The need to increase efficiency is top of mind for every executive in a financial institution (FI). However, only some know that the self-service channel can be a true engine to maximize efficiency and improve the organization's bottom line. What about you? Would you like to know how your organization can become more competitive by fully capitalizing on the potential benefits of the ATM channel?
With this new blog, part of our More Efficient - 5 Golden Rules blog series, I’d like to take you through how an FI can ensure that its self-service channel responds to small and medium businesses’ (SMBs) needs and meets Golden Rule #1: be customer-centric.
Attracting SMB customers and driving their loyalty to fuel growth.
SMBs make up approximately 90% of all businesses globally and their number keeps growing. There has, in fact, been a rise in entrepreneurship over the last years, driven by digital transformation, access to technology, and changing market dynamics. E-commerce platforms, cloud-based tools, and social media have enabled small businesses to set up and go to market with lower barriers to entry. Many governments recognize the importance of small businesses and offer support through grants, loans, and tax incentives. SMBs contribute to nearly half of most countries’ GDP, whether they are emerging or developed markets. They are key customers for FIs and are the source of multiple revenue streams as they require a variety of financial products such as loans, credit lines, payment processing, and cash management services.
The profile of SMBs is gradually evolving as they are increasingly owned and managed by younger people. This is because Baby Boomers, who were born between 1946 and 1964, are slowly retiring and handing over their businesses to their children or younger employees. Younger people, whether they are Millennials or Gen Z, are also more entrepreneurial than previous generations and more interested in launching their own business. Hence, FIs are now facing a new type of SMB customer who expects a personalized, intuitive, and secure experience with highly available, fully featured solutions that are offered across all channels. They have grown up using mobile devices and want to conduct both personal and business banking anywhere and anytime. Hence, FIs need to ensure that their mobile app provides them with on-the-go access to the business banking features they need, such as transfers, payments, and mobile cash and check deposits.
As cash payment is still a wide practice everywhere in the world whatever the age of the payee is, young SMBs refuse to be penalized for accepting cash and are looking for a seamless experience to manage the cash received, making it a key criterion when selecting the FI they hold their business account with.
Serving the SMB segment adequately via the self-service channel.
Depositing cash with the assistance of a teller is clearly not the preferred solution for SMBs, as many of them find traditional teller hours limited and are also put off by the likelihood of having to queue. FIs have implemented specific devices for bagged cash deposits or drop-boxes as 24/7 cash deposit facilities. Yet this does not totally remove the friction as there is a delay between the time the funds are deposited and the time they are credited to an account. This also comes at a high cost for FIs, starting from the installation of the equipment to the day-to-day management, as dual custody process is required to handle the deposited cash, which means the involvement of two branch employees. So, there is an opportunity for those FIs who address SMB dissatisfaction by leveraging the self-service channel to provide frictionless journeys while reducing the cost to serve.
Automating cash deposits is an effective customer proposition for SMBs as it removes the friction from the experience while ensuring that deposits are instantaneously credited to the relevant account.
To deliver a compelling experience to users depositing large amounts of banknotes, FIs should favor devices with a large bundle capacity. Depositing coin earnings should also be facilitated wherever there is demand for it.
Deploying cash recyclers to support both deposits and withdrawals with the option to enable cash recycling will futureproof the investment of a bank or a credit union. Making sure that software installed on the devices supports accurate fitness checks/validation of each note and sophisticated counter handling rather than only looking at the device being a simple deposit machine is another winning approach.
Offering journeys where business owners can delegate cash deposits while keeping control seamlessly will also make a big difference for SMBs and be a differentiation factor for an FI. Using their banking app, a business owner should be able to initiate a deposit transaction and assign a delegate. When this is done, the delegate, once at the ATM, can initiate the deposit transaction with a QR code or One Time Password (OTP). Both the business owner and the delegate receive a confirmation as soon as the transaction is completed, and the deposited funds are available for immediate use.
Diebold Nixdorf offers a holistic approach to the self-service channel where SMBs’ and FIs’ needs are at the center. This is why we offer a broad range of cash recycling devices with many customization options and software that powers an outstanding array of banking services and provides the foundation for a successful experience. Would you like to know more about how we can ensure your ATM channel fulfills your SMBs’ needs in the most efficient manner? Let’s start the conversation.
Click here if you enjoyed reading this blog and would like to discover how the self-service channel can also respond better to consumers’ needs.