By Andre Figueiredo, Creative Director at R/GA London

It’s no secret that the more future-facing banks and financial institutions are rapidly moving away from the product mentality and adopting a data-led service approach to stay relevant in a market flooded with innovation.

 Banking is changing at its very core. Consumer expectations are shifting, new technologies are emerging, and the competitive landscape is becoming more complex. In this environment, banks no longer compete only with other banks – they compete with FinTech startups, Big Tech firms, and many other businesses. The overall banking experience a consumer has now rightly gets compared with the best-in-class digital products and services across many different industries.

Think about it this way. When you have neighbours like Amazon, Netflix, Spotify and Instagram, you must provide a familiar experience to your customers. From the app interface to customer service, people’s expectations shift with the new trends.

As a result, banks must continuously evolve to stay ahead of the competition, and design is one area where banks are making significant investments. By understanding the role of design, banks can create user-friendly applications and websites, improve the customer experience, and increase brand loyalty. In addition, blending in technology to improve the way they operate, from digital banking platforms to predictive analytics.

Looking at the trends we’ve observed recently, Personalisation, Instantaneously, and Connectivity are among the most prominent.

Make it personal

Personalisation has always been a critical part of the banking experience. After all, customers need to trust their bank with their hard-earned money personally. In the past, trust was achieved through human interactions and personal relationships. However, as the banking industry has become more automated, providing the same level of personalisation has become more challenging, creating a significant opportunity for companies leading the way.

Banks now invest in features to shape experiences around the customers’ individual needs, and Personal Finance Management tools gained the spotlight for a good reason. More than ever, people expect to know more about their finances.

One of R/GA’s long standing clients in the financial services industry is a great example of this – the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK). The bank recently launched features such as categorised spending, budgeting tools and spending analysis to elevate the experience and improve personalisation.

NBK customers now see all their transactions organised by category and merchants, allowing them to customise the groups further if required. In addition, the Insights and Analysis feature gives NBK customers more control over their financial lives, using bold data visualisation to provide an overview of their income versus spending and enabling. Customers can also set monthly budgets per category or merchant.

While the concept of personalisation is nothing new, the technology available to banks today makes it possible to take it to a whole new level. With the help of AI and machine learning, banks can make real-time decisions about what products and services their customers are likely to need – and when.

Make it instant

As the world becomes increasingly digital, traditional banking systems are starting to feel archaic. Consumers demand faster, more convenient ways to access their money.

With an emphasis on speed and convenience, the transformation is especially apparent in the payments space, where companies such as TransferWise and Square have disrupted the industry, pushing banks to adopt more instantaneous payments and customer service processes.

Another notable example is Brazil’s PIX system, allowing instant payments 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. With the new technology, transfers happen instantly and without fees.

The technology also makes it easier to send money to someone who does not have a bank account, as all they need is an email address or phone number. In addition, PIX is more secure than other payment systems, as it uses technology that makes it difficult for criminals to intercept or interfere with transactions. As the world becomes increasingly connected, instant payment systems like PIX are becoming more relevant.

The increasing need for always-on availability and immediate response drives a shift towards more automation and efficient technology.

Make it connected

The FinTech industry is experiencing exponential growth, giving people unparalleled access to financial management tools and services that were not available in the past. And a vital enabler of the shift is the idea of Open Finance.

The term describes the trend of financial services providers making their data and platforms open to third-party developers through APIs. This allows the creation of new applications and services built on top of existing infrastructure. Open finance has already gained traction in the payments space, with companies like Stripe and Square opening up their platforms to enable the development of new payment solutions. Now, open finance is starting to gain traction in banking as well.

Recently, several major banks announced plans to open up their APIs to allow third-party developers to build new applications and services. This includes banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, BBVA, and ING. These moves by big banks are leading to a significant transformation in the banking landscape, as they are opening up their data and infrastructure to allow for innovation. This is good news for consumers, as it will lead to the development of new products and services, and for developers, as they will have access to a wealth of data and resources that they can use to build innovative new solutions.

As the banking industry continues to evolve, open finance is likely to play an increasingly important role in shaping the future of banking.