Organizations today face some familiar challenges to the past, but in an entirely different context. Managing customer expectations, providing excellent service, offering the right services to clients and combating fraud are all familiar to company leaders. But in an increasingly digital world, consumer demands are on the rise as individuals expect more from the companies they work with, from seamless online experiences to enhanced security to protect their data.
Many companies find themselves constantly behind and playing catch up. The reason? Out-of-date data management systems. These aging systems make it difficult for organizations to keep massive amounts of data in order, leading to mistakes and missed opportunities to do better business. They also leave companies at risk—criminals seek out these systems, relying on the fact that organizations won’t be able to identify fraud quickly or easily enough to prevent fraud before it happens.
These are significant challenges, but challenges that companies can, in fact, manage with the right systems in place.
Countless organizations find it difficult to cope with high volumes of customer inquiries, managing accounts and investigating fraud. They generally struggle with this due largely to aging IT infrastructure that keeps their data siloed and nearly impossible to navigate. As the digital world and new technology surfaces, businesses learn that their technology is now increasingly out of date, and if they don’t fix it, they inevitably fall further and further behind in being able to best manage customer needs and to keep their data safe.
A single financial institution, for example, often handles tons of different customers across different parts of their business–think lending, wealth management, etc. Traditionally, even though these business units are under the same financial institution name, they don’t talk to one another, which can provide headache. Clients change addresses, add members to their accounts, and work from multiple devices on a daily basis. However, without the right data foundation in place, it’s not uncommon for banks to send account statements to out-of-date addresses or interact with customers without precision, jeopardizing client relationships.
It’s not just that organizations are making errors with their current customers and the products they use—they’re also missing opportunities to encourage clients to engage with other products and services.
For example, it would be in the best interest of a bank to know whether one of their customers has a child studying overseas. Having this context in place will help make for a smoother experience for the current customer, reducing the likelihood money transfers will be incorrectly flagged as fraudulent. It will also present a decision-making opportunity for the bank to bring in the student as a new, separate customer, increasing product engagement.
