For years, banks organised themselves around channels.
There was a branch team. A contact centre team. A digital team. A payments team. Each channel had its own technology, processes and performance measures. Customers did not think this way.
A customer opening a savings account, applying for a loan or resolving a payment issue does not usually separate the bank into channels. They see one institution. They expect one journey.
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This expectation is creating a new challenge for banks, credit unions and other financial institutions.
The problem is no longer simply digitisation. The problem is continuity.
A customer may start a loan application online during the evening. The following morning they may have a question and call the contact centre. Later they may visit a branch to complete identity verification or discuss repayment options.
From the customer’s perspective, this is one interaction.
Inside many institutions, however, it may still be three separate processes.
Information is repeated. Context is lost. Staff must search across multiple systems. Customers are asked to provide details that have already been supplied elsewhere.
Every additional hand-off creates friction.
The result is often frustration for customers and inefficiency for institutions.
This challenge is becoming more visible as banking becomes increasingly hybrid.
Predictions about the disappearance of physical banking have largely proven inaccurate. Digital adoption continues to grow, but branches remain important for advice, complex products, vulnerable customers and relationship-based conversations.
The future is not purely digital – the future is increasingly phygital
Customers move between physical and digital environments depending on the task they are trying to complete. A simple balance check may be digital. A mortgage discussion may require human advice. A fraud concern may begin in an app but end with a conversation.
The important point is not where the journey begins.
It is whether the institution can carry the journey forward without losing context.
This requires banks to think differently.
For many years, institutions measured channel performance. How many calls were answered? How many branch transactions were completed? How many customers used mobile banking? How many applications were submitted online?
These measures still matter.
However, they do not always reveal whether the overall journey worked.
A customer may complete a form online, call twice, visit once and eventually receive the service requested. Each channel may record activity. Each team may believe its part was completed.
The customer may still feel the journey was difficult.
Why this distinction matters
Trust is often built or damaged during moments of transition.
Customers are usually willing to use digital tools. They are willing to self-serve when the process is clear. They are also willing to speak to a person when the issue is complex or sensitive.
What they do not accept easily is inconsistency.
They expect the institution to remember who they are, what they have already done and what happens next.
When continuity is missing, confidence begins to weaken.
This is also an operational issue.
Behind every customer journey sits a network of teams, systems and controls. Information moves between departments. Decisions pass through different stages. Regulatory requirements must be met. Audit trails must be maintained.
As journeys become more complex, visibility becomes more important
Banks and credit unions need to understand not only where work begins and ends, but how it moves between different parts of the organisation.
This is where many institutions still struggle.
They can see individual channels. They can see transactions. They can measure service levels. But they may not have a clear view of the full journey across mobile, web, contact centre, branch and back-office operations.
Without that view, improvement becomes harder.
Problems are solved locally rather than structurally. A branch fixes one issue. A contact centre handles one complaint. A digital team improves one screen. Yet the journey as a whole may remain fragmented.
The next stage of banking improvement will require more attention to the spaces between channels.
This does not mean branches and digital services must become the same. They serve different purposes. A good branch interaction is not the same as a good mobile journey.
But they must be connected by shared information, clear processes and consistent outcomes.
That is the real challenge.
The institutions that manage this well will be better placed to improve customer experience, reduce operational friction and strengthen accountability. They will be able to see where journeys pause, where customers repeat themselves and where internal hand-offs create unnecessary work.
Those that continue to manage channels in isolation may find it harder to deliver consistent service, even when each channel performs well on its own.
The future of banking and credit unions will not be decided by a simple choice between physical and digital.
Customers have already moved beyond that distinction.
They use whatever channel helps them complete the task. They expect the bank to move with them.
Customer expectations will only increase
The next generation of banking will therefore depend on a simple principle.
One customer.
One journey.
Multiple touchpoints.
The institutions that understand this will be better prepared for the future. Not because they have the newest technology, but because they recognise that banking is experienced as a continuous relationship.
The real question is no longer whether customers prefer physical or digital banking.
The more important question is whether banks can create continuity between the two.
Dr Gulzar Singh, Chartered Fellow – Banking and Technology Director, Phoenix Empire Ltd
