MARKET REPORT Finance & Banking
“Cyber Security is a top priority as these organisations strive to prevent cyber-threats. If these
companies don’t protect their customers, then they’re going to lose their trust, and a poor reputation
can be more harmful to a brand than any fine.” Carl Boraman, Director of Strategic Alliances at Tollring
BUSINESS TRENDS IN BANKING
James Buckley, VP and Europe Director of business consulting,
information technology and outsourcing services fi rm Invosys, says
the last few years have seen several non-banking companies such as
technology majors, digital upstarts and FinTechs steadily expand their
foothold in the fi nancial services space and that non-banking players
are perceived as drivers of innovation in the industry.
Buckley sees the following trends in the marketing.
Open banking
Pushed on to this path by open banking legislation in 2018, banks will
refi ne their vision and strategy this year, and also evolve their roles
as product manufacturers, marketplace operators, distributors or a
combination of the three.
They will hope to emulate the likes of Amazon – which gets 40 percent
of its business through recommendations – by using extensive analytics
to improve their understanding of customer expectations and fulfi l them
with contextual and personalise d offerings.
Customer journeys move ahead
In 2019, banks will fi nd a clear correlation between their quality of
customer experience and business performance metrics. In July last
year, the Institute of Customer Service published that banks with a
higher UKCSI (United Kingdom Customer Satisfaction Index) score than
the norm for the sector gained 8,675 current accounts on average
compared to the rest, who lost an average 3,457 accounts.
Security remains in focus in 2019
Cyber threat will continue to intensify in 2019, as hackers target
AI-based solutions with AI-based attacks in a reminder of the 2016
offensive on the Microsoft chatbot Tay that led to it sending out
objectionable Tweets. Don’t forget GDPR.
with increased customer demand
around higher expectations of
service. Internet banking, quotes
online and instant access to
information are all crucial as well
as when in branch interacting
with sta .”
Iain Sinnott, Head of Sales at
VanillaIP said “Essentially, we see
this sector as one that is reacting
to the change in customer
expectation and the public’s
increasing willingness to ‘switch’.
Whilst obviously governed by the
strict compliance rules that relate
to this sector, exible multi-media
inbound and outbound call
management is key to winning
and retaining business.”
Which products and services
are selling well?
“Collaboration tools and data
analytics are selling well,” says
John McKindland at Nimans.
“Increased regulations also
have an impact on how and
which types of technology can
be used. For example it could
be call recording and auditing
conversations. ere’s GDPR
and MIFID II to consider. e
industry has more regulation
compared to before the big
banking crash. Web chat, bots
and AI will continue to grow
along with continued investment
in call centres for general
customer advice.”
Carl Boraman at Tollring
says the core technology
investments are coming from
cloud communications, security
of networks and data storage.
“Security protection is
always a good seller. e
arearequirescontinual
investment with the focus
on network and services
security,testing for resilience,
and being constantly vigilant in
preparing for attacks.
To help customers achieve
compliance, our resellers are
expanding their provision of audit
and monitoring tools. e sector
has a legal requirement to record
calls, so providers must ensure
moving from selling physical
that call recording technology is
products to managed services
up to the job, safe, secure and will
such as secure resilient clouds
protect as well as meet regulatory
for hosted apps. e bene t of
compliance needs.
cloud services is that they deliver
Training continues to attract
valuable analytics and insights
investment. is applies to
to resellers across multiple
reseller sta as well as customer
customers. In addition, cloud
employees. Education and
services are quick and easy to
awareness amongst sta around
provision, support and manage
highly evolving technology is
with no on-site installation.”
needed to ensure they are aware,
“Un-surprisingly call
trained and vigilant, and that
recording, storage, recovery and
they can use it properly to adhere
automated archiving are key
to compliance.
factors in this space,” says Iain
Cloud services is expanding
Sinnott at VanillaIP.
fast. More and more resellers are “Many customers need help in
>
Engagement
Made Easy
understanding how services can
be utilised and kept safely within
MiFID II and partners who can
exclude common services like
call forwards, that bypass call
recording, can really have an
advantage.
How is the purchasing behaviour
of this vertical changing?
John McKindland at Nimans,
“When some of the tenders
come through from our partners
it’s clear to see there is more
emphasis on working with key
specialist suppliers rather than
a one solution ts all approach.
Learn more about our
partnership programme
01344 852350
djm@contentguru.com
@cgchirp
26 | Comms Business Magazine | August 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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