Balancing digital and physical channels in the new era of banking and insurance

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in demand for digital banking experiences, a shift to which banks and financial institutions around the world have responded quickly by accelerating product roadmaps and enabling new digital experiences.

But despite a clear increase in digital banking and transactions, industry stakeholders believe that customers still value the human connection in financial services, especially when it comes to more complex products.

During Fintech News Singapore’s latest Fintech Fireside Asia panel session, senior executives representing Standard Chartered Bank, Tune Protect Group, Kenanga Investment Bank and OneSpan Australia and New Zealand discussed the digitization of sales channels in the banking and finance sector, highlighting emerging trends. and share how they’ve created human-digital blended experiences.

Ian W. Lloyd, Chief Digital Officer, Kenanga Investment Bank, said that while his company has explored opportunities in new markets and eagerly partnered with fintech companies to leverage new business concepts, the bank has maintained a large network of agents and sales force that have been crucial in reaching customers.

Ian W. Lloyd, Chief Digital Officer, Kenanga Investment Bank

“We have a mix [of sales coming from physical and digital channels]. A lot of it now is digitized and digitally enabled and supported, so we have a very large agent and sales force, and they’re supported by digital tools,” Ian said. “But we also have some very complex products. We’re an investment bank and we cater to corporate and high-net-worth clients, and sometimes they need that specialized touch and service.”

Ekko Ian, Tom Gardner, Managing Director, Head of Sales – Finance and Securities Services Hong Kong, Financial Markets, Standard Chartered Bank, argued that while digital tools and technology have undeniably unleashed a wave of opportunities and brought benefits to his profession, human touch will still be relevant, especially when complex transactions and larger agreements are involved.

“Sales is the oldest profession in the world and digitization will continue to be a big part of it, but will not replace it,” said Tom. “The larger the deal size, [the more] you need the human connection.”

Technology: an enabler rather than a silver bullet

The panelists were unanimous that the use of technology will continue to increase going forward, citing opportunities related to increased efficiency, automation and improved customer experience.

Kenanga’s Ian said the bank’s new robo-advice and savings products, which it launched only in February, have already taken off strongly, showing clear demand for affordable, fully digital experiences.

Aimed at first-time investors and the mass market, the Kenanga Digital Investing (KDI) offering focuses on accessibility and affordability, with low account minimums and reasonable fees. KDI is also moving away from long forms to just asking new customers to answer just three questions to get started.

Nigel Stewart, managing director of OneSpan Australia & New Zealand, said that providing a fast and seamless digital onboarding experience has become critical for financial institutions, noting that many effective digital tools and technologies were available in the market for remote document signing and identity verification.

Nigel Stewart, CEO of OneSpan

“Identity verification is something people struggle with. What we do at OneSpan is we build it into the overall digital deal process where it’s integrated into a transaction … It takes a lot of the friction out of the process and that’s something you think is pretty unique in the industry. Nigel said. “The other area where I see customers struggling is static forms, PDFs … I think if these two technologies can be integrated, then identity verification and smart forms, in one complete format, it will go a long way to help the whole digital- enabled [experience]”

Rohit Nambiar, CEO of Tune Protect Group, said the company’s entire sales force relied on digital tools in one way or another.

Tune Protect, a digital first insurance company in Southeast Asia, offers a range of non-life insurance solutions through multiple distribution channels. A key area the company has focused on is embedded insurance where the company partners with third parties such as concierge services and car rental companies to offer its insurance products.

Rohit Nambiar, CEO of Tune Protect Group

Going forward, Rohit believes that while brick-and-mortar insurance agents will not disappear, their role will change significantly. “The way things are going now in insurance … with agency 2.0 … I think that in the next five to ten years there will be far fewer agents in the industry, but generate far more value than they did in the past,” said Rohit.

Automation technologies, such as machine learning and robotic process automation, have the potential to free up a lot of time for finance professionals, elevating their role by allowing them to focus less on transactional activities and more on analytics and insights. McKinsey estimates that approximately 50% of the total time of the finance and insurance workforce is devoted to collecting and processing data.

– There are enormous opportunities [in improving the onboarding process]”, said Rohit. “For the banking and finance industry, it’s complicated because unlike other industries, we’re not talking to one database or one system. We need to check anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions, terrorism, blacklists, credit, etc. There is a lot we can do in terms of how we use data in the industry and facilitate onboarding. And it’s not just finances, it’s also health, background checks and more.”