The coronavirus pandemic has altered the entire lifestyle of people because of the mandatory safety measures imposed by the governing bodies to curb the spread of the virus. Banking and finance sector has also been impacted like every other industry during the pandemic. The changed lifestyle of people has affected the retail banks in a massive way. Retail banks are accelerating their plans of digital transformation to elevate the customer experience. 

The way of purchasing has also shifted from offline to online during the pandemic. It has been found that the use of contactless payments has risen up to 40% worldwide. 

The contactless payment methods were introduced before the pandemic started. However, the usage of mobile wallets such as Google Pay, Paytm, and other payment methods has been increased by 50% among the people of the USA since the beginning of the pandemic. According to a report published by Research Dive, the global digital banking market is anticipated to garner a significant revenue during the upcoming years.

Primary Aspects of the Success of Digital Banking

Most of the retail banks have already started to implement the below-mentioned key elements to offer customers a refined and exceptional service during and after the pandemic period.  

• Refurbishing customer experience: 

Banks are redefining customer experience by aligning their priorities with the customer needs and demand. Banks are trying to co-create with customers often in a proposition lifecycle.

• Integrating a mobile-first view: 

Customers expect each stage of contactless banking from customer service, account accessibility to payment options from their smartphones. Banks are implementing a mobile-first view of the customers’ accounts.  

• Customizable data strategy: 

Personalized solutions help the banks and customers about the existing data. Centralization of the database is one of the most important components. 

• Choosing the ideal technology platforms: 

Selecting the best technology platform for high level operations like banking, is another essential element. A bank executive alone is not enough for offering the best service to the consumer. The bank executives have many issues to deal with in a short timeframe. Most of these issues are economic, regulatory, and operational. 

There’s also another debate about the most disruptive technologies to adopt. While some banks believe cloud to be the best technology, others believe artificial intelligence (AI) is the biggest fortune-maker. With the right amount of capital, banks can integrate the perfect strategy. An ideal digital ecosystem and harnessing of advanced technology are supposed to be the success mantra for the banking and financial services in the near future.

Amazing Features of Digital Banking

Digital banking platforms offer many advantages to their customers over the traditional branch-based banking. Some of the most popular features of digital banking platforms are mentioned below:

• They allow quick and simple user log-in by tapping a “magic” link without keying in a password. (So there’s no need to remember a password or type it in accurately, and less concern that a password might be stolen.)
• The digital banking platforms enable users to manage their finance effortlessly with the help of money management tools. 
• These platforms instantly offer microloans for emergency situations. 
• Automatic bill payment option is another popular feature of digital banking. It helps customers to pay bills using different accounts. 
• These platforms are popular for their clear communications on products at no hidden costs.
• The digital banking platforms offer digital stock trading for faster and smoother virtual transactions.
• Another feature of these platforms include good rates for foreign exchange and faster international money transactions.
• The in-app security features, such as face lock or fingerprint ID, make these platforms more sophisticated and trustworthy than the traditional online transaction safety features. 
• Some of these platforms also have chatbots, providing seamless self-service to the customers.
• These platforms are designed with customer-centric user interfaces.
• These platforms also offer other amazing features such as automatic payments, account lock and unlock, increment in online credit limit and transaction limit.

Insights into the Future of Digital Banking

As stated in the report published by Research Dive, the digital banking industry is looking forward to a brighter future with the implementation of cutting-edge technologies. Most of the banks have already shifted to virtual platform with sophisticated software applications such as artificial intelligence and cloud. These are the prospects which will accelerate the digital banking industry to a new height of success in coming years. 

Author Bio:

Upama Goswami is a creative writer, editor, aspiring poet, and life-long learner of philosophy, literature, technology, and all things interesting. Her works have been published in various online publications. Upama is quite creative in her craft and can engage her audience with a compelling style of storytelling. She loves to paint, travel, exploring different niches of performing arts, watching movies, and learn new languages in her free time. 

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