Do you remember a time when there were no ATMs?
The first ATM in the United States was launched in September 1969 in Rockville Center in New York. The ATM was accompanied by the slogan, “On September 2, our banks will open at 9 am and never close again.” In 1977, Citibank had ATMs installed across New York City. Just in time, because a huge blizzard forced all the banks in the city to close their branches for days, and ATM usage jumped by 20%.
Some consider the ATM to be the advent of an earlier version of digital banking. Similar to that blizzard, customers had to turn to digital means when many bank branches closed during the pandemic. They relied on automation when in-person banking was not available.
Digital banking has come a long way since the dawn of the ATM. And like the need for ATMs, forms of digital banking have continued to rise to meet the ongoing bank needs of customers and what is happening in the world. Here we’ll take a look at what the future of digital banking holds and how banks can best prepare for what is to come.
What is digital banking?
The term ‘digital banking’ is tossed around a lot, but what does it really refer to? Digital banking is the digitization of every level, from the front- to back-end, of banking. Online banking and mobile banking fall under the umbrella of digital banking. Online banking happens via the bank’s website, and mobile banking uses a tablet or phone to access the bank’s mobile application.
Some banks, such as Chime and NuBank, are digital-only, meaning there are no brick-and-mortar locations, and others are traditional banks that offer digital capabilities. In the last couple of years, there has also been a rise in traditional banks launching digital-only brands, such as parent bank Texas Capital Bancshares spinning off digital-only Bask Bank.
Banks are trying to appeal to the needs of a broad group of customers with their digital offerings. According to the Ipsos-Forbes Advisor U.S. Consumer Confidence Survey, the majority of Americans (78%) prefer to do their banking digitally either via a mobile banking app or a bank website. When using a bank’s mobile app, consumers found these features to be most valuable:
- Transferring funds between accounts (30%)
- Mobile check deposit (30%)
- Viewing statements and account balances (30%)
- Bill pay (22%)
How has the pandemic influenced digital banking?
The pandemic shifted banking services from branch locations to customers’ homes. Many customers discovered the benefits of digital banking, including the convenience and contactless safety it provided during the pandemic. A customer that may not have touched digital banking in the past was now compelled to engage with it.
The pandemic also forced banks to accelerate their digital banking initiatives to meet customers’ demand for digital services. According to the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, consumers gave high marks to how banks responded to the challenges of the pandemic.
Prior to the pandemic, digital-only customers accounted for just 30% of the retail bank customer base. This digital segment routinely had the lowest levels of customer satisfaction of any channel. In 2021, 41% of customers were digital-only, and satisfaction improved most among customers who had high levels of digital engagement with banking products and customer service.
The consumer movement to digital banking is most likely here to stay in a post-pandemic world. Findings from the Digital Banking Behaviors 2021 study show that more than half (58%) of consumers report that their use of financial applications or programs has increased since the beginning of COVID-19, and post-pandemic, nearly half of consumers (48%) say they prefer to bank digitally-only.
How can banks improve their digital banking services?
Bank customers only see the shiny website or fancy mobile app when they conduct their digital banking. They may not realize all the systems working together behind the scenes to deliver them a premium digital banking experience.
Silverline’s approach is to bring all the backend systems and providers together to augment a bank’s digital banking solution. We take disparate banking systems such as Salesforce Financial Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and nCino and remove manual tasks to increase automation. We connect all the siloed areas of digital banking – from live chat to opening a new account – and aggregate them within the Salesforce ecosystem to create an optimal engagement platform.
Connecting all these digital banking systems is not an out-of-the-box feature of Salesforce. It takes knowledge and expertise to implement a Salesforce system that is customized to your bank’s unique needs. Silverline partners with leading providers like Q2, a digital banking platform that serves over 20 million end users. Q2 offers tools and functionality to banks, credit unions, alternative finance, and fintech companies to help them scale and be more efficient.
Silverline provides Salesforce accelerators to support making digital banking faster and more affordable for banks and credit unions. Silverline’s Authenticated Chat for Q2 Online Banking delivers an efficient and secure way for banks to communicate with customers. The accelerator enables Salesforce Chat functionality within Q2’s online banking experience, so banks can execute all necessary workflows without leaving the Salesforce platform.
Silverline transforms your digital banking
At Silverline, our deep financial services experience expertly aligns with Salesforce’s customizable platform to help tailor your bank or credit union’s digital banking needs, provide a single source of truth to improve your associates’ productivity, and deliver on your customers’ expectations. From strategy and implementation to managed services, we guide you to digital banking success and enable continuous value with the Salesforce platform. Learn more about how we can help your organization.