22 Jan 2024 02:14:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://financial-marketer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/cropped-fav-32x32.png user experience Archives - Financial Marketer https://financial-marketer.com/tag/user-experience/ 32 32 Marketing strategies for changing digital behaviours https://financial-marketer.com/marketing-strategies-for-changing-digital-behaviours/ https://financial-marketer.com/marketing-strategies-for-changing-digital-behaviours/#respond Mon, 22 Jan 2024 02:14:02 +0000 https://financial-marketer.com/?p=15066 Failure to respond to changing digital behaviours will see your finance brand quickly outpaced. Here’s what finance brands need to do to adapt or be left behind.

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The finance industry is no stranger to change. Recently, the pace of change has accelerated spurred on by the dynamic shifts in customer’s changing digital behaviours. Here, we explain strategies for financial marketers to not only optimise efficiency but to catalyse unprecedented growth.

Changing digital behaviours

In response to the ever-evolving landscape, your finance brand isn’t just competing with industry peers anymore; it’s now directly challenging industry giants like Amazon and Netflix. Consumers now expect frictionless, efficient, and personalised digital experiences when engaging in financial activities.

Content Square’s 2023 report, analysed 2.7 billion user sessions across 502 financial services websites, to unveil the trends shaping the digital customer experience.

1. Enhanced engagement drives better outcomes:
Websites experiencing higher engagement saw a substantial -58% reduction in bounce rate and 41% deeper sessions were observed. Users deeply engaged with content explored more pages in a single session. Notably, the activity rate on financial services sites increased by 11.8% year-over-year.

Takeaway for brands: Prioritise creating compelling and relevant content to boost engagement, leading to lower bounce rates and more in-depth user sessions.

2. Identifying and mitigating friction:
Frustration factors impacted 27.8% of all financial services sessions, with slow load times, multiple field interactions, and rage clicks being the top causes. Interestingly, visitors to insurance sites experienced more friction, with 1 in 3 visits affected by frustration.

Takeaway for brands: Address users’ UX pain points, particularly focusing on simplifying interactions and eliminating sources of user frustration. Investing in addressing UX frustration can reap great rewards, with a study by Forrester finding that every $1 invested in UX design generates $100 in return.

3. Optimise channel mix for new visitor acquisition:
While direct and SEO traffic constituted 58.7% of new visits, paid traffic, comprising only 10.9% of all visits, drove an impressive 16.7% of all new visits.

Takeaway for brands: Strategically invest in paid traffic sources to maximise new visitor acquisition, complementing your organic efforts.

“ The activity rate on financial services sites increased by 11.8% year-over-year.”

4. Efficient experiences counteract one-and-done visits:
Slow load times impacted 14% of all visitor sessions in the financial services sector. Notably, websites with faster load times experienced 9.2% fewer one-and-done visits.

Takeaway for brands: Prioritise optimising website speed to reduce the likelihood of one-and-done visits, emphasising the importance of a seamless user experience.

5. Device preferences:
Desktop traffic constituted 61.1% of all traffic to financial services sites, marking a 1.5% increase from the previous year. While mobile web traffic share slightly increased, maintaining a multi-device digital strategy is crucial for attracting new visitors to financial service sites.

Takeaway for brands: Recognise the continued dominance of desktop traffic but adapt by maintaining a strong presence on mobile devices. A versatile digital strategy ensures accessibility for a broader audience, attracting both desktop and mobile users.

Key considerations for tailoring approaches

Adapting to evolving digital behaviours and aligning with shifting consumer needs is essential for an effective marketing strategy. Acknowledging these changes alongside other influencing factors enhances audience targeting. Alongside consumers’ online habits, you should also take into account the following:

  • Sustainability: Consumers are increasingly focused on environmental sustainability. Many are willing to pay more for greener products and expect their finance brands to actively support sustainable initiatives. This shift requires your finance brand to incorporate sustainable practices into your products and services.
  • Affordability: The wealth gap continues to widen, making it imperative for your finance brand to consider how it can support customers of all financial standings. This includes offering more inclusive and accessible financial products and services.
  • Experience: Your finance brand should go beyond transactional interactions and actively seek to delight customers. This could involve personalised financial guidance, seamless tech integration, or exclusive rewards, creating memorable experiences that foster loyalty and attract new customers.

The rise of “Super Apps”

A survey conducted by PYMNTS and PayPal across the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia revealed that 72% of consumers globally are keenly interested in super apps. Notably, consumers in the UK exhibited the highest interest, with 74% expressing a desire for super apps.

