The growth of Fintech is changing customers’ expectations of how they interact with businesses, and the industry needs to keep pace with this demand. 50% of all customer applications are now mobile application oriented, and recent research from GMC Software showed that demand for mobile applications from insurers is outstripping supply by almost four to one.
In the face of increased competition, with up to 70% of banks’ revenues expected to move to fintech companies over the next few years, the industry needs to ensure it is giving its customers the modern, digital, mobile communications they want.
Despite the pressure to act, organisations can’t assume that digital and mobile solutions will simply bolt onto the side of existing operational systems. Completely outsourcing app development might appear the easy option in terms of speed, skill sets, and removing the need to modernise business-critical legacy systems – but the cracks will quickly begin to show. When developing a mobile app or other digital solution, only 30% of the workload is actual app development.
> See also: Bringing DevOps to the legacy side of the business
The other 70% is providing the content that the app will deliver, and which will be customers’ window into your business. Failure to align technology and content can cause two particular problems:
External: disjointed customer communications and experience
If digital content doesn’t match up with other collateral and tools created by the business, there will be no consistency of message for customers, with customer-facing materials created at different times by different teams.
Constraints on finances and time mean these disjointed communications can be overlooked; yet over time they will weaken the brand and increase the likelihood of customer churn.
Internal: siloed data
From an internal perspective, a poorly-planned digital implementation can result in separate departments having their own separate customer data and communication outlets, which are cut off from the rest of the business.
This could either mean duplication of workloads, or customer interactions and opportunities could even be missed altogether, or only spotted when the window to act has already closed.
Getting it right
There are two key challenges many organisations currently face when looking to avoid these problems: legacy systems are often incompatible with modern digital communications platforms, and they will need to draw content from communications teams across print, mobile, email and web which often work in siloes. Rather than introducing a digital solution alongside existing systems, organisations must take the time to implement one that works in tandem.
> See also: The new era of app development – mobile vs. legacy
They should be looking for something that works with existing legacy systems, pulling information and content from them to create a mobile experience, while also feeding valuable insight in the right format straight back into the rest of the business.
These different departments should then be empowered to act on information and communicate through the app on their own, without having to constantly call upon the IT team for support, meaning legacy systems have been truly overcome by mobile technology.
Sourced fromAntoine Hemon-Laurens, Consultant – Mobile, CCM & CRM, GMC Software
