Whether you know it or not, banking, and the financial services industry as a whole, is undergoing a revolution. Peer-to-peer payments, online banks, mobile banking, investing, or any other financial service you can think of has most likely already been disrupted or at least challenged. Technological innovations using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have completely altered how we view, interact, and overall think about banks and financial services in general.
New business models have swayed towards paying closer attention and building stronger relationships with customers, focusing on their needs and resolving their pain points. And as consumer demands increase – digital products and services that offer customer-centric, fast and seamless experiences, will continue to be expected. Take for example personal financial management (PFM) solutions which allow users to have instant access to their personal finances, account balances, financial transactions, spending habits, budgets, and savings. These apps help users stay on top of their money and make smarter and more informed financial decisions.
Numbers speak louder than words
Over the last few years, the appearance of PFM banking solutions has created a need for financial institutions to deliver rather than a “nice to have”. In fact, research conducted in our AI-Driven PFM White Paper, shows that delivering these types of solutions builds trust among customers as 63% would rather use their bank’s online services rather than third-party apps.
With inflation and hence economic uncertainty rising, customers now more than ever need to have access to features that will help them deal with financial insecurity. A recent study on spending behaviour, shows that:
- 1/3 of consumers have used a Buy Now, Pay Later platform
- 44% of consumers using BNPL have missed a payment
- 50% of Millennials, and 43% of Gen Z, state that they are overwhelmed by saving money
As a result, in order to take that uncertainty and stress away from customers, need to provide a smarter and innovative money management platform that will help them understand their finances better.
Strand’s PFM Solutions
Strands’ personal financial management (PFM) solution, driven by Artificial Intelligence, means smarter money management for the customer, improved bank-user engagement and a greater share of wallet for the bank.
However, PFM solutions will only succeed if the focus shifts to creating context-sensitive insights and functionality that helps consumers make good financial decisions. And, good decisions certainly pay off.
Banks today have the capacity and insight to know how their users spend money and can help them do it better. With all their accounts in one place and simple to understand, categorized transactions, customers are more able to plan ahead by creating budgets and setting financial goals for the future.
Our PFM solutions when coupled with Engager (our user engagement solution), leverages customer data, generates forward-looking insights and offers smart recommendations. It anticipates the customers’ needs and proactively suggests the next-best action. Engager transforms every interaction into a guided and meaningful conversation, transforming complex data into relevant customer insights and added-value solutions in real time.
This benefits the bank by making it more significant to the customer and promotes ongoing engagement which in turn enables the bank to establish relationship-based banking. Consequently, interactions with customers not only results in happy customers but impacts directly on the bank’s core business and increases ROI.
As Finextra points out, “in a world where over nine-in-10 banks are currently struggling to deliver on their personalisation promises, and where the bright lights of new digital offerings are tempting customers away to competitors, personal financial management as a service is giving banks the opportunity to re-engage and re-enthuse customers.”
If you are interested in finding out how Strands can help your bank, download our free white paper that explains exactly how our Engager + PFM solutions can help banks leverage customers’ transactional data to provide actionable insights and personalized recommendations.
