PaymentsJournal
SUBSCRIBE
  • Analysts Coverage
  • Truth In Data
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Industry Opinions
  • News
  • Resources
No Result
View All Result
PaymentsJournal
  • Analysts Coverage
  • Truth In Data
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Industry Opinions
  • News
  • Resources
No Result
View All Result
PaymentsJournal
No Result
View All Result

How Banks Can Better Serve Businesses

Lisa Shields by Lisa Shields
January 22, 2018
in Industry Opinions
0
Mobile Banking Concept

Visualization of mobile or internet based banking concept

2
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

There’s little risk of retail banking customers running short of options when it comes to financial services.

From automatic bill payments to chatbots, banks haven’t been shy about implementing new features designed to enhance the customer experience. For example, in 2015 Bank of America introduced fingerprint and touch ID sign-in for its mobile banking app and its table stakes. Others are aiming to take security and convenience to the next level using Face ID.

But even that doesn’t mark the full extent of banks’ efforts to accommodate customers. Financial institutions are devoting plenty of time and money toward improving their service – and the results speak for themselves. Nine out of 10 Americans rate their bank’s service as “good,” “very good” or “excellent.”

Most businesses, however, can’t say the same.

Has this focus on the needs of everyday individuals caused banks to largely overlook the concerns of their business customers? Such a mistake could continue to prove costly moving forward. From 2014 to 2016, the rate of U.S. entrepreneurship increased by 15 percent, and they tend to be very profitable customers once they reach scale.

Here’s a look at how value-added services can help banks address businesses’ most pressing problems,  increasing loyalty and revenue.

Open up options with fintech partnerships

Often competing for the same business customers, banks and fintech startups have been at odds for quite some time. But as it turns out, they may be better together. By working with fintech startups to populate and launch a solutions marketplace, banks can meet the needs and expectation of  businesses, regardless of their size, industry or other unique needs.

Whether it’s a loan origination wizard or a specialized accounts payable (A/P) system, fintech providers can build solutions and niche experiences more efficiently than most banks, while banks retain significant cost advantages in most categories. Logically, this newfound collaboration between banks and fintechs represents a stark departure from a past in which the two rivaled one another. Instead of fighting for the same customers, a growing number of banks are leveraging their established relationships to connect fintech providers with their own client base. The key to making these partnerships work is secure, permissioned data exchange, powered by modern API technologies and a service orchestration platform.

The result? A win-win for both fintech startups and the businesses that banks cater to. Not only do fintechs have the opportunity to effectively deliver their solutions, but bank customers get access to tools that may have been previously required heavy paperwork and unruly technology integrations to access. Best of all, there’s no huge investment required. Banks can simply choose which solutions meet the needs of their clients without worrying about any long-lasting IT projects. Once an initial integration is completed, solutions can be switched on and off at the touch of a button.

Data, the currency of the “fintech bazaar”

Though much has been made of addressing consumer concerns, a similar sense of urgency has long been lacking when it comes to businesses. Improving product offerings and product interoperability can rectify this and help banks retain their prized position as the go-to providers for transactional services.

By creating a marketplace in which businesses select the value-added solutions they’ve come to expect, banks can deliver the same standard of customer service individual customers have enjoyed for years.   By populating their B2B bazaars with a plethora of secured and interoperating fintech services (yes, even fintech services that may overlap with the bank’s own payment products), banks can leverage their trust and earn unprecedented access to valuable corporate-held data. And as the data flows, loyalty – as well as revenue – promises to do the same.

 About the author

Lisa Shields is the founder of and Chief Executive Officer at FI.SPAN, where she leads the company with a dual emphasis on people and product. Lisa is an engineer by trade and an entrepreneur at heart, having founded and led Hyperwallet for 15 years before launching FI.SPAN.

Tags: Bank of AmericaBanksRetail Banking
2
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

    Analyst Coverage, Payments Data, and News Delivered Daily

    Sign up for the PaymentsJournal Newsletter to get exclusive insight and data from Mercator Advisory Group analysts and industry professionals.

    Must Reads

    cross-border payments

    Cross-Border Payments: Fighting
    E-Commerce Fraud Using Data

    March 20, 2023
    fraud, ChatGPT-4

    How to Fight Fraud While Still Enabling a Great Online Customer Experience

    March 17, 2023
    RTP

    Financial Institutions Without an RTP Strategy Risk Being Left Behind

    March 16, 2023
    visa chargeback

    New Visa Chargeback Guidelines Will Be a Game Changer

    March 15, 2023
    liquidity management

    Liquidity Management Takes on Increasing Importance in Uncertain Economic Times

    March 14, 2023
    payments

    Key Challenges from Growing Payment Methods and Volume

    March 13, 2023
    Data Governance is a Journey, financial data

    How FIs Can Power Their Operations with a Modern Data Architecture

    March 10, 2023
    ISO 20022

    How Banks Can Realize Business Benefits and Reduce Payments Fraud With ISO 20022

    March 9, 2023

    Linkedin-in Twitter

    Advertise With Us | About Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Subscribe
    ©2023 PaymentsJournal.com

    • Analysts Coverage
    • Truth In Data
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    Menu
    • Analysts Coverage
    • Truth In Data
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Industry Opinions
    • Recent News
    • Resources
    Menu
    • Industry Opinions
    • Recent News
    • Resources
    • Analysts Coverage
    • Truth In Data
    • Podcasts
    • Industry Opinions
    • Faster Payments
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Events
    No Result
    View All Result

      Register to download the Autorek complimentary report: Payments Industry Outlook 2023: