Feature
Business Banking & Finance
Understanding technology’s place in the banking world
As we move into a digital world, Simon Clark (pictured), financial services partner at KPMG in the Midlands, explores what banks and financial services organisations need to do to avoid falling into problems of the past.
Consumers now have just under two years to claim payment protection insurance (PPI). Since 2010, this mis-selling scandal has cost the UK’s five biggest banks a staggering £35bn and counting. Whilst public sentiment on
introducing a claims deadline is mixed, banks will certainly welcome a line being drawn under the issue. PPI has made banks keenly aware of the need to improve corporate culture and treat customers fairly. A lot of progress has been made to make sure the problems of the past stay in the past. However, as banking becomes increasingly digital, new challenges to protecting customers, and balance sheets, are emerging. Regulators and institutions are
paying a lot of attention to better supporting vulnerable customers in order to ensure products are sold responsibly. However, as sales increasingly take place online, the task of identifying those vulnerable customers becomes even more difficult. When products are sold in a branch the salesperson can physically see their customer to help make an assessment of vulnerability - for instance signs of Alzheimer's may be fairly apparent when talking face-to-face - but to get a machine to make that assessment based on an
48 CHAMBERLINK November 2017
individual’s online behaviour is not an easy task. It requires very clever programming and significant thought about the process the customer has to follow. As we switch to digital, banks
also need to pay increasing attention to what is regarded as appropriate use of behavioural science when building apps and websites. Customers expect websites to be intuitive and to direct them to the most relevant content or products. People don’t want to spend time reading and clicking multiple pages before landing where they need to be, and banks need to be cognisant of this if they want their technology to prove popular. However, banks also have a very serious obligation to make sure customers understand what’s on offer and what they’re selecting. Financial services firms also have to be very careful that their use of behavioural science doesn’t cross the line and begin to nudge customers towards certain products, or lead them to a purchase without an appropriate amount of time being spent on understating the options. Whilst technology creates some
Consumers have under two years to make a PPI claim
new challenges to ensuring products are sold responsibly, it also holds the solution. Smarter use of technology and data means
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
