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Showing posts with label bank business model. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bank business model. Show all posts

Monday, 6 June 2016

16:08

Here’s how Facebook Messenger will change banking

Here’s how Facebook Messenger will change banking

The Facebook Messenger platform opens many doors for easier, better digital interactions by enabling businesses to embed codes in chat conversations. Businesses can now obtain user messages, translate them into action requests, and send back automatically generated or manually-typed-by-human responses to the users. This is a faster, simpler, and richer experience than mobile app interactions, which require users to navigate through a mobile app, click on different links, load new pages, and wait for confirmation.

The new Messenger platform will affect the banking industry significantly because most banking services are tasks that can be automated, and instructions can be provided in simple human language (e.g. “pay my Internet bill”).

Today, if I want to send money to someone, I must complete the following tasks:
  1. Open my banking app
  2. Login to my account
  3. Wait for authentication
  4. Navigate to Send Money
  5. Enter payee information, my account, and amount
  6. Submit request
  7. Confirm order
  8. Receive confirmation

There are usually a few seconds of wait time between each of these steps as new pages are loaded and I navigate to the right buttons in order to interact with the app.

With Facebook Messenger, I can just type “Send $200 to Jack Nielson” in a message to my bank. By looking at my list of payees, my bank will know who Jack Nielson is (if it doesn’t know, it can ask for more information) and which account the money is coming from (if it can’t decide, it can ask again). Of course, some technologies must be built to make sure that the correct action is taken upon receiving a user’s message, but such programming challenges will easily be overcome over time.

Chat bot applications for banking
Thanks to mobile banking and online banking, visiting a branch is no longer necessary for day-to-day banking. In fact, many digital banking startups feel there is no need for a branch-based business model and run their whole business on the web and mobile. Chat bots will help banks automate tasks further by making it seamless for the users to submit their inquiries.

Chat bots are also a great tool for the banks to simplify their digital interfaces, while being easier to maintain than an app. To support a new Messenger command (e.g. “what’s my credit card balance?”), there is no need for an app to be developed and published in the App Store. All the bank has to do is to write code that translates the message to a certain set of actions in the back end. Thanks to new solutions such as Facebook’s Artificial Intelligence and Microsoft Bot Platform, turning a message into a request is simple.

Here are some of the immediate applications of chat bots for banking.

Alerts: Chat bots are great tools for delivering alerts to users’ accounts. You can get a quick sense of the experience by subscribing to CNN’s Messenger bot, a great alert tool that sends a summary of news items to subscribers every day. Banks can leverage the alerts capability to enable features such as “send daily account summary” or “low balance alert” for users.

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Sunday, 9 August 2015

15:51

A Retail Twist on Bank Design

A Retail Twist on Bank Design

In today’s world of ever-changing technology, banking has evolved to include exciting new mobile and online technologies. Many bank transactions occur without the customer ever stepping foot into a physical branch. However, when customers do visit their local branch, it’s for a specific reason and they want a great experience. Banks are turning to design-build professionals to guide them in the design of their new main office or branch facilities and remodels. These professionals consider the bank’s business model, philosophies and desired brand experience, translating them into functional spaces that are not only unique and attractive, but more importantly, are based on the bank’s relationship style and purpose.


As trends for the banking industry have grown to integrate elements of retail environments, expertise from a knowledgeable retail design-builder is invaluable. One of these is Redmond, whose successful history of more than 700 completed financial projects and hundreds of retail projects include key national retailers such as Walgreens, Starbucks and Panera Bread. Redmond’s bank designs consider the branch’s operations and business strategies while bringing in top concepts from cutting-edge retail environments.

Creating New Banking Environments

As new bank construction and branch remodels trend toward a “retail environment” model, the experience for a bank customer starts at the branch door. Commonly used in retail settings, an associate greets the customer upon entrance and guides them through their visit, providing individualized attention from versatile bank employees who are trained across a multitude of bank products and services, ultimately creating an experience that simply cannot be replicated online.

Banks have traditionally incorporated standard brand elements such as logos, signage and graphics to maximize corporate branding. The newest trends include the development of architectural brand solutions that apply not only to the structure of the building, but also create a sensory-enhanced environment with interior design elements such as lighting, furniture selection, subtle in-ventilation scenting, sound masking systems and modern marketing techniques featuring brand reinforcement on interactive digital displays. Unique features exclusive to individual branches such as in-house art galleries or showrooms that flow organically through the branch provide a memorable “value-added” experience for the customer.

For many years, banks have traditionally offered conveniences including refreshments, fresh coffee and cozy fireplaces. Redmond has seen in many of its retail projects, and recommends to its bank clients to add modern “creature comforts” – multi-media screens, wireless internet, and kid-friendly spaces including educational interactive video gaming systems, centered around comfortable, multi-zonal seating areas with conveniently integrated outlets for portable technology. These make wait times much more enjoyable and informative for all customers.

Maximizing Technology in the Bank Design
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