In today’s competitive marketplace, savvy banks and credit unions are keeping their accountholders' banking experience at the forefront of their planning strategies. With 88% of the U.S. population now using fintech apps or websites, a strong focus on experience is essential for banks and credit unions looking to attract and retain accountholders.
The fintech challenge isn’t going away: In 2021, there were 26,000 fintech startups worldwide – up more than two times from 12,000 fintechs in 2019. Venture capital funding for fintechs has remained strong despite a global slowdown on many investment fronts – further emphasizing the importance of the accountholder experience.
The Improving the Accountholder Experience track uncovered actionable tips and insights designed to help banks and credit unions compete in this crowded market. Here’s a recap of the three hottest banking experience-related topics we discussed at Jack HenryTM Connect:
Helping Business Accountholders Get Paid
You already know that businesses need to get paid in a timely manner for their goods and services sold. This can be difficult, especially for small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) that see their invoices paid in an average of 23 days. It’s a challenge that Autobooks set out to solve with their recent integration into Jack Henry’s digital banking platform.
With data showing 95% of Autobooks users are paid within five business days of sending an invoice, embedding invoicing and receivables directly into digital banking proves to be a game-changer for SMBs. This alone generated excitement around the Autobooks booth in the Tech Connect hall, but wait … there’s more:
Jack Henry’s Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Ben Metz, shared Autobooks will soon be offering businesses the ability to accept contactless payments, directly through the mobile app of Jack Henry’s Banno Digital Platform™. This new functionality means Jack Henry banks and credit unions will be the first in their markets to offer contactless payments embedded inside the digital banking experience.
What are contactless payments? This low-friction payments channel helps businesses accept card payments without additional hardware using mobile phone-based, near-field communication (NFC) technology. Whether the business has an established storefront, buys vendor space at a farmers’ market or craft fair, or uses pop-up shops and demo days to build their business – a card reader will not be needed to accept payments.
As easy as peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, a buyer will simply wave their contactless chip card or NFC-enabled mobile phone near the seller’s NFC-enabled mobile phone – automatically transferring the funds as a card-present transaction. It’s a simple and friction-free experience for both the buyer and the business that also generates card interchange revenue for your institution. That’s a win all the way around.
Designing the Journey (Map)
It’s so easy for banks and credit unions – or any business, really – to slip into the practice of allowing processes and procedures to define the accountholder experience. After all, financial services rules and regulations do need to be followed. But when you consider the 70% of respondents in a 2021 survey who revealed they’d switch institutions for a better experience – how wise is this approach?
Enter journey mapping and the listening lifecycle. Journey mapping is the process of intentionally designing the accountholder experience at various touchpoints across your organization. The listening lifecycle includes gathering input and insights from accountholder conversations, perception metrics like qualitative surveys, and operational metrics to quantify the effectiveness of the journey and identify areas of friction.
When done successfully, journey mapping can provide your organization with a holistic view of the accountholder experience and help you break down operational silos, identify areas of friction, discover opportunities, and ultimately create a better experience for your accountholders. With countless benefits to the practice, there’s no question why so many attendees flocked to the journey mapping sessions at Jack Henry Connect and left with actionable templates and next steps to bring back to their institution.
Business Banking Across the Business Lifecycle
In the modern banking era, businesses and consumers are traditionally served as separate client segments with distinct accounts and services for each audience. However, as more individuals enhance their income with a side hustle and enter the world of entrepreneurship, the lines have become blurred. In fact, Americans applied to start 5.4 million new businesses in 2021 – 20% more than any previous year on record.
Often running a nights-and-weekends business out of a retail checking account, these businesses eventually need more – like the ability to invoice, accept payments, and pay employees. This is when businesses often turn to fintechs rather than their primary financial institution. In fact, 67% of SMBs use one of the top six business platforms like Square, Shopify, QuickBooks, and others to manage their finances.
The race to better technology and a better experience for businesses isn’t slowing down. According to the SMB PACE survey, 94% of U.S. SMBs implemented new and improved technology during the pandemic, in addition to adopting new payment methods and channels to streamline their business operations.
This is just one of the many reasons why Jack Henry banks and credit unions were so excited to hear more about our scalable, business-focused, digital banking solution – Banno Business™. Currently in beta, Banno Business helps accountholders add business functionality to their existing digital banking experience.
Instead of sending accountholders to a separate app or website for their business banking needs, banks and credit unions can simply enable additional business-focused functionalities like ACH, invoicing and receivables, wire transfers, user permissions, entitlements, and the option for dual-control of higher-risk transactions.
To further simplify communication and remove the risks associated with Business Email Compromise (BEC), Banno Business will also feature Banno Conversations for Business™ – an authenticated and secure in-app communication channel that uses a familiar SMS-like interface and ensures high-risk conversations aren’t happening over email. With the average BEC attack costing a painful $4.89 million, this secure, easy-to-use channel will save you and your accountholders from costly losses.
Stay tuned for more information as the Banno Business beta for banks wraps up and the credit union trial begins!
Wrapping It Up
The recurring accountholder experience theme throughout Jack Henry Connect 2022 was clear and universal across all sessions: The key to providing an excellent accountholder experience lies in removing friction and enabling easy access to essential functionality. Simple needs, but not always easy to execute.
Fortunately, Jack Henry has created a set of resources to help banks and credit unions improve the accountholder experience. We’re here to help you provide a banking experience that you’re excited to deliver – and one that helps you attract and retain your accountholders.
Learn more about how we help.
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