Super apps integrate multiple financial services, such as checking and savings accounts, investments, and payments, into one comprehensive digital experience. They are known for their high degree of integration and customer-centricity, effectively serving as the user’s personal financial operating system.

For financial marketers, understanding this shift is crucial. As customers become accustomed to these all-in-one solutions, traditional finance brands might need to adapt to meet these changing expectations. Integrating various financial services into a seamless experience, much like a super app, can set your brand apart in a highly competitive market.

Strategic responses for changing customer behaviours

In 2023 and beyond, finance brands must decisively adapt to changing digital behaviours to significantly enhance efficiency and drive robust growth. The significance of understanding the nuances of customer behavior and tailoring digital strategies to provide seamless, personalised experiences across all devices cannot be understated for financial marketers.

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Digital experience: Where asset managers are falling behind https://financial-marketer.com/digital-experience-where-asset-managers-are-falling-behind/ https://financial-marketer.com/digital-experience-where-asset-managers-are-falling-behind/#respond Tue, 07 Jun 2022 22:57:18 +0000 https://www.thedubs.com/?p=11464 According to McKinsey, asset managers are behind the rest of the finance industry when it comes to delivering a great digital experience. Here we explain how you can catch up.

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The digitisation of the finance industry is being felt across all sectors and it’s time asset managers jumped on board. Despite this, asset managers are lagging behind the rest of the finance industry in implementing digital technology. Improving the digital experience for investors should be a priority for your asset management firm. By creating a great digital experience where interactive and engaging content takes centre stage, you can generate and nurture leads by providing clients with valuable information in refreshing formats. But how can asset managers improve the overall digital experience for investors?

The benefits of going digital for asset managers

You can reap many rewards when you improve your client’s digital experience. According to McKinsey, there is a clear correlation between finance brands leading the digital revolution and improved overall performance in terms of revenue, reduced long-term marketing costs and greater lead generation.

“ According to McKinsey, there is a clear correlation between finance brands leading the digital revolution and improved overall performance. ”

So, what are the benefits to asset managers of improving the digital experience they deliver clients?

  • Improved operational efficiency
  • Lead generation
  • Customer acquisition
  • Improve connectivity and strengthen relationships
  • Personalisation
  • Improve accessibility and education

How asset managers can improve the digital experience for investors

The majority of consumers worldwide are now considered ‘digital natives’. This means consumers do not only expect but demand asset managers provide a great digital experience. While banks have been quick on the uptake and made digital financial management the norm, asset managers have been slow to reflect what consumers want. In fact, the proportion of people using digital finance technology rose from 58% to 88% between 2020 and 2021.

According to KPMG’s ‘Getting Digital Right 2020 Report’, “Clients now expect asset managers to deliver digital experiences comparable to those they enjoy in other parts of their lives.”

Overall, to improve the digital experience for investors, asset managers should be making it easy to invest as well as access relevant information and educational materials. There are several ways asset managers can achieve this:

  • Create a digital investor portal – By creating a single point of contact for investors, you can streamline communication and provide educational material and data in one place.
  • Make data accessible – By improving data transparency you can foster client loyalty, with over 90% of consumers saying transparency by a brand is important to their purchase decisions.
  • Implement automated reporting – By removing manual processes, clients can access key information more securely and in real-time.

Why content marketing must be on your radar

You can’t execute a successful digital transformation without implementing an omnichannel content marketing strategy. Providing value-driven and engaging content as part of your overall digital experience is critical to ensuring you generate and nurture leads.

The key to executing an engaging content marketing strategy that generates leads is creating easy-to-digest, relevant content that’s tailored to your target audience. Reduce your reliance on old-school downloadable PDFs by creating interactive and dynamic content across multiple channels. While you can still cater to investors that like PDFs by including them at the bottom of your website content, utilising HTML content will not only improve your SEO but interactivity allows for greater engagement.

One example of an asset management firm getting it right is BlackRock. What they’re great at is delivering a variety of investment content across socials such as blog posts, thought leadership and videos alongside updates from the ‘human’ side of the business. This mix of content ensures they’re delivering broad reaching insights relevant to a spread of investors.

Why prioritising the digital experience is a no brainer

At the end of the day, investors and clients want to be able to manage their finances online. While this preference for digital financial management tools was on the rise prior to 2020, COVID has fast-tracked this demand.

If your asset management firm is yet to invest in your digital experience and your multichannel marketing strategy it’s time to start or be left behind.

