Having seen what’s available in adjacent industries, US consumers and small businesses are demanding a higher level of customer service, a better user experience (UX), and the necessary security measures to keep them safe as the world recovers. By adopting the latest digital solutions, banks and other financial institutions can make sure that they meet these pressing needs. 

Between big banks, credit unions, and online challenger banks, US consumers and small businesses have more banking options to choose from than ever before. So how do they decide which bank they’ll actually use?

They want financial institutions that will meet their growing appetite for digital services, with the COVID-19 pandemic pushing even the most reluctant Americans online to manage their financial lives.

Ramping up digital sales capabilities

According to in-depth research by Celent, the digital sales capabilities of US financial institutions has grown rapidly since 2016. It’s typically more developed in the consumer/personal account space, but business services are catching up fast.

By January 2019, as seen in the chart below, most US financial institutions offered online account opening capability, with cards and non-mortgage lending following close behind.

Source: Celent survey of North American financial institutions, January 2019, n=160. Q: Is your institution selling and originating new products digitally?

Across 2020 and into this year, the demand for digital sales capabilities has skyrocketed. Smaller US financial institutions are rushing to market with account opening capabilities. Larger banks, already equipped with digital account opening, are now busy enabling cards and loans.

Digitalisation provides the key to growth

The drive towards the digitalisation of banking services is helping to meet the evolving needs and desires of US customers, and if their current provider isn’t meeting these needs, they’re open to change.

The Ascent surveyed over 1,700 of these customers to find out just how important different banking features are to them.

The results highlighted that the most important features consumers want from a bank include high-quality customer service (97%), security and fraud protection (96%), and mobile and online access (95%). And over 50% are likely to switch to a new bank if it’s a better fit.

The latest customer acquisition technology allows banks and other financial institutions to offer a flexible, omnichannel customer journey, with the same high level of customer service found in adjacent industries, whilst drawing on the rich data available in today’s more open banking environment to combat fraud and financial crime.