The Challenge

Banks have invested massively in the channels they use to do business with their customers. As the customer now hops between different channels depending on convenience, location and time of day, the quality of the overall experience is strongly affected by the consistency of service.

Until now, the banks have taken a logical systems approach in their endeavors to provide a consistent customer service across all channels. This is based on the goal of integrating the same applications across the branch, internet banking, customer contact centers and the rest.

Although the logic is good, the reality can be challenging. Multi-channel integration can demand complex re-engineering of individual channels for very little return.

This goes against today's banking climate which demands direct and speedy response from IT to business demand: mega-projects are to be avoided.

The Solution

With its Multi-Channel Collaboration, Getronics looks beyond application integration across channels. Instead, it examines how best to share information between the different channels while leaving the current systems in place. With this approach, banks are able to build and share a clear picture of how individual clients are behaving in all their dealings with the bank, but without the complex and expensive IT challenge of full multi-channel integration.

With the Getronics approach, the different systems used by different channels share information on what the customer is doing up to the point of the actual transaction.  The transaction is conducted as before, and immediately, news of the transaction can be shared across channels.

As a result, the customer experiences fully joined-up banking across all channels.  In addition to providing a significantly enhanced customer service, the bank is able to avoid the cost and complexity of a full integration program.

With its Multi-Channel Collaboration solution, Getronics has also kept the productivity of the bank employee very much in mind. If the objective is improving the customer experience, then the requirements of customer-facing bank staff are critically important. Getronics creates a single shell for the staff, designed around the profile of the customer they are serving at any given moment. This ensures that they have the right application on hand exactly when they need it, and also that they are aware of the individual customers' preferences and up-to-the-minute banking history.

The solution does much more than simply organize and present information, however. For example, Getronics Multi-Channel Collaboration also allows changes to customer-information to be logged once and then pushed out through multiple applications. A change of address, for instance, needs to be noted only once. 

The solution also includes powerful analytical functions which can be used to define new proposals for the customer. If, for example, the customer relies heavily on the branch for transactions which could be carried out more effectively through other channels, then the solution will formulate an alternative and an incentive for a change of habit.

Next Steps

Getronics understands that many banks are already heavily committed to individual multi-channel integration initiatives. Whether or not multi-channel integration is underway, there are significant advantages to be gained from adopting the Multi-Channel Collaboration approach. Foremost among these, perhaps, is the speed and agility with which customer information can be shared across channels for a better customer experience.

For more information on Multi-Channel Collaboration, take a look at the white paper, or contact us to arrange a profitable exchange of ideas.