Banking corporates should bet on a good digital experience

It has not been easy for Corporate banking, considering the rising risk costs brought about by the pandemic-driven stumbling of the global economy and geopolitical tensions.    

Corporate banks must pursue a digital strategy to stay competitive

It has not been easy for Corporate banking, considering the rising risk costs brought about by the pandemic-driven stumbling of the global economy and geopolitical tensions. 

For that reason, there is increased pressure on corporate banks to reinvigorate their customer-facing business processes.

Digital transformation seems to be an emerging force rather than pervasive in corporate banking. However, only a minority of incumbents have fully embraced digitalization so far, and corporate customers are digitally underserved compared to the retail segment.

Numerous commercial banks fall short in providing digital services, particularly for SMB clients. SMBs wish to manage all their banking and financial matters digitally, yet many believe they are not currently receiving an adequate digital experience from their financial institutions.

That is why, financial institutions that successfully address the needs of corporate and small business clients are well-positioned to capture substantial opportunities. McKinsey forecasts a strong 9% annual growth in global banking revenues for 2024 and 2025, with corporate clients being key drivers of this expansion.

While acknowledging the necessity of digital transformation and securing funding is crucial, that alone is not enough to ensure a digital future. Corporate banks need to deeply understand what their clients truly desire. Is it efficiency? A seamless digital customer experience? In this article, we highlight the key areas corporate banks should focus on, along with a case study of how Coast Capital is leading the way in corporate banking in Canada.

Enhanced digital user experience 

Since retail banking users experience the benefits of simple, frictionless digital offerings in their daily lives, it is time for financial institutions to offer the same to their corporate clients. Customers, whether from retail or commercial banking, have put the bar higher in terms of digital expectations.

But are they really looking for?

1. Efficiency

Most corporate banking leaders highlight efficiency as the key benefit of digital transformation. Completing a corporate client process can take as long as 100 days and necessitates gathering up to 100 documents and information to fill out 150 data fields. Automating routine processes such as data entry and other manual processes reduces time and costs and enhances customer experience.

Although in-person interactions remain significant, many can be efficiently handled through a seamless, omnichannel experience available on various devices. This meets the expectations of digital clients and reserves face-to-face meetings for situations that demand more in-depth consultation.

For example, Generative AI can simplify routine tasks such as loan processing and risk assessment, enabling human employees to focus on more complex and significant activities. This can reduce operational costs and improve service delivery.

2. Personalized experiences

Today, account holders anticipate personalized banking experiences at every turn. AI can significantly improve customer service by tailoring banking experiences and enhancing relationship management through smarter and more empathetic customer interactions.

Financial institutions that adopt a comprehensive transformation incorporating AI in customer interactions, decision-making, core technology, and organizational functions are well-positioned to enhance customer engagement and satisfaction.

This approach ensures that investments in AI and data infrastructure translate into tangible benefits across the bank’s services and operations, optimizing both customer experiences and internal efficiency.

3. Intuitive digital journeys

Financial institutions need to enhance the experience of account holders right from the beginning, starting with the onboarding process. Typically, onboarding a corporate client is lengthy, intricate, and labor-intensive, often involving tedious manual data entry, which can deter potential clients.

By utilizing AI-driven document extraction, pre-filled search fields, and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, this process can be streamlined to decrease client turnover and boost customer satisfaction. Financial institutions should also aim to condense the process into the least number of steps.

Banks that want to enhance their onboarding are advised to start with addressing know-your-customer (KYC) bottlenecks, which can account for up to 40% of the total time taken to complete the process.

McKinsey & Company, Winning corporate clients with great onboarding.

 

The people working at businesses and corporations are well-used to these gold-standard processes. They are increasingly demanding onboarding experiences that are fast, seamless, customer-centric, and automated. Banks that meet this need will be in a strong competitive position in 2025 and onwards into the future.

How Coast Capital is leading digital in corporate experience?

With the launch of the digital commercial banking platform, Coast Capital made huge strides in improving the digital experience for its business members. Designed to revolutionize the way business members manage their finances, this cutting-edge platform provides enhanced flexibility, increased efficiency, and superior account management capabilities tailored specifically for business needs.

Faced with unique challenges in the commercial banking sector, Coast Capital sought a comprehensive, adaptable solution that could address complex requirements such as account grouping and account management, automated bulk transaction capabilities, and seamless integration with Canada’s tax system to simplify day-to-day financial operations.

When it comes to Corporate Banking, Coast Capital applied the same dedication to innovation and member-centric design from its retail solution.

Importance of Payments

In early 2024, Coast Capital adopted a strategy to directly engage with Interac, opening up exciting new opportunities for the company. This move introduced enhancements not found elsewhere in the credit union system.

The most popular features among all the existing options appear to be eTransfers, external account transfers, account origination, and overdraft protection (ODP), all of which experienced a notable increase in revenue. These features not only generated significant financial returns for Coast Capital, but they also played a crucial role in client retention and increased deposit levels.

Leveraging ebankIT’s cutting-edge technology, Coast Capital’s business members can now utilize a range of effective digital tools that enhance their operational efficiency and save time. This partnership strengthens Coast Capital’s competitive edge by establishing a solid technological base for growth, flexibility, and responsiveness to changing consumer demands.

ebankIT can help accelerate your digital transformation

ebankIT is the key to achieve a fast digital transformation. The omnichannel platform is core-agnostic and has a modular architecture that allows financial institutions to meet the specific needs of both retail and business clients, whether through adding new features or scaling up as the institution grows.

This flexibility helps financial institutions stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital payments landscape.

1. Real-time transactions

The ebankIT platform provides a user-friendly experience, allowing customers to easily make instant payments through mobile devices, wearables, and internet banking. ebankIT helps financial institutions offer a fast, intuitive, and secure way to handle payments without relying on outdated methods like cheques.

ebankIT supports real-time payments through integration with various instant payment networks like SEPA (EU), Interac (Canada) and other regional payment systems. This enables clients to send and receive funds immediately, keeping pace with global trends.

2. Security and fraud prevention

ebankIT incorporates advanced security features such as customizable OTP validation, biometric authentication, Push notifications, SMS tokens, among others, to protect digital transactions from fraud, making instant payments safer.

This is crucial for building trust with businesses and shift away from cheques and other slower, riskier methods of payment towards digital instant payments.

3. API integration

The ebankIT API gateway allows financial institutions to integrate with third-party services and other fintech companies, enabling quicker and more adaptable payment solutions. It also permits clients to link multiple accounts and simplify transactions across various banks.

By adopting ebankIT’s platform, corporate financial institutions can quickly align with their account holder's standards for digital banking, offering clients the convenience, speed, and security they now expect.