In late 2012, China Guangfa Bank (CGB), in cooperation with TANG, launched the design of a new-generatione-bank. The cooperation marks the first in-depth thinking and innovation revolutionary in China’s banking industry from the perspective of customer experience.
Two to three years beforethis, China's banks achieved product development from zero, and exciting business development through emerging e-mobile channels (such as smartphones and tablets). Meanwhile, old e-channels (self-service equipment like ATMs)began to face pressure from innovation and technological progress. Against this background, CGB captured two core issues:
1. What does thenext-generation e-bank look like?
If we consider all existinge-banks as a 1.0 version product, we'll see that it is simply a list of business functions. Banks are preoccupied with display and sale, instead of customer experience and real needs. Take a simple example, when dozens of wealth products (savings, wealth management or fund, etc.) that a bank throws to the customers are rejected, it will recommend other products according to its own will. In contrast, customers’ needs are quite simple; they just want their money to appreciate. Most of them neither have time to study financial products of all types, nor have much faith in banks due to their propaganda for their own interests.
One-way thinking can neither help us build a steadier customer relationship, nor explore the potential of customer value. So when we begin designing e-bank 2.0, we start from customer needs.
2. What is the innovation in cross-channelservices?
Although new electronic equipment and channels emerge endlessly, banks still use the simplest ways to address the increase of channels, that is, copying the functions and services of the original channel to new ones. Many banks hope that online banking candeal with all personal counter services and that mobile banking should have all the functions of online banking. The result is the loss in features, lack of cooperation between channels and repetitive and low-efficiency in customer services. So, the issue we need to address is not just the design of a client, but the cross-channel layout of banking services as well as how to provide customers with integrated intelligent services through different channels with distinctive features.
Research & Exploration
Faced with such a large, new issue, we started a 7-month research and design journey with CGB. We spentone and a half months conducting qualitative research on more than 10 users infour cities nationwide and repeatedly analyzed and discussed with CGB about each customer need and cross-channel strategy. Through joint efforts, we’vebuilt a complete cross-channel service system and finally completed a detailed design of the new-generation of tablet and self-service banking.
CGB’s new tablet and self-service banking will overturn existing business-based design thinking in the industry. What we are trying to achieve is the win-win of business growth and customer experience. The new designs will be gradually launched from early 2014.
