How data can futureproof banks in today’s business environment
By InterSystems
Whether you believe we’re in a data-fied world or not, you can’t deny that data powers modern society. In particular, it plays a leading role in today’s business environment by empowering decision makers to make more informed decisions based on trends, facts, and stats. Data also creates significant opportunities to explore technological innovation, personalise the customer experience, and stay competitive in an ever-evolving market. Accessing timely and accurate data from your organisation is how you can find and fill gaps for innovation and improvement, take on new opportunities, and realign business goals to adapt to a volatile marketplace.
However, according to The top data and technology challenges in financial services across Asia Pacific, 88% of Australian and New Zealand banks experience frustrations and concerns in using their data to drive decision-making.[1] Of those organisations, 38% are making decisions based on data that is between one and three days old, and 13% are relying on data between four days and a week old. The world is moving too fast for you to use old data and expect it to help you achieve the best and most accurate business decisions. The good news is that 52% of banks say mastering data management, and 48% cite gaining access to real-time data, as part of their highest technology priorities over the next 12 months.
There are four ways that data can drive innovation and futureproof your bank in today’s ever-changing business environment:
- Create personalised customer experiences
There’s nothing customers want more than to feel understood. In banking, customers want more than ‘Hi [name]’ personalised emails; instead, they want targeted stock suggestions, attractive home loan rates, and high-value financial offers. To transform the customer experience, you must tap into your data holdings so you can better understand your customers’ needs and desires and more accurately predict what they will want in the future. This lets you send the right notifications to customers at the right time in their buyer journey to alert them about new offers, which ultimately, strengthens your relationship with them.
- Gain a competitive advantage
It is widely known that accurate data is the most powerful competitive weapon for banks and fintechs. Using data-driven insights to improve the customer experience is key to securing a competitive edge in the finance sector. Data helps inform your business strategies to attract new customers and retain the ones you have. It lets you analyse customer habits and, in turn, helps you evaluate your progress compared to your competitors. Taking advantage of data is especially important in today’s business environment, where customer needs are ever-changing, and it’s getting much harder to consistently outperform your peers when you don’t have the right information at hand.
- Explore innovation gaps
Data-led strategies drive customer-centric innovation and help find new sources of growth, which includes uncovering more efficient business processes. You can use the data you collect to gain deep organisational insights and create innovative products that improve revenue and cultivate customer loyalty. For example, after analysing your data, you might determine that your customers have concerns about worsening climate change and are choosing banks based on their environmental, social, and governance commitments. With this information in mind, you could shift your strategy to focus on offering green home loans and creating a climate action strategy that aims to reach net zero emissions by 2035.
- Realign business goals
Today’s volatile business environment is forcing finance organisations to constantly reconsider and realign their goals. Data-driven insights can help you better align with current market conditions to give your business the best chance of sustained success. This also gives you both a macro and microscopic view of your business and customer environment, which can improve operational efficiencies, customer experiences, and the overall business strategy. Without true data insights, you can’t accurately predict trends, identify new business opportunities, and maintain a strong connection with your customers.
As the bank of data continues to grow at scale and speed, finance organisations will find it increasingly challenging to keep up. Whether you’re a bank or fintech, optimising real-time data is your key to unlocking innovation and futureproofing your organisation no matter what happens in the external business environment. When you can master how you access and use your data, your business will be in a better position to become a market leader. With a unified platform, you can simplify the development, deployment, and maintenance of real-time, data-rich solutions. Say goodbye to week-old data and hello to data on demand.
