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How financial services brands can retain customer trust in the age of infidelity

By Phil Rainey, Creative director

Cuckoo

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The Drum Network article

This content is produced by The Drum Network, a paid-for membership club for CEOs and their agencies who want to share their expertise and grow their business.

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March 21, 2017 | 4 min read

Have you ever had a second thought when making a purchase online? Or using contactless payment methods? How safe are we when we make these frivolous financial decisions?

Online payments

How can financial services brands retain customer trust?

The view on financial institutions is ridiculously sceptical. It has become difficult to find that element of trust in the process of consumer banking. The last 10 years have undergone fundamental change in the way a consumer purchases. How can these institutions and companies capture and streamline the payment process for the customer, while maintaining consumer trust?

Digital is innovating fast

The innovation of digital methods has led to the increase of big data, driving social detail in the way consumers are analysed. There are developments across biometric and voice recognition verifications, mobile wallets, the reduced need for pin verification and the overall reduced processes of how consumers bank and pay. Bridging this gap will be the toughest challenge as technology continues to advance. There are three simple key methods banks can implement as part of a wider communication strategy:

Be customer communicating

The important thing to bear in mind is that consumers are socially expressing views and reading views from other people, which forms word of mouth validations. Therefore conveying secure updates and messages proactively will help to build positive messages in line with technological advancements. If suspicious activity is detected, banks should proactively have communication methods ready to inform straight away and not in a way for it to become informed externally such as through the media. This also leads to negative PR.

Be data driven

Big data has taken over the world. There is so much information to work from and to monitor and develop customer journeys and patterns with the relevant tools. All financial institutions should take advantage of this to detect activities like fraud and to continuously optimise approaches.

Be digital

As technology develops, it is new technology that will also be the solution for the new challenges that arise. Cyber attacks can be controlled by digital tools and new forensic technologies that will allow to build consumer trust. Paypal is a fantastic benchmark to follow, combining branding, social, finance and lifestyle with the element of security consumers are looking for. Every consumer wants an easy process with low risk factors. Paypal talk to their audience, they build on their evolving data to bring new tools and safety measures to their customers, keeping them in line with digital advancements. The key factor for businesses is to build an interactive strategy. Data has to work side-by-side with new technology and what your customer is being informed.

Looking to the future

Trust will be big on the digital agenda for all banks and financial institutions this year. Once this is achieved and a balance is in place, there will be better conversion opportunities. Trust builds on brand loyalty, therefore this process builds long term value for consumers, which is something everybody wants with their bank.

Phil Rainey is board and creative director at Cuckoo and has over 20 years experience working with financial services brands, which include The Co-operative Bank, Royal London, Wells Fargo, GE, and Experian. This article was first published in The Drum Network does Financial Services supplement in March.

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Cuckoo

Leading Manchester design, digital and marketing agency, bringing imaginative, effective brand solutions to a diverse range of clients.

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