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CX design and finance brands https://financial-marketer.com/cx-design-and-finance-brands/ https://financial-marketer.com/cx-design-and-finance-brands/#respond Sun, 22 May 2022 23:07:44 +0000 https://www.thedubs.com/?p=11387 New research has revealed that finance brands and consumers are mismatched in what they expect from CX design impacting customer retention and loyalty. So, where can you improve?

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Research by RedPoint Global has highlighted that consumers and finance brands are mismatched in their priorities when it comes to CX design. In fact, 82% of consumers say most brands have significant room for improvement in delivering a consistently exceptional CX. While 51% of marketers believe they are delivering excellent CX design in 2021, only 26% of consumers agree. So, how can your finance brand deliver a CX design that reflects what consumers are demanding?

CX design can make or break your finance brand

A 2020 Walker study found that customer experience overtakes price and product as the key brand differentiator. CX design plays an important role in acquiring and retaining consumers. CX is the new battlefield with over two-thirds of brands now competing primarily on the basis of customer experience alone.

When it comes to delivering great CX design, understanding what consumers want is critical. Yet, more often than not, finance brands are getting it wrong. Redpoint Global did an extensive survey to find the three key areas finance brands aren’t delivering great CX for consumers: They are:

  • Understanding the consumer (77%)
  • Personalisation (77%)
  • Omnichannel marketing (72%)

Understanding the consumer

Like with any aspect of financial marketing, it’s critical you understand your target audience well. Gaining superior data quality is a key area of opportunity for your finance brand.

While it’s easy to feel like you’re drowning in data, you need to set parameters for the type of data you’ll analyse. Your checklist may look like:

“ 82% of consumers say most brands have significant room for improvement in delivering a consistently exceptional CX.”

  • Target market (age, gender, income, location, etc.)
  • Marketing and social media analytics (click-throughs, impressions, conversions, etc.)
  • Customer data (persona, spending patterns, offers they’ve declined, online activity, social network activity, service preferences)
  • Prospect data
  • Qualitative data
  • Competitors

By understanding your consumer’s data you can find customer pain points and areas for improvement, leading to the creation of a great CX design.

Personalisation

Personalisation is becoming increasingly more important as consumers continue to increase their dependence on digital finance management tools. In fact, 72% of consumers say they only engage with personalised messaging. But where should you focus your personalisation strategies?

According to research by McKinsey, here are the five top areas your finance brand should focus on:

  • 75% of consumers want personalisation to make it easier to navigate in-store and online purchasing
  • 67% of consumers want relevant and tailored product/service recommendations
  • 66% of consumers want messaging tailored to their needs
  • 65% of consumers want targeted promotions
  • 61% of consumers want brands to celebrate their key milestones

Omnichannel marketing and CX design

Consumers are wanting more consistent, omnichannel marketing from finance brands. With brands that implement omnichannel marketing experiencing 23x higher customer satisfaction rates, it’s a key area your finance brand should improve.

Omnichannel marketing in the context of CX design means no matter where your consumers interact with your finance brand they always have a great customer experience. Rather than focusing your CX design on one area, like your website, taking a holistic perspective and identifying areas of improvement across your entire marketing strategy can give you a competitive edge.

The Redpoint Global report asserts, “with consistency being consumers’ most important dimension and also among the top area they feel brands are falling short, focusing on overcoming the challenges this dimension presents to marketers should be a top priority.”

It’s time to improve your CX design

At the end of the day, CX design is now one of the most important aspects of acquiring and retaining consumers. While your finance brand may believe it’s delivering great CX, it probably isn’t aligning with your consumer’s expectations. It’s time to reconsider your CX and align it with what your target audience is demanding.

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Financial services need to offer personalisation https://financial-marketer.com/financial-services-need-to-offer-personalisation/ https://financial-marketer.com/financial-services-need-to-offer-personalisation/#respond Thu, 19 May 2022 22:25:31 +0000 https://www.thedubs.com/?p=11371 Personalisation is no longer an option for financial services but instead a must-have, with 71% of consumers now expecting it.

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With COVID-19 having increased the reliance on your finance brand’s digital offerings, personalisation is now expected from consumers. In fact, over 76% of consumers said receiving personalised communications was a key factor in prompting their consideration of a brand. Personalisation matters more than ever before, but how can your finance brand do it right?

Personalisation is all about the customer experience

Personalisation helps to improve the overall customer experience significantly. Rather than a consumer feeling unseen by your finance brand, creating a personalised customer journey can help to form real and authentic connections. In fact, 84% of consumers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business.

