Blog  |  May 15, 2020

3 Essential Digital Banking Features in the Era of Coronavirus

If COVID-19 has imparted one major takeaway regarding digital banking, it’s the demand for accelerating and condensing timeframes to meet digital transformation goals. Most institutions have had a foot in the digital space, but as banks assess the most essential customer needs, they can no longer delay taking the plunge.

To account for the unprecedented nature of the outbreak, your institution may need to revise or expedite earlier plans to embrace digital banking. Although happening earlier than anticipated, the goal should be not only augmenting digital banking features, but also planning a total overhaul and transformation of your institution to suit the digital age.

As an opening foray, the following three digital features can help you provide essential services to your customers and empower them to meet their banking needs while social distancing—and beyond.

1. Digital Account Opening

Customers who have never utilized digital banking tools must now learn to create and access bank accounts via fewer direct interactions with their local branch. Allowing customers to open accounts through a digital account opening tool facilitates a seamless and convenient experience. Further, these tools help your current customers create new checking and savings accounts without a trip to a physical branch location.

Whether through a mobile banking app or online banking portal, a digital account opening tool helps you automate the account opening process and decrease the risk of exposure for your customers and your staff during the COVID-19 outbreak.

 2. Mobile or Remote Deposit Capture

Once your customers have a firm grasp of your mobile and online banking solutions, they will want to conduct business digitally, accessing and transferring their funds as quickly as possible. Remote deposit capture eliminates their need to deposit funds at a branch.

If your institution offers mobile or remote deposit capture, raising deposit limits or providing free mobile deposits can further assist customers during this trying time. Further, you can reduce any risk associated with mobile deposits by using geolocation or behavioral analytics around deposits.

3. Digital Transactions

Although Coronavirus is driving many banks and consumers toward digital banking, your customers may still need to exchange money to help out friends and family, pay for groceries or any other demand. Digital transactions like Apple Pay, bill payment and person-to-person (P2P) payments have therefore never been as essential.

Providing these services through your financial institution simplifies your customers’ lives by eliminating physical cash and checks and centralizing financial interactions.

Looking Forward

As your institution adds new digital customers, remember to utilize whatever means of communication you have at your disposal. Social media, email, quick videos, blog posts and digital banking platforms offer the perfect forums to highlight features most important to customers today. Sooner is always better than later when releasing information during the constantly evolving COVID-19 situation.

Even when Coronavirus is in the rearview mirror, banks will no doubt feel its effects for the foreseeable future. Many customers forced to transition to digital banking during this period will continue to use these channels for convenience. Implementing these features early will help your institution make the best of the uncertainties of the present and provide for the future.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can digitally transform your institution in the wake of Coronavirus, check out our recent roundtable discussion on this and several other topics.

Shane Ferrell is vice president of Digital Strategy, CSI

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