The Extract from Extractable is a condensed roundup of digital experience news for financial services institutions and our take from San Francisco.
How to combine Agile and Strategic Planning
Myles Suer, Director Solutions Marketing at Alation, has a great article on CMS Wire that looks at the conundrum many organizations have when applying agile: How do they combine their strategic planning process with a working agile methodology?
Suer quotes former CIO and author Isaac Sacolick,
I’ve seen many approaches to strategic planning, but most companies struggle to translate 3–5-year plans into execution. Planning on M&A, new markets, and global expansions still can require a 3+ year planning horizon, but transformation, innovation and operational efficiency should need to be accomplished over a shorter period. Transformations need to be planned and executed with 6–18-month horizons with 1–3-month release cycles. The problem with longer planning horizons is you need a feedback loop to realign priorities and to adjust to new opportunities to changing realities.
When we work with our clients on digital strategy, we aim to build a 3-5 year plan at that point in time. However, it is meant to be a dynamic roadmap that is adjusted continuously. As we move to execution, and that often means using agile, we work to keep agile’s scrum and epic planning processes in sync with an overriding dynamic, long-term planning horizon.
Suer gives his recommendations on the “14 Things to Put in Place to Achieve Organizational Agility.” Our readers should check it out.
The Importance of Digital Banking Above All Channels
When we talk to banking consumers, they used to tell us that branch proximity was their number one reason for choosing a bank. Lately, however, we are hearing a change. That change is reflected in a new survey by Glassbox. Two thousand people in the US and UK were asked about their banking preferences. “79% of total respondents (prefer) to manage their finances digitally on some level, while 51% use digital banking options once a week or more.” Furthermore, “only 43% of American respondents placed value on human interaction.”
Yaron Morgenstern, the CEO of Glassbox, notes:
Our findings highlight how with ample banking options on the market, a lack of an exceptional digital experience can affect financial institutions’ bottom line. More importantly, the results expound on how largely relevant it is for banks to adapt and transform their digital presence to keep up with consumers’ ever-changing digital needs.
Does this jive with your thinking? It does with ours.
Top Applications of AI in Financial Services
Just a few years ago, the financial services industry seemed to be at a loss of where to apply AI. Machine learning algorithms were being applied to loan underwriting or fraud identification but always seemed to be just making recommendations, as banks relied on people to confirm the algoritithms suggestions. Today, we are seeing more applications of AI in financial services, as noted by Jyoti Gupta, Marketing Manager at Quytech, in an article in CustomerThink.
Gupta lists her top 6:
- Early Fraud Detection and Prevention
- Analytics
- Customer Support
- Better Risk Management
- Helps to Make Informed Choices
- Reduces Paperwork
What else would you add to that list?
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