“ 72% of consumers say they only engage with personalised messaging. ”

With COVID-19 spurring the rise of online shopping and digital interactions, personalisation is now deemed as the default method of communication between brand and consumer. As technology continues to advance and consumers are more willing to provide personal information, creating a customised experience has never been easier nor more necessary.

Building a great personalised customer experience

With 72% of consumers saying they only engage with personalised messaging, it’s critical your finance brand implements personalisation across your content and communications. According to research by McKinsey, there are five key areas your finance brand should work on personalising. These include:

  • 75% of consumers want personalisation to make it easier to navigate in-store and online purchasing
  • 67% of consumers want relevant and tailored product/service recommendations
  • 66% of consumers want messaging tailored to their needs
  • 65% of consumers want targeted promotions
  • 61% of consumers want brands to celebrate their key milestones.

Consumer reward finance brands that deliver

Creating a highly personalised and tailored customer experience can be the competitive edge your finance brand needs to not only convert customers but retain current ones. Having a digital strategy that favours personalisation means the more your clients interact with your finance brand the stronger your tailored communications and content becomes. This helps to build brand loyalty. Brands that employ personalisation strategies have better customer outcomes with 53% of sales attributed to brand loyalty.

By focusing on customer relationships and long-term value through personalisation strategies, your finance brand can achieve a 10-15% revenue lift. But what are the top finance brands doing to create a great personalised service?

According to research by McKinsey they are:

  • Utilising data and analytics to identify opportunities
  • Implementing AI-powered technology to respond to consumers’ actions in real-time
  • Building teams within their business that are focused on specific sectors of the personalisation journey
  • Investing in emerging digital technologies

While personalisation used to be a nice to have now it’s a requirement for consumers. If your finance brand is yet to invest in personalising the customer experience, it’s time to start.

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Digital banking reigns supreme https://financial-marketer.com/digital-banking-reigns-supreme/ https://financial-marketer.com/digital-banking-reigns-supreme/#respond Tue, 19 Apr 2022 06:31:12 +0000 https://www.thedubs.com/?p=11345 New research by PwC has revealed traditional banking may be coming to an end with digital banking taking over. So, what does this mean for your finance brand?

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New research by PwC has identified that traditional banking may be coming to an end with digital banking overtaking it. In fact, consumers who bank exclusively via digital channels increased sharply from 26% to 32% between 2020 and 2021 and this number continues to rise. While consumers are demanding a digital banking experience, about 20-25% of consumers who would prefer to open a new account online are unable to do so. This indicates that while digital banking is the way of the future, many traditional banks remain in the past. However, this isn’t just a trend banks should be concerned about, with the proportion of people using digital finance technology rising from 58% to 88% between 2020 and 2021. So, what can your finance brand do to remain competitive in the digital financial space?

The three types of digital banking consumers

It’s not quite as simple as every consumer out there wants an exclusively online banking or digital financial experience. PwC has instead identified three different types of finance clients:

  • Physical – These consumers still rely only on physical branches to complete their digital banking requirements. Since the pandemic, these consumers have steadily been declining from 42% in 2019 to 35% in 2021.
  • Phygital – ‘Phygital’ consumers do most of their banking digitally, but still enjoy the ability to visit physical branches for certain needs and requirements. This blended consumer has slowly been rising, with it now making up 25% of the market base from 17% in 2020.
  • Digital Natives – As banks continue to advance in the online banking space, more consumers are exclusively banking online. Today, over a quarter (25%) of adults have opened a digital-only bank.

“ The number of people using digital finance technology rose from 58% to 88% between 2020 and 2021 ”

According to Peter Pollini, Banking and Capital Markets Consulting Leader, PwC US, “Direct banks are no longer a niche play; to a growing number of consumers, they are more relevant than regional or community banks.­”

To remain competitive long into the future it’s critical traditional banks implement an online banking experience that’s easy to use and addresses consumers’ digital needs.

How banks can address consumers’ digital needs

A bank’s geography will soon become less of a selling factor for consumers as digital banking continues to rise. Instead, the solutions you provide to consumers digitally will become the battleground for banks across the country. Define a market niche and create solutions packages that address your target market’s key concerns.

What consumers want in a digital bank

It’s clear consumers are increasingly demanding that traditional banks and finance organisations also offer digital solutions. In a Finder survey, they discovered digital banking services were rated as the second-best feature of people’s primary banks. But what do consumers want from their digital banking experience?

