Industry leaders from retail banks and the financial services sector learned a lot this year in regard to harnessing the power of data. In one of the last few months of 2019, at The Location Analytics Summit hosted by Pitney Bowes, industry experts discussed how retail banks can thrive in a rapidly changing marketplace by using data as well as looking at other data-focused trends.
- DATA IS THE NEW OIL
Data is equally valuable to business as oil was to manufactures in the twentieth century. Through an Open Banking strategy — a practice that allows third-party financial service providers full access to data from banks and other financial institutions through application programming interfaces (APIs) — data is used to gain a better understanding of customers.
- RICH + ACCURATE DATA IS GREATER THAN LARGE QUANTITIES OF INACCURATE DATA
The goal for banks and financial services organizations is to be able to put hyper-accurate data to work to improve business outcomes. Not only does hyper-accurate data allow retail banking institutions to better understand customer preferences and win their loyalty, but high-quality data can drive compliance and help to beat financial crimes – especially when used in conjunction with artificial intelligence and machine learning.
- THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF DATA
Democratizing data, which allows the customer to have easy access to insights that can further uncover opportunities, is critical in the retail banking and financial services sector. Through the democratization of data, a bank’s data is enhanced with feedback from the people who understand it best – the customers. Additionally, the transparent act of sharing data with consumers builds rapport and trust.
There is no doubt that data is a critical resource for retail banks as they navigate their way through this period of disruption and realignment. For banks and other financial services organizations that are just embarking on this journey the key to success is not just having data, but having accurate data and understanding how to put it to work to build connections with customers.
