What are your future clients doing right now?... (Part 4/6)

Mik Cons, CEO of moneyinfo Limited

Let’s have a look at where we are going to be in ten years’ time.  Here’s our Business Development Director, Sim’s nine year old daughter graduating from Apple summer camp this year. They taught her how to produce a movie with an introduction, credits, soundtrack and visual effects all from an iPad. No surprises what she’ll be asking for this Christmas!

These guys have the power to engage someone before they even have the purchasing power to afford their products. They have invested their time, effort and resources into her knowing she will be a future customer and it’s likely they will maintain the technology relationship throughout her life. Who can say that in financial services?
 
We know that businesses invest in their staff but who can say that they are truly investing in their customers of the future? Even if you think you are, are you confident you are not making massive assumptions on what you think the next generation will want? And whatever it is that you are investing in, are you confident it is capable of meeting their expectations as they grow?
 
Everyone seems to be talking about robo-advisers. However great they may seem to us, we need to remember that we still think the introduction of the PC, email and the internet are really cool new ideas. We can see how robo-advisers are making access to investment management cheaper and more convenient. But to Millenials, is this really what they expect from financial services?
 
Sim’s daughter doesn’t think Netflix and i-Tunes are a better way to access her music or watch a movie, this is all she has ever known. What are we doing as an industry to meet this level of expectation?

"Robo’s are great for people who know they need to invest. Most people don’t..."

Robo’s are great for people who know they need to invest. Most people don’t.
 
Even if people know that they need to invest, they then have to type in a lot of info about themselves (essentially an online factfind), before they see value in return. Is this really going to meet their expectations?

Tomorrow’s clients are already used to a high level of accessibility, choice and no effort… I suppose what I’m trying to say is that there's been no i-phone moment in Financial Services yet.

Right now you can pick up your phone and see your email, social media, your calendar, your music, watch a video, listen to a podcast and so on by simply entering in your PIN or using your fingerprint.
 
Imagine having that for financial services …

• being able to enter your login credentials for your bank account and credit cards and have access to all the transactions;
  
• using your national insurance number and DOB to retrieve details and valuations of your investments, savings and pensions from any provider;
• having your property tracked using house price data from Land Registry;
• and even more importantly organising all of the associated paperwork automatically

"Investing should be as easy as using your fingerprint to identify you..."

Imagine accessing all of this information in one place and investing money using just your fingerprint. No ID verification. No account opening process. No entering payment details. Investing should be as easy as using your fingerprint to identify you.

Nothing that we are talking about here requires new technology but in creating the solution you are re-engineering the client experience. No more paper-based factfinding, complex reporting, paperwork or irrelevant communications. That’s how you re-engineer financial services through digitisation.

Now think about the consequences. In the near term, you start with re-engineering your current processes but longer term you completely open up new possibilities on how to deliver smart personalised advice.

In my next article, I‘ll give you some examples of what’s working in the US and the reasons why building a digital relationship with your current clients should be your number one priority.

Mik Cons - CEO
moneyinfo Limited

If you want to offer your clients their financial services iPhone moment,  talk to us  at Sammedia and we’ll show you how our technology will complement your advice service.

Get a demonstration of our award winning moneyinfo client portals by signing up  to one of our regular webinars.