FutureBrand Podcast: The digital acceleration of financial services

In this latest episode of FutureBrand's podcast series, Natalie Silverman explores how finance companies are responding to continued changes in customer behaviour.

You can hear how the global pandemic accelerated digital transformation and what impact this has made on finance brands and brand experiences from a diverse range of guests from across the financial services spectrum:

– Simon Williams, Chief Growth Officer, FutureBrand

– Shachar Bialick, CEO & Founder, Curve

– Stuart Haire, Head of Retail Banking & Wealth Management, HSBC

– Brooke Brown, SVP Brand & Enterprise Marketing Strategy, U.S. Bank

– Camilla Marr, Brand Strategy Specialist

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The pandemic saw many companies rapidly adapting to change in order to survive. In fact, we all had to adjust to doing almost everything online and as a result of this digital shift, we’re all now using mobile apps more than ever.

No other sector saw as much transformation as the financial services. Even before the pandemic, there were only whispers of changing customer behaviours. But now this digital shift has occurred not necessarily by choice but by necessity. Customers who were once unwilling to try these new technologies – or indeed finance companies who were reluctant to shift their own behaviours – soon discovered that they had little option by to change and adapt to more digital behaviours, and quickly.

For the last 8 years, our FutureBrand Index has historically shown a lack of innovation, brand strength and trust in the finance sector. That was until 2021 when we witnessed a dramatic uptick in behavioural change towards digital adoption by customers on the retail side of banking. Customers, many of whom had been relatively conservative themselves until now, began to use digital channels for the first time and liked them, and so it was that banks joined the race to innovate – and those who crafted their digital presence effectively and efficiently were rewarded with a change in customer confidence and an attitudinal shift towards reliability, ease of use and trust.

Needless to say, the importance of having a convenient, easy-to-navigate digital experience will never again be underestimated.