There are a number of interesting articles and discussion available on the financial and technology news boards at the moment. FinTech is something of a buzz word, being synonymous with innovation in banking technology. There is, however, a wider discourse at large. Can the major banks innovate generally?

UX Magazine recently published a detailed article, by Alexander Rauser, a tech specialist based in Dubai. Alexander argues that banks are currently responding to new advances in banking technology, perhaps rather slowly, and are now beginning to take a view of market changes and new start-ups in the finance sector.

We would argue that the the emergence of the Social Business sector, impact investing and the ideas behind Social Finance, are all part of this press of new ideas into a very traditional market place.

The Rauser thesis holds that major banks have recently made significant change in some areas…

• “They have designed online banking processes that improve how banks can interact with their customers, how they can resolve problems, how they can provide information and largely improve the banking experience.
• Back office systems have enabled banks to outsource administrative and customer service roles.
• The chip and pin and contactless payment systems have revolutionised payment processes—cash is likely to soon be redundant”.

All well and good, but to survive, Rauser argues, the major names we know need to achieve significantly more, namely…

• “Growth in revenue and profits.
• Bridging gaps in products, services, and processes designed by the bank.
• Saving operational costs.
• Offering convenience to the customer and supporting customer retention.
• Enabling staff with tools that help solve customer problems”.

Recent European on-line banking services have, like the list above, responded to the customer satisfaction challenge in new ways. Not ony by being available on-line, but integrating e-commerce functionality directly into their account provision to satisfy the non-technical solution demands of their customers.

Achieving an well integrated e-system for banking and revenue gain, with no effort on behalf of the customer? You can discover Holvi on-line here. This Finnish e-bank is an exemplar in this field, we think.

Rauser goes on to discuss nine other key areas that banks can affect or implement in their relationship with customers to better deploy technology, trust and bank/client interaction.

Amongst these are some ideas that must cause traditional bankers of the old school some palpitations. These include extending reward programmes to include more direct ‘gamification’, thereby enhancing what the banks may discover about your lifestyle and spending choices.

The development of ‘social banking’, allowing customers to spend and interact with their bank on new media channels. Rauser cites the Commercial Bank of Dubai, which now has a Facebook app, allowing customers to interact and commit transactions on mobile or desktop ecosystems.

Another move, cited in the Rauser article is the wider introduction of the ‘concierge’ in personal banking. Long a feature for very wealthy clients, some banks are now extending this sort of service to ‘regular’ current account holders.

What all of the initiatives mentioned above seem to be about is communication.

Is this not a return to the town/regional banking interfaces of a previous century? A bank talking, empathetically, with confidence and professionalism to its client base. Where the customer has rising loyalty to his or her bank and approaches banking innovation with real confidence. Assured that the bank actually populates the same world as the client.

We would argue that, despite the new innovations in Social Finance and Social Business we would obviously champion, the approach of key players in the Social Finance market place is very much based upon and conditioned by, these ‘old is new’ interactions.

The opportunity to embrace social outcome as a key business aim, by complex organisations of any size, needs a banker who listens, is available and who understands both the metrics of the business and the philosophy of the declared social aim.

I am sure we read some of that copy in a High Street bank brochure forty years ago! We certainly think the conversation is already active in the Social Finance market place.

Technology image couresy of stocksnap.io – Marc Chouinard