  • Personalisation
  • Omnichannel customer service
  • Easy and clear interactions
  • Competitive pricing
  • Accessibility

It’s critical to remember that while consumers want digital banking and financial experiences, they also want to be able to speak to real people when they have complex problems. This is why your finance brand should aim to seamlessly blend your digital and in-person experiences, with 72% of consumers saying it’s important for companies to connect their digital and in-person experiences.

The effects of COVID-19 and the advancements in technology have meant more consumers are demanding digital finance tools. To stay ahead and remain competitive in the long term, it’s important your finance brand addresses these demands by creating a great digital experience.

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How First National Bank’s eStore is changing the game https://financial-marketer.com/how-first-national-banks-estore-is-changing-the-game/ https://financial-marketer.com/how-first-national-banks-estore-is-changing-the-game/#respond Wed, 13 Apr 2022 05:39:47 +0000 https://www.thedubs.com/?p=11335 First National Bank has unveiled a new mobile eStore within their app, making applying for loans, opening checking accounts and managing finances easy, seamless and intuitive.

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Who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks? US bank First National Bank (FNB) has unveiled a new mobile eStore within their app that rivals that of fintechs in its ingenuity and success. Mimicking behaviour by retail giants like Amazon and Target, the eStore allows FNB’s product offerings to be displayed like a shop’s gift card display, making it easy to select the right service for users. Creating a user-friendly design, in conjunction with fun and educational content, has been highly successful. In fact, more than 61% of FNB’s home loan applications are now submitted digitally and FNB’s app transaction options now surpass their online banking. So, what can your finance brand learn from this new style of marketing?

eStore enters banking

While the eStore initially lived exclusively on FNB’s website, they have now integrated it within their app, empowering clients to use FNB like a neobank if that’s their preference. FNB has approached its mobile app and website in a similar way to how retail giants operate. By integrating retail features users can easily navigate and locate the products and services they require. The retail features they have integrated include:

  • Shopping cart
  • Checkout process
  • Filtering of products
  • Account selection tools
  • Comparison tools

FNB has further streamlined the acquisition process and made it easier to access help and support at all stages of the loan and checking process. By providing easy access to financial experts through the mobile app and eStore, FNB can nurture leads and personalise its service.

“ FNB’s app transaction options now surpass their online banking. ”

Vincent J. Delie, Jr., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of F.N.B. Corporation and First National Bank explains, “We combine the latest industry technology with personalized service so that customers can access the tools, information and consultation they need, whether they are in a FNB branch or are using an online or mobile device.”

Making banking easier

Why this feature has become so successful isn’t simply because it’s user-friendly and easy to navigate. FNB has also combined it with great finance content that’s both fun and educational.

In their knowledge center, FNB has segmented their information to tailor it to different audiences. This type of content hub is effective in ensuring content is targeted at specific audiences, while remaining easy to navigate for users. With a mixture of blog content that is easy to understand, infographics and short engaging videos, FNB has varied the style of content helping to keep it fun and fresh.

By providing extensive educational content that is easy to access alongside FNB’s eStore, users can easily select and apply for the banking product that’s right for them.

Takeaways from First National Bank’s eStore

FNB’s eStore has made banking easier by integrating a customer-centric design that’s familiar to users into their mobile app and website. By combining educational content that’s designed for the everyday consumer with easy-to-use banking navigation tools, FNB has found a winning formula that helps nurture leads and convert clients.

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Improving the hybrid shopping experience https://financial-marketer.com/improving-the-hybrid-shopping-experience/ https://financial-marketer.com/improving-the-hybrid-shopping-experience/#respond Sun, 03 Apr 2022 22:54:42 +0000 https://www.thedubs.com/?p=11298 Consumers still value in-person shopping experiences, yet love the personalised and seamless nature of the digital space. A hybrid shopping experience is the answer, but what does it involve for finance brands?

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COVID-19 has affected the shopping habits of consumers globally. More than ever, finance brands need to accommodate a hybrid shopping experience that balances in-person shopping with online experiences. For banks, a hybrid shopping experience can be used in physical stores, with technology improving consumers’ customer experience. For finance brands like insurance companies, for example, a hybrid shopping experience is about embedding yourselves within an existing shopping experience.

