Five Financial Services Trends That We Are Going To See in 2024
1. DATA IS BACK BABY! And so is your Chief Data Officer
“Data is the enabler for better experiences – be it on app or on websites. The issue? Getting it. It is currently scattered and inaccessible. But once you do access it, then you will really start seeing the difference. We’re therefore going to see banks continue to invest in the safe exposure of this data, allowing them to create better customer experiences, utilising technologies such as generative AI in a responsible way to mine for insights in these data labyrinths.
“This is why 2024 will also be the year of the Chief Data Officer, as it will be them that will beat the drum for this utilisation of this data across financial organisations and will ultimately empower the digital product teams in creating better experiences for their customers.”
2. Millennials are about to (finally) be financially secure
“We are about to see the biggest transfer of wealth in generations (mainly through inheritance), and the people who are going to benefit most? Millennials.
“This is also good news for banks, who will be focusing on wealth management a lot more in 2024. They will have the opportunity to sell new wealth management products to a thrifty generation with larger sums of disposable income sitting in their accounts. And when it comes to money gained through inheritance, offering guidance will be a key opportunity for banks.
It’s where the traditional high street banks and building societies could really steal the march on neobank rivals, leaning into their reputation of trustworthiness and prestige amongst customers who are now thinking more long term when it comes to savings and financial security.”
3. Using GenAI? ‘How’ is more important than ‘yes’
“The feeling is that we are moving beyond the hype and entering a new phase of understanding when it comes to generative AI; 2024 will be the year in which we start to see concrete examples of how the technology can impact financial services. But will customers care? That depends…
“Whilst intelligent AI powered experiences may delight the customers, they will still be more concerned with how your use of AI will assist their financial security.
“Implementing AI technology offers the opportunity to deliver enhanced and intelligent experiences to customers that help them in achieving their financial goals. It’s also equally important to maintain trust that customer data is being used in a safe way while doing so. For example, using AI to optimise the data that financial institutions have on file and put it at the fingertips of employees in an accessible format will allow them to cross-sell products in a more customised and relevant way.
“And by eliminating the more menial elements of data admin, it frees up more time for staff to make more meaningful connections with their customers to help create a more positive and secure banking experience.”
4. Things are about to get (hyper) personal
“The FDA’s new Consumer Duty Act, which places the onus on banks to provide products and services that meet customer needs and offer fair value, means that 2024 is going to be the year when banking could be at its most personal.
“Challenger banks are outpacing competitors by using customer data to create personalised products and features that help customers to manage their money, mining their treasure troves of data about how customers manage, spend, save and borrow money to offer personalised products.
“Thanks to AI, this could go even further. It offers the potential for banks to intelligently deliver a full suite of products, tailor-made to the customer’s intent, by using the data and metadata they already possess in a smarter way. This is elevating the banks’ position from selling events, mortgages, loans etc to selling life management ”
5. The return of the bank manager
“With the continued closure of many high street banks, the role of the manager has diminished. And with it, the bank’s connection with the customer has weakened. Which in turn has had a negative impact on both the customer experience and banks’ ability to offer the most suitable products and services to the right people.
“But 2024 could see the bank manager, where all customer facing colleagues are the bank manager, and thus make a dramatic comeback.
“Rather than replacing employees (as is often feared) AI and data will allow all bank staff to take on those missing elements of the manager role that has been missing.”
“Using AI to optimise the data that banks have on file and put it at the fingertips of employees in an accessible format will mean that customers will be getting the products that they need, as well as freeing up those in branch to become true consultants (with all this insight, data and recommendations at their fingertips) akin to the bank managers of old.”
