Innovation of the month: Bank of Ireland promotes financial wellbeing
In the lead-up to the 2022 Efma-Accenture Insurance Awards, we’ve delivered a great innovation every month. This month the Bank of Ireland (BoI) is in the spotlight, with its digital wealth advisory platform transforming how financial advice is given to clients. This truly hybrid omnichannel digital model gives clients personalized and structured advice that empowers them to make better financial decisions and puts them in control of their financial future.
Sean Ó MurchúCommercial Director, New Ireland Wealth and Insurance, Ireland Bank group He says, “At Bank of Ireland, the financial well-being of our clients is our priority. Financial well-being is about having the confidence to manage your money, plan for your future and be as prepared as possible for the unexpected. The best financial advice is critical to achieving financial well-being.”
Historically, financial advisors, who work on a face-to-face basis with clients, have been the foundation of the wealth process across the industry. This model relies on paper and labor-intensive back-office functions, usually supported by various IT systems. It is expensive to deliver and not scalable. However, consumer needs are changing.
Consumers now regularly use digital tools for many of their daily banking, shopping and entertainment needs. They want to complete simple financial planning transactions online, to easily access information, and get support, as appropriate through technology or through advisors, depending on the complexity of their requirements,” says Sean.
The introduction of the new, cutting-edge BoI Digital Wealth Advice Platform ensures that clients receive the best financial advice through the channel that works best for them, whether that be face-to-face with an expert advisor, over the phone, or by in-person digitally. service. Research backs this up, showing that better customer journeys are closely linked to faster revenue growth while reducing the cost of service.
However, while delivering an advanced omnichannel customer experience may be ideal, it must be implemented strategically and with intent. To be the partner of choice for customers and to maximize efficiencies in the future, BoI continues to foster a digital culture that supports their vision of being a digital wealth company. They are doing this through the Digital Transformation Program, which will help enable digital, real-time, end-to-end integrated capability for our customers’ financial and service well-being.
This digital transformation is redefining the status quo about who qualifies for disruption in the financial services industry. Some assume that only disruptors, such as small fintech companies, can benefit from the hole in the market created by global forces, but there is no reason why incumbents like BoI should not also disrupt the market with an innovative and flexible approach.
Adds Seán: “We partnered with Ignition Advice to create the platform, a relationship that was essential to delivering the platform and meeting the needs of our clients, 10,000 of whom signed up shortly after launch. The result is a platform that is agnostic of channels, where we provide consistent financial advice to clients across the channel that This enables the client to drive their own financial well-being with best-in-class advice delivered via a truly customer-focused hybrid model.”
However, how were decision making opportunities built into the platform? Seán explains, “The bank has leveraged the data our customers have shared with us to provide them with focused and relevant information about aspects of financial advice and financial well-being that are specifically relevant to them. For example, a customer, after discovering digital facts and being subject to business rules, can set up a regular savings plan or a single lump sum investment on an entirely self-service basis.However, at any point in the process, they can choose to engage with a financial advisor via platform, over the phone, or face-to-face.Similarly, when a customer journey takes them outside our business bases, we direct them to one of Our financial advisors. The platform’s advisor-assisted functionality allows advisors to actively engage with clients across the platform to meet their financial needs across retirement and investment solutions and support the delivery of structured financial advice across a range of products. This provides advisors with the ability to digitally complete end-to-end advising journeys with their clients.”
Unsurprisingly, independent customer research shows that response to the platform’s user experience has been positive. Since the launch of the first phase of the project, the savings and direct-to-customer (self-service) investment have seen around 10,000 customer registrations and significant new business volume. A significant proportion of BoI Wealth’s new business is now delivered digitally across the platform and via its complementary phone-based live team. This is a seismic shift from a traditional industry client proposition that only provides face-to-face engagement with a consultant across multiple meetings.
Seán concludes: “Bank of Ireland is committed to becoming a truly digital wealth company, by leveraging digital, innovative and agile approaches to meet ever-evolving client expectations. Today, our digital wealth advice platform provides the right mix of technology and support from advisors, enhancing interactions Our clients through a single advisory platform, which has had a transformative impact on the Irish market.
This is a great example of customer-centric, multi-channel engagement improving the overall financial well-being of consumers
Find out more By watching a recording of our conversation Efma-Accenture Insurance Innovation Program where Sean Ó Murchú He was a guest on our panel discussion.
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