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John Tuach
IT Strategy Solution Architect, Seven Investment Management LLP
Behaviours are changing. We’re not just competing within our industry and our peers but with other industries too. Customer expectations have changed, and you have to be able to offer the same kind of service they have come to expect on other platforms.
How have client behaviours changed in your market over the last few years and how do you see this evolving?
The pandemic caused an acceleration across multiple aspects of the industry. Many companies embraced omni-channel communication, digital signatures, and multi-factor authentication before the pandemic, but adoption wasn’t universal. Now, it is generally accepted that digital is the way forward. Not just from a technology point of view, but also from a sustainability point of view: the more digital we can be, the better we are across the board.
Behaviours are changing. We’re not just competing within our industry and our peers but with other industries too. Customer expectations have changed, and you have to be able to offer the same kind of service they have come to expect on other platforms. It's not good enough to say, “our peers are still manual, so we can be too”. You've got to think broader than that.
If you don’t get the user journey right and you don't get digital, the next generation is not going to go anywhere near you. The new generation are technologically literate and they will shop around to find a solution that meets their needs. People are used to dealing with apps like Uber and Just Eat that have been specifically designed with user experience in mind. We have to be ready.
How great is the competitive threat from fintechs and what can established organisations do about it?
Fintechs are absolutely a threat. We should always be aware of what's happening in our industry. It would be foolish to ignore it.
When I was a child, we used to have a bank manager who would come into school. I would hand over 50p from my piggybank and give it to the bank manager who would cash it in for me. Now, I’ve got a 14 year old son who wants a bitcoin wallet — how the times change!
There are challenges for these banks too, but with the speed they operate on and the ease at which they target clients through social media, it's easy for younger people to get on board. They’re more attractive than long-term investing which, while important, isn’t very attractive.
Where we, as an industry, can make a difference is in family planning and family wealth. We already have a foot in the door by providing a good service for parents and grandparents, let's not lose it by failing to adapt.
Where we, as an industry, can make a difference is in family planning and family wealth. We already have a foot in the door by providing a good service for parents and grandparents, let's not lose it by failing to adapt.
Get rid of the paper and make it simpler for people, then start on the more complex functionalities. Just don’t do nothing.
What changes need to be made to digitally transform client processes?
There are so many elements of the technology stack that allow us to be more efficient. Password managers for example, no one wants to manage passwords, and now we don’t need to. It's just becoming easier and easier.
Companies should start with the hygiene factors. Opening accounts or transferring funds across our industry isn’t easy when you have multiple forms to go through, digital and paper, it takes two or three weeks. There are still a lot of companies that haven’t digitised these processes. Doing so wouldn’t be a value add, they're hygiene factors, and if you don't have them, you’re going to fall behind.
Get rid of the paper and make it simpler for people, then start on the more complex functionalities. Just don’t do nothing.
About Seven Investment Management
7IM (Seven Investment Management) is an investment firm founded in 2002. Priding itself on its client relations and ease-of-service, 7IM provides technology and financial planning to help individuals, professional partners, business owners, and entrepreneurs reach their aspirations by making their investments simple.
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Assured Thought is a quality assurance and software testing company for financial services firms in the UK, Europe and beyond.
With the right QA testing strategy, access to the right tools and resources, and the support of high performance specialists, you can accelerate the growth of your business and reap the rewards in a complex world.
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