Creating a frictionless in-person experience that transfers seamlessly into the digital space can be difficult and requires new and emerging technologies to be incorporated into your finance brands’ technology infrastructure. Adobe and Stripe are some technology brands helping finance brands build integrated systems that better enable them to accommodate all customer experiences. Another way of facilitating a hybrid shopping experience, is for finance brands to build partnerships with retailers to enable them to integrate their digital products within the in-person shopping experience. A hybrid shopping experience balances the best of both worlds by providing the hyper-personalised and accessibility of the digital space within the real world. So, how can your finance brand create a hybrid shopping experience and why should you?

The hybrid shopping experience

Younger generations, like Gen Z and Millennials, are digital natives and highly value online experience for its personalisation and ease of use. Yet, many of them, alongside older generations, still value the in-person shopping experience. Creating a hybrid shopping experience, that incorporates digital technologies within the physical space, is the way of the future. In fact, 74% of consumers now expect a hybrid shopping experience.

Tesco and Amazon have already implemented this style of customer experience, implementing a “just walk out” technology where they’ve removed the need for checkouts – and consumers are loving it, with many of them enjoying the efficiency and ease of use. This technology

Addressing consumers’ digital and social needs is an important factor in the overall customer experience. Consumers are demanding more personalised customer experiences and hybrid shopping enables this. Research by McKinsey noted personalisation yields a 20% higher customer satisfaction rate and a 10-15% boost in sales conversion rates.

“ 74% of consumers now expect a hybrid shopping experience.”

But what can your brand do to create a hybrid shopping experience?

Two technologies helping finance brands create a hybrid shopping experience

Stripe is one fintech highlighting how they have created and integrated a hybrid shopping experience within the retail space. While usually they exclusively provide online payment systems, they have recently introduced their online payment structure into the physical world.

By building a point-of-sale terminal product Stripe bridges the gap between online and offline payments, providing merchants with an omnichannel platform that helps make it easier to manage eCommerce transactions with in-person transactions. This product helps to streamline merchants’ workflows and provide a greater customer experience by improving the customer service. By creating an integrated offline and online payment system for merchants, consumers’ information is more accessible meaning purchase history, warranty, and receipts can be stored, making customer claims easier to process.

Tesla is another example of how finance brands can integrate themselves within the physical shopping experience through retail partnerships. As a customer purchases a Tesla, they are also encouraged to purchase insurance digitally during the process to ensure consumers’ car insurance is completed even before they leave the store. Partnering with Aviva and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in America and Canada, these finance brands have made the customer experience even easier by providing their digital services during in-person shopping experiences.

Technology brand Adobe has created an innovative technology that enables banks and finance brands with physical stores to build a hybrid shopping experience.

Adobe’s creation of Sensei has revolutionised the physical store experience. Sensei is a digital technology that enables banks to adapt their digital content and online experience into physical stores. Adobe Sensei can do a number of things including:

  • Automatically reformat content on a finance brands’ website or app to fit a screen inside the branch helping to consolidate marketing campaigns.
  • Finance brands with physical stores can capture and analyse location data. This means when a consumer enters the store staff are alerted, if the consumer walks up to a screen personalised suggestions are available and finance brands can analyse consumers’ time within the store.
  • Finance brands can understand and accumulate data on what consumers are doing both in-store and online, which hasn’t previously been possible.

Learning lessons for finance brands

The customer experience is critical to retaining consumers and acquiring new ones. In fact, consumers who have a great customer experience are 5x more likely to recommend a brand and 54% more likely to make another purchase. As technologies continue to improve, consumer demand for more advanced, personalised, and seamless customer experiences will increase.

Hybrid shopping is the way of the future.

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Embedded finance: Banks move into eCommerce https://financial-marketer.com/embedded-finance-banks-move-into-ecommerce/ https://financial-marketer.com/embedded-finance-banks-move-into-ecommerce/#respond Wed, 09 Mar 2022 00:18:58 +0000 https://www.thedubs.com/?p=11269 Embedded finance enables your finance brand to capture the attention of new audiences while making the customer experience even easier. So what is it and how can you incorporate it?

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Consumers are demanding easier, more streamlined financial services, and embedded finance can help make this happen. Embedded finance helps make the customer experience easier by integrating necessary financial services in areas that are usually separate. In fact, Brazilian digital bank Nubank is one financial provider that has jumped in on the action, partnering with retailers to add an eCommerce section to their app – and they’re not the only ones seeing success. So, how can your finance brand offer embedded finance and what are the benefits?

What is embedded finance?

