The Bank Innovators Council conducted its first ever Lab Day this month in London. Held at Level39, Europe’s largest incubator, the all-day, interactive session offered real solutions to some of the difficulties banks face today with customer engagement and retention, while looking at how these difficulties are driven by changing customer needs.
The 50 bank and financial technology executives in attendance were first treated to a dynamic presentation by Brett King, bestselling author and widely considered the world’s leading authority on retail banking. King pointed out the absurdity of banks’ identification processes and the fact that mobile banking services offered by banks are really just ‘table stakes’. He challenged banks to move towards a platform model offering services relevant to customers in both the physical and virtual world.
The concept of the bank as a platform offering both financial and non-financial services to customers was one discussed in the afternoon breakout groups, as were ways banks might make the customer journey both profitable and rewarding for the customer. Participants proposed specific solutions to drive customer engagement issues as well as potential barriers to adoption. Click here to see more pictures.
“The session was designed to bridge the gap between the problems faced by bankers and the prototypes that excite entrepreneurs, and in this sense it succeeded admirably.” — BIC Cofounder JP Nicols
Nicols noted that discussion will continue on the Council’s own Innovation Café, an idea management platform designed to facilitate dialogue and member interaction on an campaign basis. In fact, a campaign has been populated with two ideas regarding the future of the Bank Innovators Council. Please log on to the Innovation Café to share your thoughts on these ideas and provide any other suggestions.
Lastly, the Council plans to hold another Lab Day session at the end of March very near the FinovateSpring financial technology conference in San Jose, California. Sign up now to reserve your spot!