Blog

3 strategies to help FIs survive in a mobile payments world

June 19, 2013 by Dan Kramer — Senior Vice President, Marketing & Merchant Servic, SHAZAM

With mobile wallets providing potential opportunities to work just like credit and debit cards, many financial institutions are wondering, "Could we lose a significant portion of our business?"

What's more, some mobile providers could even begin to offer products similar to traditional FI products … at less cost.

Still, FIs do have an advantage over many other companies who are interested in the mobile payment industry: They have an "in" with customers. And, if FIs are proactive and work to establish a foothold in this emerging industry, they will come out on top.

To survive in the mobile payments world, FIs should consider these three actions:

1) Integrate mobile — Time is of the essence. In the mobile world, instant gratification is a must. FIs must consider adding new mobile platforms and training customers to use them. If your institution is unable to do this on its own, partnering could be the answer.

2) Rebuild loyalty — The financial crisis, unfortunately, did some damage to the reputation of FIs, particularly with regard to customer loyalty. FIs need to find a way to access emerging customer analytics to make relevant offers to customers that will keep them with the institution.

Specifically, smartphones emit what's known as "data exhaust." This is a trail of valuable data that can assist FIs in identifying customer's interests and needs. Consider layering analytics over this data stream in order to reward customers for their spending patterns and/or loyalty.

3) Redefine success — Customers don't fit into neat little categories anymore. It used to be that a customer could be an online user or a mobile user or none of the above. The FI must shift from a product-based focus to an increased emphasis on engagement. This means offering customers the right products at the right time, no matter how they enter the FI or access their accounts.

Employing these three strategies could likely make all the difference for FIs that wantnot just to survive, but also to thrive in the evolving mobile payments world.

About Dan Kramer

---

None

Connect with Dan: