Banking Review Netherlands: President of Cognizant’s Banking and Financial Services Practice Says Financial Services Companies Must Drive Value With a Holistic Customer View

“Banks now have transformational tools at their fingertips: social, mobile, analytics, and cloud (SMAC) technologies,” says Prasad Chintamaneni. “These powerful tools allow executives to increase revenue, improve products and services, expand market share, and achieve nonlinear revenue growth.” Excerpts:

“Banks that effectively use SMAC technologies to better understand and serve their customers are emerging as leaders in the industry, and will continue to gain a competitive advantage in the market.

Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud Transform Customer Insights: Let’s examine precisely how FSEs can implement SMAC technologies to bend the curve and improve their bottom line. The first step is to understand that fundamentally, these technologies allow banks to gain a more holistic view of customers.

The Multiplier Effect: The real power of social, mobile, analytics and cloud technology emerges when the four technologies are used together, giving FSEs an unprecedented 360 degree view of each customer. The explosion of data and analytics technology allow FSEs to store, manipulate and analyse greater volumes of data and extract meaningful insights about customers’ preferences. Ultimately, this detailed, 360° customer view made possible through SMAC technologies can improve the loyalty of existing customers, help banks engage these customers in new services, and increase the market share for banks by attracting new customers.

Overcoming the challenges of implementation: The challenge many FSEs face is that even though they may have a mobile banking platform and a social media programme in place, the technologies remain in silos, obscuring the holistic view of the customer. The fundamental question for banks of all sizes is how to achieve the multiplier effect and gain a detailed, holistic view of their customers.

The steps we have found to be fruitful starting points for FSEs to integrate and use SMAC technologies to achieve the multiplier effect are:   Make the most out of the ‘easy data’; rethink customer service; and challenge the norm.

FSEs that utilize SMAC technology to gain a holistic 360 degree view of their customers are ahead of the industry with increased market share, and are bending the curve through nonlinear growth. The landscape of SMAC technology is emerging and growing, and FSEs that stay ahead of the curve will understand how to develop and maintain strong relationships with their customers by delivering better and more contextualized, customized, relevant services.”

Click here to read the article in Dutch.