Financial Services sector leads the way when it comes to implementing digitisation plans

21th Sept 2021

by Maintel

LONDON, UK, 21th Sept 2021, Financial Services (FinServ) is an industry that is often thought to lag behind others when it comes to digitisation, but it is actually leading the way in implementing digitalisation plans. This is according to new research by Maintel, in partnership with RingCentral, which looks at using unified communications and digitisation to improve customer experience. For instance the survey shows that 35% of those surveyed within the FinServ sector claim to have fully implemented their digitisation plans, compared to just 26% in other industries. 

However, other industries are seeing the benefit more. The results show that respondents’ perceptions of the success of their organisation’s digital initiatives are higher in other industries than in the FinServ sector, coming in at 6.9%, compared to 7.3% across other industries.

Customer experience is the top factor for FinServ

The report found that the top three benefits of digitisation within the FinServ sector were customer experience, customer insights and technology upgrades. The fact that most of these are customer-centric emphasises a clear focus on user experience for the FinServ industry. There is also a clear opportunity for the industry in how it communicates with customers.

 A much higher percentage of other industries talk to customers through social media platforms. For example, 55% of other industries communicate with customers through Twitter, compared to just 30% in the FinServ sector.

With 60% of FinServ respondents reporting a greater increase in demand for digital communication from customers because of the pandemic, there is a real opportunity for FinServ to grow its digital communication channels.

Other key stats from the report include:

  • While most industries are suffering a skills gaps, FinServ reported that only 15% see lack of expertise & skills as a challenge, compared to 25% for other industries
  • Unsurprisingly, remote working levels are high across the board, but this is particularly true of the financial services sector, with 60% of respondents from the sector entirely working from home; this is 11% higher than other industries
    • When asked how remote working levels will change once social distancing measures are abolished, 35% of FinServ respondents predict that remote working levels will be far higher than pre-Covid-19, compared with 45% in other industries. For all sectors, 5% or less believe that levels will be far lower than pre-Covid-19
  • 40% of FinServ companies rated operating costs as the biggest challenge of digitisation, compared to just 18% in other industries

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