Data and analytics have been buzzwords for years in the financial services industry, but only recently have banks started using data analytics to meaningfully drive revenue and improve the customer experience. Today, banks on the leading edge are using advanced analytics to inform and prioritize among marketing campaigns, and then automate those campaigns so that dozens, if not hundreds, can be run simultaneously by financial institutions of any size.Growing revenue in a responsible way has always been a challenge for banks, but it’s not the growing part that’s hard. A bank can grow revenue by simply easing underwriting standards and boosting loan volumes. But this increases credit risk, leading to higher charge-offs in the future. Thus, this is not an ideal growth strategy for long-term success. The challenge is to grow revenue responsibly, ideally in a way that doesn’t require regular infusions of capital.

The COVID-19 pandemic became a catalyst for the digital transformation of financial institutions worldwide, making technologies such as the cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) essential components for business and success.

Modern, cloud-based digital technology is a must-have for financial institutions seeking to enhance the customer experience, improve operational effectiveness, streamline internal communications, and allow access to data across the enterprise.For years, the only option was to develop such technology in-house. While this approach offers some benefits, such as greater control over implementation and customizations, there are a host of hidden costs.The good news is that banks and credit unions now have a second option: the ability to buy technology and implement it quickly, cost effectively, and more efficiently than they could on their own. By taking a “buy” approach, FIs can go to market with new technology quickly, typically within 12 months.While this strategy can save time, money and resources, it isn’t as simple as hitting a “buy now” button. How your FI implements its buy strategy is critical to ensuring you make the most of your investment and achieve your goals within the timeframes and budgets allotted to the project. This seven-step road map can help:

In today’s transaction-driven banking environment, providing an exceptional treasury management experience and service are key factors in creating value for customers. In order to optimize treasury’s value, financial institutions (FIs) must embrace automation in their sales and onboarding processes to reduce the amount of time between when a new treasury customer says “yes” to the first time a customer receives an account analysis statement.

Digital account opening is a top priority at many financial institutions, for good reasons. With loan-to-deposit ratios above or approaching 100%, banks and credit unions can’t afford to lose out on potential deposits due to ineffective or inefficient account opening processes. A “friction-free” process is essential to the digital account opening experience but achieving this goal may be harder than it looks for institutions jumping into the DAO waters.“Not long ago, most financial institutions basically had the same digital account acquisition capabilities. Not anymore. Leading institutions are pulling away. Banks and credit unions that don’t provide end-to-end digital account opening must upgrade quickly.”
– Cornerstone Advisors

In the past, the financial services industry was slow to change. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and consumers’ shifting preferences, however, financial institutions are rapidly adopting digital capabilities and other technologies to support quick, seamless and automated processes and better serve their customers. As the industry embraces change, emerging cognitive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing and machine learning are transitioning from a “nice-to-have” to established key business drivers.While banks begin to truly understand the importance of cognitive technologies, it’s imperative to understand how to fully leverage these technologies to see true business value. The time has come to transform the Agile Enterprise into the Intelligent Enterprise by fully harnessing the power of cognitive technologies to capture deeper customer insights, make informed, data-driven decisions, manage risk and increase efficiencies.

Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) is one of the largest building societies in the UK and is headquartered in Bradford, England. Since 1864, YBS has focused on fostering relationships with its loyal customers through the concept of TCF – Treating Customer Fairly. For YBS, TCF means providing customers with transparency before, during and after the point of sale and ensuring that their products and services deliver what they promise.

Financial institutions worldwide have felt immense pressure from the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic in terms of supporting their clients amid financial uncertainty. COVID-19 and the subsequent shutdowns of many businesses have had an economic impact across the globe. As a result of the pandemic, 7.5 million small businesses in the U.S. are now in danger of closing permanently. Unemployment rates in 2020 hovered nearly three times the average of the year prior, and as of June 30th, 2020, 4.5 million homeowners faced forbearance.As the prospect of a quick V-shaped recovery receded in many countries, Accenture analysts anticipated higher job losses, limited economic growth and an environment in which many consumers and businesses will be unable to pay their debts, significantly affecting financial institutions even further.

The decision to evaluate and implement a commercial loan origination system (CLOS) is a big one for a financial institution, giving it the opportunity to leapfrog the competition and truly transform its commercial lending processes for its borrowers and employees. Careful planning and execution are key components of every successful CLOS evaluation, selection and implementation.