Making life easier for customers – that’s the key principle underlining the innovative products and services that emerged as winners in the 2011 BAI-Finacle Global Banking Innovation Awards. Spain-based “la Caixa,” Australia’s UBank, New Zealand-based ASB Bank and Citibank U.S. all introduced innovations that improved convenience and ease-of-use for customers. “la Caixa” won the Most Innovative Bank Read More
It wasn’t too many years ago that banking could be considered a local industry, particularly in the U.S. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the advent of interstate banking created first regional and then national financial institutions. Today, banking is clearly a global industry – as the current financial crisis constantly reminds us – with major institutions Read More
Bankers in any one country may be excused for thinking the challenges they face are unique but the fact is that retail financial institutions across the globe are struggling with common problems in the wake of the recent financial crisis – such as restoring the trust of customers. Innovation in developing products and services better targeted to Read More
If the crisis of 2008-2009 exposed woeful lapses in the banking industry’s risk management practices, the years since have also revealed a strong need for innovation. Squeezed between declining revenues and excessive overhead, banks around the world are struggling to shrink their way back to profitability – not an encouraging prospect for customers, employees or shareholders alike. Read More
Innovation is something that comes and goes in banking like chief executives and heads of risk … as in it appears and disappears pretty often. During the build up to the financial crisis, innovation was everywhere. Then it disappeared for a while. For example, in 2000, the top 10 U.S. banks mentioned the word “innovation” in their Read More
I am no fan of needless regulation. The industry has enough to deal with right now with Dodd-Frank, a new (and leaderless) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, derivative regulations and the like. But I question the wisdom of the well-heeled lobbyists in Washington, allegedly representing the interests of the banking industry (read: top 20 banks), aggressively pushing against Read More
Customer experience is much talked about in retail banking organizations today. The common wisdom holds that in an industry characterized by a high degree of commoditization (and perhaps overcapacity), the customer experience matters far more than do the products (easily obtained and copied) and prices (easily matched), particularly in the more affluent markets. There is no doubt that Read More
Recently overheard: “Banks and credit unions are going to cede the underbanked market to other players.” I disagree. Banks and credit unions of all sizes are well positioned to serve underbanked, low-income consumers. However, in order to succeed, they should examine three lessons they can learn from other players in this space, especially retailers. Walmart, Kroger, Kmart, Read More
