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Why a Digital Engagement Hub is Central to Building Banking Futuristic Experiences

In this article, the authors discuss about the significance of Digital Engagement Hub (DEH) model to realize hyper-personalization and the key pillars necessary to build an impactful DEH model.

Published: Sun 21 Nov 2021, 10:58 AM

Updated: Fri 2 Aug 2024, 12:54 PM

While the basic function of banking and its relevance remains intact, the 'how' has undergone a sea change over the last two decades. As the recently published 'Forrester Wave™: Digital Banking Engagement Hubs, Q3 2021' noted, the changing business environment demands agility, continuous differentiation, and innovation within tighter budgets, with the pandemic further strengthening this demand.

To differentiate themselves, banks need to go beyond gathering customer data, and connect, collaborate, and engage to address key areas of disconnect, and arrive at the customer's specific context. By building a customer's context using analytics from insights obtained at various points of the customer journey, banks can position products, services and engagement in a manner that meets their individual needs, desires, and goals.

Banks are increasingly looking at a Digital Engagement Hub (DEH) model to enable the level of personalization demanded by customers. This is because, by its very structure, the Hub establishes connections along the vital spokes of an individual’s banking engagement resulting in a happier experience overall. Customers typically respond positively to these investments. For example, when Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) transformed its digital banking using the hub model, its new customer intake improved by over 90%. The impact of cross-channel integration was also felt by RAKBANK in the UAE as user transactions on their digital platforms grew by 50%.

Building an impactful DEH requires building a connect across the following areas :

  • Connecting systems: A unified view that connects and presents multiple banking relationships relevant to an individual.
  • Connecting channels: Availability of all customer-specific data seamlessly and consistently across all channels used by the individual.
  • Connecting the assisted and unassisted world: Bridging of gaps and ensuring consistency of information such as nicknames, payee details, preferences etc., across both assisted and unassisted channels of the banks.
  • Connecting intelligence: By connecting the dots of various data, banks can realize hyper personalization or solve N=1 problem. This can be leveraged in multiple ways. For instance, cross-selling or up-selling, personalization can be achieved in categories such as interaction personalization, functionality and control personalization, convenience personalization, product personalization etc.
  • Connecting the ecosystem to enable:
  1. Sharing of banking data with the outside world in a controlled manner.
  2. Consumption of data available as open banking, open finance and open data.
  3. Fintech integration: Moving up from basic transaction processing, banks are working with fintech companies who are highly specialized, niche players to enhance experience, engagement, security, etc.
  • Connecting the journey: This includes prospecting or marketing, onboarding, origination, transaction servicing, and support provided to the customer. Each aspect of the journey offers crucial insights left behind by the customer and should not behave as a silo. Thanks to the hub model, the information from one aspect feeds into others to enable consistency of information across the journey and better engagement in the future.

Simply put, banks that are looking to modernize operations, need look no further than the hub to bridge over gaps, manage engagement better, and deliver superior experience to customers. As the new digital age reshapes the future of people, nations, and business, the banking sector too must make the necessary strides.

Author:

K. R. Venkataraman, VP

Head Product Architecture,

Infosys Finacle

Narasimha Nagaraja Prasad Senior Director

Product Management and Strategy,

Infosys Finacle