In the fast-paced world of 2024, financial institutions are at a pivotal crossroads. The burden of legacy technology, with its intricate web of systems and platforms, stands as a formidable barrier to innovation and customer satisfaction. As customer expectations continue to evolve, banks are beginning to realize that the time for change is now.
The solution? Embracing a unified platform that streamlines operations and enhances the customer experience. Here are four benefits to embracing unified banking technologies:
1 – Detangle Legacy Systems
The tangled mess of “legacy spaghetti” within financial institutions is more than just inconvenient; it’s a strategic impediment. With each disparate system comes the need for maintenance, integration and data reconciliation—all of which consume valuable resources. In today’s competitive banking landscape, these inefficiencies can no longer be tolerated. The urgency to resolve these issues stems from a growing recognition that a streamlined infrastructure is vital for agility, innovation and customer retention.
2 – Customer-Centric Benefits
Leveraging a unified platform is not just about operational efficiency; it’s about redefining the customer experience. By consolidating core banking, payments and value-added services onto one platform, banks can offer a seamless experience that resonates with the modern customer.
Forrester found that direct banking customers who feel valued, 87% plan to stay with their bank, and similar percentages plan to bank more with and even advocate for their bank. A holistic approach means that customers are no longer just an account number—they are individuals with unique needs and preferences that can be met with personalized services and offerings.
3 – Data Efficiencies and Actionable Insights: The Lifeblood of Innovation
In the data-driven age, the ability to quickly harness and act on insights is key to growth. A unified platform eliminates the silos that once made data collection and analysis cumbersome. With a comprehensive view of customer interactions and behaviors, financial institutions can now uncover growth opportunities and devise smarter products that truly enhance the user experience. The power of a unified data architecture that is built around the end user (the banking customer) cannot be overstated—it transforms data from a static asset into a dynamic tool for innovation.
4 – Drive Hyper-Personalization
To truly personalize the customer journey, technology must be leveraged in a way that goes beyond generic offerings. Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands at the forefront of this shift, providing the analytical horsepower needed to deliver hyper-personalized experiences. By integrating AI with a unified banking platform, banks can anticipate customer needs, tailor services, and offer relevant solutions in real-time.
This level of personalization is not just preferred—it’s expected by today’s savvy consumers. According to Forrester, 72% of customers rate personalization as highly important in financial services. And banks that consistently optimize the customer experience grow 3.2x faster than competitors that don’t.
As we look towards the future, it’s clear that financial institutions must adapt, or risk being left behind. The journey from legacy spaghetti to a streamlined, unified platform may seem daunting, but it’s a necessary evolution for banks that aspire to meet the ever-changing demands of their customers.
The benefits of such a transformation are manifold: enhanced customer experience, operational efficiencies and the ability to leverage actionable insights for growth. The question is not if banks should embark on this journey, but how quickly they can navigate the course to remain competitive in the dynamic world of finance.
Want to learn more about how you can win the race against outdated technology? Check out the on-demand webinar, “Digital Transformation in 2024: Why Fix the Legacy Spaghetti Now?” to hear from our expert panelists: Jane Cooper, Finextra Researcher; Marco Eijsackers, ING Head of CIO; Ben Kefting, Cross River, Chief Customer Success Officer and Jacqueline White, i2c President.
i2c is a global provider of highly-configurable payment and banking solutions. Using i2c's proprietary "building block" technology, clients can easily create and manage a comprehensive set of solutions for credit, debit, prepaid, lending and more, quickly and cost-effectively. i2c delivers unparalleled flexibility, agility, security and reliability from a single global SaaS platform. Founded in 2001, and headquartered in Silicon Valley, i2c's next-generation technology supports millions of users in more than 200 countries/territories and across all time zones.
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