Banking, a niche within the financial services industry, is in the middle of a revolution. The sector is shifting traditional, in-person banking online, creating a wealth of opportunities and risks for both institutions and customers. Maria Mohan, an IT business analyst with over 18 years of experience working with financial institutions, offers her suggestions for charting these new waters.
The shift to digital began many years ago, but banks are continuously looking to refine existing infrastructure and introduce new technologies. However, it can be difficult to create novel processes because customer needs vary. Depending on their age, wealth bracket, and other factors, customers have several priorities. Maria stresses that this should be important to banks, who are currently trying to implement a fully digital banking experience. “Younger customers enjoy digital banking because they are comfortable with technology and would rather use an app than visit a branch,” Maria says. “Older customers don’t feel the same. They need help understanding new platforms and staff aren't taking the right approach to this process.”
The global banking sector has a net interest income of almost $7 trillion this year. The United States is the most lucrative banking market and will only grow in value. Yet, traditional and neo-banks are missing the chance to lower their costs and better serve their customers. According to 2021 research, 74% of 15 to 24-year-olds used mobile banking in the last year. Customers over 65 were five times less likely to use mobile banking compared to younger customers. Additionally, customers with higher incomes used mobile banking much more than those with lower incomes.
When examining these figures, it’s clear that banks could implement additional practices that accommodate every customer’s unique needs. Maria suggests that banks should guide seniors to adopt mobile banking by encouraging them to navigate the process hands-on. Instead of telling seniors what they should be doing, bank staff should give them support as they do the steps. This will create a comfortable space for seniors to engage with technology without any pressure.
Another complex facet of the digital banking sphere involves cybersecurity risks. Like any other online platform, digital banking interfaces are vulnerable to hackers and scammers. Without the correct security measures–like authentication and customer education–money can be lost by malicious actors. Maria urges banks to develop a two-pronged strategy for addressing these issues. Firstly, banks should ensure that their customer experience is equally seamless and secure. “It’s important to keep the customer journey as simple and easy as possible, but ensuring their assets are secure is critical,” Maria says. “Layering in multi-factor authentication and designing checkpoints is effective for preventing fraudulent behavior while also respecting customers’ time.”
Maria Mohan’s expertise in banking has been developed over almost two decades of serving international markets. She has grown an abundance of knowledge from working in India, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Maria’s versatile experience is further enhanced by the different roles she has played for different organizations. Whether collaborating with retail banks or wealth management institutions, Maria has a keen understanding of what banks and their customers need. This is partially due to her outlook toward banking. “I am very detail-oriented and I see every flaw as an opportunity for improvement,” Maria says. “I create innovative solutions by learning about existing issues and training others through workshops and other activities.”
Some notable projects Maria has worked on include pioneering the adoption of mobile check deposit, social media banking, and making credit card delivery more efficient. She believes more issues will emerge as traditional banking becomes less common in exchange for digital. In this landscape, banks must balance technology with the human touch to create a mutually beneficial ecosystem for institutions and customers. Deloitte has commented on this trend, saying that banks of the future must be able to embrace technology, stay agile, and infuse a customer-centric strategy into everything they do.
“By going digital, every customer now has access to a bank at their fingertips,” Maria shares. “But this change comes with many risks that have to be properly managed to ensure that the customer experience is never compromised.”
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