With major changes in the housing market for 2022, interest rates rising and the global financial landscape shifting, it’s easy to overlook individual consumer experience in banking. In reality, there have been seemingly subtle, but important, shifts in consumer expectations that will separate winners from losers in 2022 and beyond. Take a moment to make note of these changes and position your financial institution to be as competitive as possible.
Quick, Accessible Financing
More and more financing tools are at the hands of consumers, allowing them to quickly be approved and make decisions for financing both large and medium-sized purchases. This Buy Now Pay Later trend is unlikely to go away any time soon, and online and in-person retailers continue to see the value in these partnerships. In particular, the ability to turn would-be customers into conversions and sales is a difference maker for large and small businesses, and for 2022, organizations should expect to see broader adoption and reinforcement of this technology.
User-Worthy Tools
Online tools aren’t new to consumer banking. Retirement projections and budget calculators have been in circulation for a long time, but widespread adoption of these tools has lagged. Clunky, non-customizable software has caused the use and adoption to falter, and unfortunately for financial institutions, the end product has often been a sizable investment in a piece of technology that fails to drive customer experience.
Moving forward, these tools will continue to become more competitive and sophisticated, and FinTech organizations have turned a corner in making these tools wildly useful and ultimately a bottom-line difference maker for consumers. Budgeting calculators, coupon aggregators and subscription managing software all have the ability to save consumers hundreds of dollars a year, and run in a user-friendly manner, often in the background.
Simply put, the bar has been raised for consumer-friendly tools, and organizations who aren’t making the most of these experiences will fall behind.
Quick Onboarding
The ability to get up and running with a new account has never been easier. In particular, many FinTech organizations and financial institutions have created open APIs to enhance data sharing and expedite the process for loan approval, new accounts and issuing a new credit card.
Consumers will continue to expect this expedited service in the future, and the ability to convert a consumer considering a new relationship with your financial institution into a specific action will prove to be invaluable for your organization.
