More and more retail and commercial customers are demanding a seamless banking experience. And it’s not just the centennials and millennials; Gen Xers and baby boomers also want immediate access to bank products and services. Financial institutions will need to leverage technology to meet these expectations if they want to retain existing customers and attract new ones.

To understand how bankers plan to attract new customers through technology in 2020, CSI, a leading provider of fintech solutions, polled banking executives from throughout the country, representing 227 financial institutions from across the asset-size spectrum. The data from this survey was then collected and used to create an executive report to help bankers get a pulse on the industry’s hot topics and strategies.

The CSI survey asked bankers to rank the technologies their institutions will use to attract new customers. The results? Bankers are digitally focused:

1. Mobile Banking Apps: Bankers know their mobile app is the best way to attract new customers. Given that a mobile app puts your bank directly in the hands of consumers, enhancing its functionality is a smart way to secure and increase your customer base.
2. Digital Onboarding: Unless you provide new customers with immediate access to your bank and their accounts through digital onboarding, it will be difficult to remain competitive in today’s landscape, much less tomorrow’s.
3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Institutions making good use of their CRM can leverage customer data to proactively offer beneficial products and services to customers, even before they realize they need them.
4. Digital Lending: Digital lending ranked the second-least important, only ahead of social media outreach. However, digital transformation is incomplete without digital lending.

Prioritizing Payments Technology

The days of cash and checks are dwindling. So, which payments technology will be the highest priority for institutions in 2020?

• P2P: There was no clear majority answer, but 31% of respondents placed the highest priority on P2P payment services. This tracks with the growing popularity and acceptance of P2P. Although it originally gained traction with centennials and millennials, it is quickly spreading to all demographics.
• Same Day ACH: This ranked at 27% by bankers and will remain prevalent as consumers’ demand for “instant” intensifies.

Spending on Banking Technology

Given the significance of technology in transitioning to digital platforms, products and services, as well as improving the overall customer experience, how will this affect technology spending in 2020 as a percentage of institutions’ budgets?

• An overwhelming 96% of respondents will either increase technology spending in 2020 or maintain their 2019 spending level. Within that majority, 64% plan to spend more.

Download the Full Executive Report

Get a full breakdown of the data from the survey, including insight on compliance, technology, talent acquisition and cybersecurity, by downloading the full Banking Priorities 2020 Executive Report.