More than a third of retail banking customers
think that banking technology advances too fast, a study by
commerce and payment processing vendor First Data and consultants
Market Strategies has found.

Despite banks’ steady migration to alternative
delivery channels and technology-based banking services, four out
of ten customers said they desired speaking to an advisor
face-to-face instead of getting information about new services on
their own.

The Insights to Help Financial Institutions Better Serve
Retail Banking Customers
study by First Data and Market
Strategies assessed customers’ attitude towards innovative banking
services such as mobile and online banking.

The study concluded that financial
institutions would need to consider technological investments from
the customers’ point of view and identified six categories of
banking customers, taking into account the demography, differences
in behaviour and attitude towards banking technology.

 

The six categories of customers
identified in the report were:

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  • Fast Trackers: young families who use and rely
    on smart phones and banking apps;
  • Young Aspirationals: singles with varied
    interests and little banking loyalty;
  • Simplifiers: middle-aged lower income wage
    earners who are loyal to their local banks;
  • Middle of the Roaders: middle-aged wage
    earners who wait until technology is proven before they adapt
    it;
  • Value Seekers: older, well-educated and
    financially comfortable people who are not interested in
    technological advances in banking services and products, and
  • Conventional Stalwarts: fixed-income retirees
    who prefer paper statements and live tellers to new
    technology.

First Data and Market Strategies’ findings follow similiar
studies by JD Power in April and Ernst & Young in March.

 

JD Power: generational differences in
m-banking

In April, the latest JD Power survey found that mobile
applications represented one of the fastest-growing transaction
channels – and although adoption remains sporadic, the study found
clear generational differences:

In 2011, 23% of Generation X and Y customers said that they used
mobile banking, up from just 11% in 2010 Just 9% of customers born
before 1965 said that they use m-banking applications;

The survey also found that 75% of Generation X customers and 87%
of Generation Y customers used social media applications.

One bank that pushes retail banking technology and
innovation is Citi,
whose managing director of internet and
mobile for its North America consumer banking division, Tracey
Weber, spoke to RBI about Citi’s drive to become the
premier digital retail bank in the US.

In March, Ernst & Young’s first global survey on
consumer behaviour
found that consumers responded positively to
the convenience, accessibility and reliability provided by digital
channels.

 

Striking the balance between CRM and
technology

The senior vice president, global marketing at
First Data, Larry Drury, said that the results of the study help
financial institutions “ strike the right balance between
technology and personal relationships regarding their retail
banking customers.”

The senior vice president and head of the
financial services division, Market Strategies International
said:

“Having a better understanding of consumers’
acceptance of technology, and the level of technology they are
comfortable using, will help financial institutions reverse the
troubling trend brought on by recent economic challenges.”

He added that the research would help banks
identify ways banks could leverage technology to spur transactions
and strengthen customer loyalty.