“ “We are living in an on-demand society, and as such, consumers are looking for more choice when it comes to payment options,” Richard Wormald, Mastercard Division President of Australasia. ”


Put simply, embedded finance is when financial services are integrated into non-financial websites. This has been occurring within other digital services with an example being Uber or Lyft, where consumers pay for their ride automatically by providing their payment details prior.

Embedded finance can help elevate your digital financial services by expanding what your consumers can do and access through your platform.

As Richard Wormald, Mastercard Division President of Australiasia states, “We are living in an on-demand society, and as such, consumers are looking for more choice when it comes to payment options…People want to be able to access and use their money how and when they want, using any form of device they choose.”

By making the customer experience easier and providing consumers with relevant financial services, you can satisfy a number of pain points helping to garner greater brand awareness and loyalty.

Ways your finance brand can get in on the action

Embedded finance is only just starting to ramp up globally with Lightyear Capital estimating embedded finance revenue will grow to nearly $230 billion by 2025. In fact, Ikea has recently begun offering financial services in-store after it bought a 49% stake in Ikano Bank. Even the online retail giant in Australia, Kogan, now offers superannuation, credit cards, and home loans.

So what are some ways your finance brand integrates embedded finance?

  • Embedded investing – Fintechs like Acorns and Raiz are investing clients’ spare change quickly, easily and automatically. Banks and other investing platforms can jump on the bandwagon and begin to create services that make investing easier and automatic.
  • Embedded insurance – Purchasing insurance is typically separate from purchasing the product, such as a car or home. Embedding insurance within the purchasing process starting to catch on, with Tesla now offering a tailored insurance program from the moment the car has been purchased.
  • Embedded lending – Rather than having to apply for a loan separately, ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) schemes, such as Klarna or AfterPay, have created a loan scheme at the point of purchase.
  • Embedded shopping – Some finance brands are beginning to expand their digital platforms by providing access to online retailers within their app.

Two finance brands nailing embedded finance

While embedded finance remains in its infancy, there are a number of financial organisations jumping on to this new development early.

In Brazil, NuBank has entered the eCommerce space by offering online retail experiences within their app. Consumers will have access to special offers, discounts and coupons, as well as a more seamless shopping experience. By creating frictionless online shopping experiences, NuBank aims to retain current customers and continue to expand its current digital offerings.

Embedded finance: Banks move into eCommerce

In the UK, Caura is making the lives of car owners easier by enabling users to handle all vehicle-related admin, such as paying for city charges and car tax, in the one app. They’ve also embedded insurance within the app, by allowing users to access and insure their car with the top insurers like Aviva and Ageas.

The way of the future

The growing demand and need for convenient, frictionless and digital financial experiences are fueling the embedded finance space. At the heart of it, embedded finance is about addressing consumers’ pain points in a variety of areas that finance brands may have previously dismissed.

If your finance brand is looking to expand your digital offerings, retain current customers and improve brand loyalty, embedded finance is an area you should invest in.

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Top 3 CX Design Trends of 2022 https://financial-marketer.com/top-3-cx-design-trends-of-2022/ https://financial-marketer.com/top-3-cx-design-trends-of-2022/#respond Tue, 25 Jan 2022 05:20:51 +0000 https://www.thedubs.com/?p=11184 With the pandemic forcing customers to rely on digital platforms, CX design has now become a competitive differentiator. So, what are customers looking for in CX design in 2022?

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With the pandemic driving an increased reliance on digital platforms, brands have been forced to evolve their customer experience (CX) design. Optimising your design with the customer experience in mind plays a critical role in ensuring your digital platforms are user-friendly and accessible, helping to enable greater customer acquisition and conversions. Consumers want high-quality CX that places their needs at the forefront. In fact, 76% of consumers already expect companies to understand their needs and expectations and 73% of consumers say a good CX design is key in influencing their brand loyalties. Keeping up-to-date with what consumers expect is critical for retaining customers, building brand loyalty and converting leads. So, what are the CX design trends for 2022?

Human connection

Customer service is often seen as one of the top reasons for cultivating consumer loyalty, trust and retention, yet is often scored the lowest in customer satisfaction scores. In fact, 47% of customers would switch brands after a poor customer experience and 91% would leave without warning. While people are doing their banking more and more online, they still desire human connection when contacting customer service.

80% of consumers say speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service are the top things they’re looking for when interacting with customer service. Your finance brand should therefore prioritise technologies that support these core areas rather than ones you adopt simply because they’re considered cutting edge. Technology like AI and chatbots are becoming expected from customers as they enable easy queries to be solved quickly while remaining personalised and ‘human’.

