Digital Banking- Technology BenchmarkAnalysis of apps & platforms.
The digital banking space is evolving at a rapid pace in the
current decade. As per Forbes report on banking trends almost
78% of Americans opt for banking through mobile apps or
websites rather than traditional in-person visits to a bank
branch banking. Customer expectations have increased with
severe competition among the banking fraternity. They are
looking for a seamless, secure, and user-friendly experiences
across various digital platforms that they use daily.
Technological intervention has led to innovative solutions such
as Internet banking, mobile wallets, and mobile digital banking.
However, this evolution comes with more focus on the need for
continuous improvement and optimization. The rapid adoption
of digital banking solutions has led financial institutions to
constantly seek ways to optimize and securitize their
technology infrastructure and remain ahead in the competitive
landscape.
Hence banks are now considering technology benchmarking of
their digital banking platforms, allowing them a way to measure
their performance of these platforms against industry best
practices and identify new growth opportunities. Comparing
and further innovating the digital banking platform
performance, processes, and outcomes against industry best
practices and customer expectations is essential. For this they
need to assess aspects such as current IT applications and
services—internet and mobile banking applications, mobile
wallet services innovation, remittance system efficiency,
security protocols, and overall customer experiences.
How to leverage Technology Benchmarking?
The banking industry is seeing an influx of disruptive
technologies redefining customer expectations and
experiences. From seamless mobile wallet integrations to swift
and secure remittance services, customers now demand
convenient, user-friendly, and technologically advanced
solutions.
Adapting to the evolving landscape must involve understanding
the changing regulatory requirements by being updated
continuously. Compliance and security are of high importance
in the digital banking space, to meet the statutory and prevent
or mitigate risks as and when they arise.
The methodology followed for technology benchmarking of
digital banking platforms can start with analysis of the existing
technology landscape with a focus on the following:
Check existing Technology Stack for its Scalability and optimum Performance:
comprehensive digital banking
benchmark analysis for technology stack can measure its
capability to scale and performance to meet not only the
current but the near future business demands. The objective is
to ensure the platforms can seamlessly handle increasing loads
and efficiently cater to growing user bases.
Service-oriented Architecture (SoA):
The structural backbone of
any architecture can be scrutinized for its alignment with
service-oriented principles. The digital banking benchmark
analysis for technology helps in the identification of
opportunities for improving flexibility and streamlining
processes.
Database Design:
One needs to evaluate the efficiency of the
database design in critical conditions and its capabilities to scale for
the future as part of the technology benchmark analysis. As the
operations grow in volumes, seamless data management can be
assured by optimizing database structures. One can assess some of
the key aspects like indexing strategies, query optimization, archive
database, partitioning of tables, and database design revamp suitable
for microservices. We can judge the database’s responsiveness,
reliability, and overall performance by focusing on these
components.
Security and Compliance:
Security & compliance is of
paramount importance, and it involves some rigorous
assessment parameters. We need to evaluate the technological
measures are in place to safeguard sensitive customer data and
ensure compliance with the applicable regulations and industry
standards. The important aspects to check are encryption
protocols, authentication methods, fraud detection, and the
platform’s adherence to compliance requirements such
as GDPR, PCI DSS, and other regulations.
The benchmark assessment for security aspects involves
the evaluation of the vulnerabilities or risks of the
applications with severity classification for each
vulnerability. This analysis is to examine the security
aspects and pinpoint potential vulnerabilities that could be
exploited in the form of attacks, breaches, or unauthorized
access attempts.
Innovation and Future-readiness:
For aspects like innovation
and future readiness of the platform requires evaluating the
digital banking platforms’ capacity. Benchmarking evaluation for
this dimension involves enhancements in user experience, ease
in integration of emerging technologies (e.g., AI, blockchain)
and the ability to meet the changing customer needs and
expectations.
Competitor Analysis:
Before embarking on this analysis,
understanding of the competition, their offerings, their
technology stack , feature gap analysis, platform offerings, and
performance. By comparing these factors, one can get valuable
insights that can help us fine-tune our strategies and
differentiate the platform from others.
Customer Support and Engagement:
A well-oiled digital
banking platform prioritizes customer support and engagement.
Here we analyse & assess the efficiency and responsiveness of
customer support systems, including the availability of multiple
support channels, response times, issue resolution rates, and
personalization. On the personalization front, specific features
like spend analysis (which helps customers track and manage
their expenses) and associated service recommendations
creates and improves customer stickiness.
In Brief:
The digital banking industry is constantly evolving and is
characterized by disruption. To keep pace with these changes,
financial institutions need to implement the best practices for
the technology benchmarking of digital banking platforms &
apps. This allows them to transcend conventional boundaries,
innovate, and achieve excellence in digital banking.
Financial institutions must use digital banking benchmark
analysis to understand and plan technology enhancements of
their digital banking platforms and apps to create solutions that
exceed their current customer expectations. They also must be
resilient, secure, scalable and adaptable to future disruptions.
This approach ensures that the platforms are future-proof and
the banks can continue to provide best in class service to their
customers.
Blog written by A. Kiran Kumar Naik, USSG, Blore