Digital banking experience trends for 2022

Final Thoughts

In 2022, will digital experiences be more important than physical branches? It may not seem that way when you walk into a bank branch today. But dig deeper, and you can’t ignore that banks are placing everything they have behind mobile apps and other digital channels. The two are merging, with features such as biometric authentication making physical branches less essential by giving customers more ways to access their accounts without visiting a branch. While we don’t expect traditional branches to go away completely in 2022, we do believe that most consumers won’t be relying on them for routine account management tasks—unless there’s no other way around it.

 

The core elements of digital banking that have made it so successful—customer convenience and greater speed—will continue to be top priorities for banks moving forward. What will the global digital banking experience look like in 2022? This article explores this topic from every angle. Here are some of our top picks for digital banking experience in 2022: 

What will AI do to Banking?

Artificial intelligence is getting smarter, and with it comes new services and capabilities for us. From customer service to money transfers, AI is helping financial institutions innovate in ways that benefit their users. One area of banking undergoing a radical transformation is automated lending. 

This includes everything from small-business loans to mortgages, and thanks to machine learning, it’s getting easier for customers to get what they need with as little human interaction as possible. That means faster results, more personalized experiences, and better decisions about who gets funded. These are just some of the many reasons why banks are investing heavily in automation—and why you should be excited about it.

Multi-Platform Banking Services 

Today, it’s not enough to have a great website, mobile app, and branch network—you need to be able to seamlessly integrate all three into one cohesive, unified experience. In 10 years’ time, we predict banks will offer a complete end-to-end customer service solution that offers customers seamless interactions across touchpoints (from chatbots and voice assistants to apps). This will allow them to deliver individualized experiences that are highly tailored for their specific needs at any given time. Customers will appreciate and trust brands who know them better than they know themselves—allowing for richer relationships between banks and their consumers.

What will happen with Customer Service?

As more and more banks are offering chatbots for customer service, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to determine whether there will still be a need for human support agents in 5 years. Customer service specialists have a plethora of complaints from disgruntled customers every day, but now some banks are shifting those complaints directly to their automated systems. 

With AI able to learn faster than humans and with less bias, customers might prefer to have an intelligent algorithm resolve their questions rather than speak with someone whose job is focused on recording issues rather than solving them. The data indicates that many banks will completely abandon human agents within 10 years. Other institutions, however, are taking things slowly and see a hybrid solution as being most beneficial.

Building an emotional connection

A major trend to emerge over the past several years is customer desire for a personal relationship with their banks. Banks can create real value in customer loyalty by being seen as an indispensable partner to help customers achieve their financial goals—from saving and investing to achieving homeownership.

And one surefire way to build that value is through a strong emotional connection between bank and customer. Customers increasingly want banks to make them feel good about doing business with them; even feel love and joy at times (e.g., Christmas). Allowing customers to control certain parts of their finances in a seamless way will only increase those feelings, particularly when it comes down to managing budgets or monitoring spending behavior. 

As such, expect more capabilities around analytical tools and social media-like environments where consumers can interact with other customers and bank employees (or robots). These environments could also include the integration of gamification elements where users are rewarded for accomplishing certain tasks like budgeting or tracking savings. Whether we’re talking emotions here or engagement metrics like keystrokes or time spent online, each represents a different but vital piece of creating an effective digital banking experience.

Sustainable and inclusive banking

Sustainable and inclusive finance is a top priority, with digital trends being key to progress. Increased connectivity in developing countries will see significant use of mobile devices to access financial services. In addition, there will be a higher focus on automation, from execution to regulatory compliance — such as Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements - but also using artificial intelligence for predictive analytics. 

All these factors are leading to increased demand for digitally skilled people worldwide. Our research suggests that by 2022, we could see 1 billion more people across 60 emerging economies accessing and using financial services, up from about 2 billion today. Meanwhile, smaller banks in mature markets will have to find innovative ways to grow their customer base and meet regulations while keeping costs down. 

This may include tie-ups with fintech companies that can offer alternative funding models and provide convenient solutions at lower rates. We’ll continue seeing banks embrace alternative funding methods like crowdfunding too—even if they’re not always easy or cheap to implement.