
11 percent of bank customers switched banks last year, according to the Accenture’s new 2016 North America Consumer Digital Banking Survey.
Banks are working harder to retain customers and keep up with their changing demands. Today’s bank clients are increasingly conscientious about extracting the most value out of their banks. This presents an opportunity for financial institutions as customers are increasingly aware that getting the best and most valuable offers requires sharing their personal information. 66 percent of respondents said they were willing to share their personal data to receive relevant product and service options.
Consequently, the report recommends that in order to better retain customers, banks should better leverage their use of customer data.
In such a climate, digital banks are clear winners of the switching game. Large regional banks saw a net loss of -15 percent. Online-virtual banks saw a net gain of +11 percent. At +3 percent, payments providers had the second highest net gain among all types of financial institutions.
That being said, bank branches are not going away any time soon. 87 percent of respondents, including 86 percent of millennials, report that they want to use a physical bank branch in the future. Bank branches seem to be an important part of the omnichannel banking experience.
Customers use different channels in different ways. Online banking is the dominant form of banking with 60 percent of respondents reporting they use it at least weekly. Mobile is used mostly as a transactional tool. The top three reasons for mobile banking are making a payment, depositing a check and viewing a past transaction.
Roboadvice, or the use of automation to assist customers with their financial needs, is also seen favorably by customers, mostly due to convenience and price. 46 percent of costumers -- a number the report authors found "surprising" -- said they are willing to bank using roboadvice.
"Introducing robo-advice into retail banking cannot be done in haste," the report warns. "Banks need to determine the right technologies, pricing strategies and how to enable roboadvice without creating channel conflict."
Photo via VisualHunt



