As bank systems become inexorably more complex, the
cost—in monetary, resource and organizational terms—of developing and
maintaining multiple delivery systems becomes ever more prohibitive. At
the same time, banks are trying to construct cohesive strategies for
focused customer service and sales out of the jumble of technology and
business silos typical of modern banking. Leading banks are concluding
that multichannel integration can address many of these challenges, and
many have initiated long-term projects to enable real-time, uniform access
to customer and transaction data across all delivery channels.
Celent’s survey indicates that the majority of
multichannel integration projects are focused on the branch, call center
and Internet channels. With the exception of Internet banking, the
self-service channels— ATMs, IVR (Interactive Voice Response), wireless
and iDTV—are less of a priority. Banks are concentrating on
meat-and-potatoes functionality: enabling real-time sharing of financial
transactions and customer interactions, followed by data analysis for
compliance and risk management purposes. Sophisticated sales capabilities
such as targeted marketing are less of a priority at most banks, despite
advanced projects at some forward-looking institutions (particularly in
Europe) and the potential of channel integration for enabling
next-generation CRM.
In addition to the survey, the report discusses
technology and business drivers for multichannel integration, as well as
technology choices—enterprise platforms versus middleware— and vendor
solutions applicable to channel integration. Regional surveys of North
America, Europe and Asia/Pacific are also included.
"What has been lacking for most financial
institutions is uniform customer data through channels, making it
difficult for them to cross-sell products and services," commented Isabella
Cagnazzo Fonseca, a Senior Analyst at Celent and co-author of the
report. "Increased competition, the need to update technology, and
adding productivity to channels are driving many channel integration
projects," she added.
"Long-term cost efficiencies, shortened
development cycles, and faster time-to-market for new products and
services are a compelling argument for basing multichannel integration on
enterprise platforms," added Neil
Katkov, co-author of the report. "At the same time, we
recognize that up-front cost considerations and the need to address
immediate pain points compel many banks to opt for the more ad-hoc
middleware approach."
The 56-page report contains 24 figures and 11
tables.
