In 1967 the invention of the cash machine put banking firmly at the cutting edge of technology.  The question is where does it stand forty years later?

The price of banking products has fallen, competition has increased, distribution has moved to call centres and online, and most importantly the focus of the media and customers has changed.

In its annual review, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) said that a year ago it typically received around 10 complaints a week concerning bank charges, currently it’s handling about 1,000 cases. The reason the industry is faced with an unprecedented level of complaints is because people are interested in fair play. Being given an honest deal is at least as important as being given the best deal.

The sea change has given financial services companies the momentum over the last few years to push technology boundaries again.  This time it’s opening communication channels with staff and customers to promote trust. And, importantly for organisations centred around accounting, it’s actually cheaper than more traditional ways of keeping in touch.

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Feedback  

Satisfaction, scoring, EFM - call it whatever you like.  Financial Service companies know it’s time to listen to customers – their power has never been higher and they’ve never been more willing to share exactly what they think. Collecting feedback through mobile phones is practical and simple.  And the results are straightforward to interpret so they actually get used.  Harvard’s heavyweight credentials behind our system show that simplicity doesn’t mean dumbing down – as clients will testify – it’s actually linked directly to your bottom line.

Learn more about customer scoring and feedback here

Security

Over a third of the UK population use online banking at least once a week.  Unfortunately security fears, fuelled by the parallel growth in phishing attacks, are likely to level out online growth unless public confidence is restored. And while banks are experimenting with two factor authentication to do just that, the advent of mobile banking is already challenging online security practices. Those partnering with Rapide are already a step ahead in this arena with encrypted secure text messages which use a PIN to read.

Text  alerts

Mobile has become the default communication tool because it's always with you and (even if you don't admit it) always on. So financial services organisations are finding it's the perfect, cost effective customer reminder . It's not just about customer service, the results are tangible - for example an alert reminding customers about their financial review meeting increased revenue by £1m a year, simply by increasing the number of people who actually turn up.

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