FinovateSpring 2024: Rethinking customer experience and boosting diversity in financial services
FinovateSpring 2024 concluded on Thursday after a packed final day featuring several power panels and keynote speeches.
Experts discuss LatAm growth opportunities on day three of FinovateSpring 2024
These sessions covered a wide range of topics, including the future of customer experience, exploring new opportunities in Latin America, understanding the importance of diversity in financial services, and more.
Reimagining customer experience
Industry analyst and writer Steven Ramirez hosted a panel on the day discussing why reimagining customer experience is vital for financial institutions to compete in a hyper personalised world, featuring Christopher Hollins, head of solution sales and delivery at Silicon Valley Bank; Lizzie Guynn, partner at TTV Capital; and Ranjit Samra, head of product and experience for JP Morgan Wealth Management.
The panellists began by addressing the future of bank branches. They agreed that while digital engagement is becoming increasingly dominant, there remains a significant demand for the human connection offered by local branch visits.
Samra says that JP Morgan’s customers “want to engage with us in multiple ways … and our goal is to make sure all of those options are available to them”. He claims that, on average, nearly 900,000 people visit a JP Morgan Chase branch each day, while the average customer accesses their banking app 20-25 times a month.
Hollins adds that, from a commercial bank’s point of view, he and his team are working to ensure that when customers “need to come off the digital highway”, they are connected with the right people “who know what they are talking about and know how to engage with you”.
“It’s almost a paradox that the more digitalisation we actually put into the market, the more important the human aspect of advice and being able to connect becomes,” Hollins adds.
Regarding an individual’s customer experience (CX) while estate planning, Guynn echoes the sentiment that the human touch is incredibly important. “You need the human in the loop because that’s the consumer’s entire life, so to just put that in the hands of technology is very scary,” she says.
Inevitably, the discussion drifted onto the use of AI, with Guynn questioning, “Is faster better?” – which brought gasps from the audience. She noted that often in an attempt to make CX faster, you may “miss things” that are of critical importance to the business and the customer experience.
The conversation concluded with the panellists listing their predictions for the future of CX. Hollins stated he would like to see AI technology reach a point where “unstructured questions and information can be presented to us, and we give you some options based on your current situation”.
Growth opportunities in Latin America
Another stimulating panel discussed Latin America (LatAm) and the increasing fintech opportunities within the region.
“There are more VC opportunities within the LatAm market than in any other emerging markets,” argues Kyle Hepp, CEO of sports management vendor BoxMagic.
Justin Smith, the co-founder and managing partner of Recharge Thematic Ventures, elaborates on this point, stating: “Starting about eight or nine years ago, LatAm began developing a more robust private market capital ecosystem around their growth and private equity funds, which is far more robust than what you see in the GCC and even Asia.”
And it’s not only VC firms that can tap into the burgeoning fintech scene in LatAm. Juan Pablo Cuevas, an advisor on global banking at Simetrik, a no-code Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tool for financial control automation, highlights the fact that around 70% of the LatAm population is unbanked, providing a huge opportunity for both established fintech firms and start-ups.
Moreover, Hepp finds that the region’s younger generations are driving change within the banking sector, claiming that LatAm’s “younger consumers are forcing incumbents to innovate, as start-ups are coming in and providing alternative banking services”.
She also references the pandemic as a key driver for other demographics changing their mindset on “traditional services”, as it accelerated the shift away from physical branches and toward digital platforms.
Additionally, Paola Fuertes, the head of product at Neivor, a LatAm real estate start-up, reveals that the region is benefiting from a growing trend of Latin populations in the US investing in companies in Brazil and Mexico.
However, Hepp warns that for companies considering expanding into Latin America, “they need to understand that things are local, brands are local, payments are local”.
“The people that can find the opportunities and take them, are going to be the ones who understand how to adapt to that local culture, while still bringing in innovation from abroad,” he says.
Boosting diversity in financial services
And finally, to conclude this roundup, a thought-provoking fireside chat took place on the main stage discussing why diversity matters in financial services – though the takeaways apply to all sectors.
The talk featured Jim Perry, a senior strategist at Market Insights, and leadership consultant Jacqueline Baker. The pair discussed how DEI has been used as a scapegoat for banking failures over the past 12 months and actionable steps corporations and individuals can take to encourage better inclusion.
For example, Baker suggests workers at all levels should “carve out time to seek out new perspectives”, “give yourself permission to be uncomfortable”, and be willing to embrace change.
“Embracing change is truly one of the ways that we are going to attract and retain talent that doesn’t look like us,” argues Baker.
The conversation raised several poignant questions, including, “Are we really practising what we preach when we say that people are our biggest assets?” and “Are we really shifting to meet the needs of those people … even if it doesn’t mean meeting business outcomes?”
Baker ended the chat by challenging the audience to “open up doors for others”.
“No matter what role you’re in, think about your leadership legacy. Thinking about legacy is all about what you give, as opposed to what you’re out to get.”
That’s a wrap for FinovateSpring 2024! We look forward to seeing what 2025 has in store when San Diego hosts the conference next year.
