Manama: Technology or virtual banking that is what customers expect from their banks, thanks to the latest technology and digitization of the economy worldwide.
“The customer is in the driver’s seat more than ever before,” said Sherif Tawfik, General Manager, Microsoft Bahrain & Oman. “Mobile services, multi-channel engagement and platform-based delivery are what customers – especially millennials – expect now from their bank. Digital transformation connects the customer, and their habits and needs, to the bank. It allows you to ask questions your customers have yet to even think of, and find answers ahead of time. Proactive service delivery is a proven driver of customer loyalty.”
He was speaking as Microsoft joined forces with the Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB), to hold a leadership roundtable on the potential value returns digital transformation can bring to the financial services industry.
The event attracted leaders from banking and capital-markets to hear how they could accelerate their organisations’ digital-transformation journeys to meet the changing needs of customers, and capture new business opportunities.
Representatives from Microsoft Middle East and Africa and the Microsoft Gulf leadership team were on hand to explain how the power of New IT could be harnessed in the financial sector. Also present were several Microsoft ISV (independent software-vendor) partners, each with their own specialist solutions designed to overcome current industry challenges.
Microsoft and its partners shared transformation stories from around the world, of FSI companies that had deployed solutions to empower financial agents with new information-driven paradigms. These deployments have led to a transformation of products; more effective, multi-channel customer engagement; and an optimisation of the client experience and back-office operations.
James Morgan, Director for Financial Services, Microsoft Middle East and Africa, noted the results of several surveys on the changing expectations of customers within the financial sectors of various markets. In one study, only 31% of customers thought their bank knew them, or their needs, sufficiently well. US-based research discovered that 40% of Americans had not visited a brick-and-mortar branch in the previous six months. And a global report from Capgemini – conducted across 16,000 customers in 32 countries – reported that half of Gen-Y clients were planning to leave their bank within six months, with “ease of use” and “service” cited as the top reasons for doing so.
“This event highlighted the latest trends in digital transformation around the world, and contributes to strengthen the banks and financial institutions in the Kingdom of Bahrain to provide efficient customer services, accelerate entrepreneurship, and boost the financial and banking Sector,” Dr. Waheed Al Qassim, Chief Executive Officer, Bahrain Association of Banks, said.
“We find the case for FSI digital transformation to be compelling, and it is comforting to know that fintech companies are thinking about the issues we all face. We are honoured to collaborate with Microsoft in this event which is a platform for professionals from the industry to learn about make the best use of the new technologies and build better customer experiences for increased loyalty, generate new revenue while reducing costs, and manage risks better, faster, and cheaper.”
Veripark, Miles Software, ODC Business Solutions and NEC Payments, also attended the event as Microsoft ISV partners specialising in FSI solutions. Each had its own solution dedicated to solving a particular problem within the financial services industry.
Veripark’s CRM solution for financial institutions has been certified for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The solution offers, among other features, a ground-breaking next-best-action component that is set to change the way financial institutions sell, serve and solve.
Miles Software offers a wealth-management solution called MoneyWare Integra WMS. It is designed to automate every aspect of the investment management lifecycle and its modules can be combined to create business solutions for client management, portfolio management, financial investment planning, revenue management and order management.
ODC Business Solutions introduced delegates to SmartMessage, an all-in-one marketing platform that orchestrates digital marketing activities to create an integrated multi-channel customer experience.
NEC Payments demonstrated its secure, robust and flexible transaction-processing platform that enables financial institutions to operate virtually any type of acquiring or issuer credit, debit, prepaid or virtual card programmes. The technology can be interfaced with many different channels including leading international payment schemes; local switch networks; core banking and ATM platforms; closed-loop and acquirer merchant-services environments; P2P; remittance networks; and bill-payment aggregators.
