Banks were at risk of not focusing on customer’s needs, if they were driving innovation too quickly, according to ING Direct.
If banks innovate too quickly, they are at risk of not focusing on customer’s needs, and losing customers, according to ING Direct.
ING Direct’s executive director of customers, John Arnott, said, “At the end of the day, customers are always looking for more. Shareholders are always looking for more. The risk is trying to do too much too quickly and ultimately not hitting the mark when it comes to the customers interests or shareholder returns”.
Customers just wanted things to work, he said.
It was unacceptable for an Australia consumer not to have 100 per cent availability to their bank, either via the internet or a mobile phone app. If they couldn’t access their bank, customers would switch, he said.
“Sometimes we forgot and we try to innovate with all the fancy things. But at the end of the day customers just want performance. They want to be able to log onto their mobile app and check their balance [and that] it works”.
No one cared about having a great digital experience if the underlying performance lacked, said Arnott.
Businesses would not ‘win the game’, if they didn’t do just that, and stay close to their customer’s evolving needs, he said.
Instead of eyeing opportunities, the industry should instead be focused on doing one or two things really well.
“Ultimately in very hierarchical organisations and big banks, decisions making happens at the top, and they are a long way from what the customer actually wants. So [the biggest challenge] is making the voice of the customer permeate throughout the organisation”.
Companies tended to get lost in hierarchy and governance, and that distorted customers views, he said. But if there was a top down backing from chief executive officer’s, who drove customer centric, change things would be better.
Customers always wanted something different and unique, but businesses should pull that back and focus on customer’s real needs, said Arnott.