CX design as a product

“ “Brands can no longer rely on a plethora of products as their main selling point; instead, they will have to use CX to differentiate themselves.” – Judy Weader, Senior Analyst at Forrester ”


With the pandemic making digital financial management the new norm this is likely to stay around for years to come. Owing to this, your finance brand’s CX design is now a key cornerstone for customers’ decision-making and choice to work with you. As Judy Weader, Senior Analyst at Forrester asserts, “Brands can no longer rely on a plethora of products as their main selling point; instead, they will have to use CX to differentiate themselves.”

In this regard, the CX design improvements your finance brand has made across the pandemic must be maintained and continually updated to ensure customer retention. Consumers now expect a forward-thinking, personalised, and easy-to-use online experience. Without constantly improving your CX you are losing out to brands that do.

Financial wellness and improved trust

According to Accenture, only 29% of people trust their banks to look after their financial wellbeing compared with 43% two years ago. Consumers are wanting more help from their finance organisations with the pandemic increasing financial uncertainty globally. There’s now a link between financial wellness, CX design and customer satisfaction. This indicates a growing need from consumers for their finance providers to help them understand how to manage their money.

Offering educational resources and tools to manage spending easier are some ways to improve the financial wellness of your clients. Consider what your clients need and are struggling with when creating a customer-focused CX design.

Why CX design is important for financial marketers to consider

CX design is now one area consumers consider the most important when making their decisions. Ensuring you maintain the digital evolution your brand has adopted is critical to ensuring you retain customers and improve conversion rates. Think about the customer’s needs, digital habits, and wants first and foremost in your overall customer experience design.

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API technology and finance brands https://financial-marketer.com/api-technology-and-finance-brands/ https://financial-marketer.com/api-technology-and-finance-brands/#respond Mon, 10 Jan 2022 23:46:22 +0000 https://www.thedubs.com/?p=11148 API technology makes it easy for your finance brand to access customer data and create personalised products tailored to consumers’ needs. So, how can your finance brand benefit?

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Application Program Interface, otherwise known as API technology, is beginning to lead market innovations by enabling greater customer service, progressive product design, and tailored services that meet the needs of consumers. API technology can empower your finance brand to anticipate the needs of customers, enabling you to be proactive in your content and product strategy rather than reactive. By providing an easy way to access key customer data and enabling greater connectivity, API tech shouldn’t be an area your finance brand hesitates in implementing. So, how does API technology work and how can it benefit your finance brand?

How does API technology work?

Simply put, APIs are a technology that enables two applications to communicate with one another. Whenever you use a messaging app or the weather app on your phone, you are using an API. In terms of financial services they enable your finance brand to link your database with other applications or programs. This is done securely, without the need for third party applications meaning your customer’s data is protected. By allowing your finance brand to link to other applications this enables you to expand the services you can offer and enables you to create and implement innovative tools in a matter of weeks not months.

“ The ability of APIs to enable innovations means they have the power to increase a bank’s revenue by 20% when implemented.”


API technology is becoming more essential for finance brands wanting to create great digital and personalised online experiences. APIs can enable your finance brand to improve in four key areas: reach, speed, domains and the Internet of Things (IoT). Ultimately, they can help streamline processes by creating fast and seamless customer experiences.

In terms of financial services, API technology can be utilised in several ways. Some ways APIs can improve your customers’ experience include:

  • Account authentication
  • Payment processing
  • ATM or branch location software
  • Credit score checking
  • Loyalty programs
  • Link services to fintech apps

Deutsche Bank nailing API technology

One example of APIs being utilised to better the online financial experience is Deutsche Bank who have rolled out, in partnership with Swift, their new Beneficiary Account Validation (BAV) service. This service enables consumers to verify payee account information before an international payment is sent.

This directly addresses consumers’ concerns regarding international payments being sent to the wrong person. Additionally, it also helps reduce consumer dissatisfaction by improving end-to-end efficiency. In terms of the benefits for the bank, it reduces fraud rates and sets them apart from the competition enabling greater lead generation and brand awareness.

The benefit of APIs for financial services

At the core of it, API technology is critical for your finance brand as it enables innovative ideas to be created easily but also implemented quickly. This means you can respond to consumers’ needs and wants fast, benefiting the customer and helping to improve brand loyalty and trust.

The ability of APIs to enable innovations means they have the power to increase a bank’s revenue by 20% when implemented. Employing APIs shouldn’t be seen as a maybe but instead a must-have piece of technology for your finance brand.

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