While the stability and profitability of the financial services sector might come under pressure, just like in most other industries, I can also see huge advantages for financial institutions in terms of digitalization. Covid-19 has brought about a marked increase in digital activity which in turn can spur greater adoption rates of online services in general. Banks are rapidly adjusting to changing needs and the agility they currently build into their businesses will be core to their long-term capabilities.
Further to a renewed focus on mobile and conversational banking, I really see the crisis having a huge impact on financial advisors. So far, they have relied on strong, personal connections with their customers. Now, there will be a shift to concentrating on onboarding, robo, risk profiling, chat and co-browsing functionalities, digital signature and goal-based advisory services.
What would you like to see more of/less of in this space?
Banks have to be careful to have the right mix between personal advisory (e.g. for transactions) and automated activities such as information gathering. As mentioned before, advisors will need tools such as chat, co-browsing and video so they can collaborate in real-time with customers through digital touchpoints to discuss investment decisions and asset allocations.
«The more you give the customer control, the more comfortable the customer will feel»
The focus should always be on automation so we may reduce costs and speed up processing. The more you give the customer control, the more comfortable the customer will feel. Relationship managers will also remain highly sought after. Growing middle-class incomes and more rich people in emerging markets also mean a stronger need for advisors, which requires a good selection and training process to bring them up to speed.
What trends are you most interested in right now?
I am excited to see how banks start to embrace design-thinking methods to gain first-hand insights into customers’ needs and expectations. Leveraging AI will create seamless customer onboarding journeys through natural language processing (NLP), biometrics, optical character recognition (OCR) and more.
Given all the new financial institutions or neobanks in the Asian market, traditional banks are forced to adapt quickly. In particular, rolling out an open API-based platform allows them to easily and seamlessly integrate and leverage digital customer journeys across all channels.
Do you think Singapore's position as a financial center will be affected as a result of Covid-19?
