Customers are demanding that their banks’ online offerings keep up with the times, according to a new report from Celent.

“It’s challenging for banks to build business cases that involve online portals and user experience overhauls,” says Jacob Jegher, senior analyst with Celent’s Banking group and author of the report. “It’s easy to get caught up in sexy technology, but at the end of the day, it’s about keeping customers satisfied, and striking a balance between functionality and user experience.”

 

 

Key report findings include:

•    The corporate online banking space has stagnated for far too long. The evolution of the internet has provided users with rich and interactive experiences. Unfortunately, the banking industry has not kept pace. For the most part, financial institutions recognize their online shortcomings. The questions are: Why haven’t they acted on these shortcomings and what can they do about them, and how can they keep up with ever-increasing customer demands? These questions become even more difficult to answer as cost estimates balloon for large projects, and there is increased pressure on the corporate side of the bank to keep the ship afloat.

•    The good news: Next-generation corporate online banking is on the way. Bits and pieces of it have already landed and will evolve. Some of these are in full swing; some are nascent; others are expected to impact the space within the next three to five years.

 

 

Key corporate online banking trends include:

1) Portal Perplexity. Banks are struggling with cash management portal development. Categorization of portal elements is necessary to obtain a cohesive dashboard.

2) Consolidation Confusion. Online and mobile banking are converging. Is there one solution to rule them all?

3) User Experience and Functionality. The tablet will act as a catalyst to the redesign of corporate online banking. Social media is emerging in corporate banking.

4) Fraud Prevention. It’s time to overhaul multifactor authentication.

 

 

Celent recommends that financial institutions:

•    Regularly survey and interview customers to gauge priorities and interests.

•    Conduct an internal review and assessment of cash and treasury management functions and capabilities.

•    Explore the software vendor market and meet with relevant vendors to understand how solutions are evolving.

•    Invest in user-experience refinements and consider complete overhauls.

•    Assess the impact and importance of portal technology on the cash management environment.

•    Accept that mobile and tablet devices are playing a fundamental role in the enterprise.

•    Consider how social media can be applied to the corporate banking world.

•    Employ external assistance.

http://www.celent.com/reports/top-trends-corporate-online-banking

 

 

 

[This article was posted on May 15, 2012, on the website of ABA Banking Journal, www.ababj.com.]    

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