As more banks look to embrace digitalisation, they have been advised to start by understanding customer needs and how digital tools can meet them.
At Money 20/20 Asia, Sean O’Malley, group exectuive of AMP Bank, shared the bank’s decision to partner with Engine by Starling to launch a new digital bank 18 months ago.
He highlighted the importance of truly understanding what customers want. When AMP Bank entered the new market, the bank began with in-depth customer research to uncover how people preferred to access banking services, which provided insights that shaped its transformation strategy, he said.
The result was a digital-first model with a human touch, which O’Malley said is key to delivering support in a way that resonates with customers and drives satisfaction.
“The combination of humans and great technology, great culture and great agility is the secret sauce. Ensuring there is always a human on the other end of the phone is a very important part of our customer value proposition,” he said.
Sona Raichoora, regional manager & APAC lead at Engine by Starling, agreed that preserving a human touch remains essential, even for a digital-only bank like Starling.
“When we think about digital, we often think about front end experiences, but almost more importantly is what happens in the back end,” she said.
That’s why Starling continues to offer a fully human, 24/7 contact centre because the bank understand that when issues arise, customers want to speak to a person, Raichoora explained.
“Having that human element alongside that really rich experience is a huge part is why they [Starling] have been able to have high customer advocacy,” she added.
Maintaining a human touch alongside digital services is key to supporting financial inclusion, added Handika Hakin, head of business analytics at Bank Negara Indonesia, as it allows customers to access banking in the way that suits them best.
“Do we really need full digitalisation because we need to have financial inclusion? How can we bring the technological capability to the platform without leaving out any of the customer experience?” he asked.
Banks must strike a balance between embracing digital and maintaining legacy operations, Hakin said, warning that a full shift to digital risks excluding segments of the population, particularly in Indonesia, where half the population remains unbanked due to infrastructure gaps.
Rattapron Ekabutr, EVP and head of consumer digital solutions at Krungsri Bank, said digitalisation is ultimately about understanding customers and using that insight to get in front of them.
He noted that digital tools should feed into broader marketing strategies, particularly those aimed at boosting brand visibility. “Customers spend around eight hours online each day, but just 1% of that time is on a financial services app,” he said.
To bridge that gap, Ekabutr urged banks to extend their reach beyond their own platforms by embedding themselves into the wider digital ecosystem.