By Roy Urrico
Finopotamus aims to highlight relevant white papers, surveys, analyses and reports that provide a glimpse as to what is taking place and/or impacting credit unions and other organizations in the financial services industry.
Consumers provided contrary viewpoints when it comes to the immediate future of their digital banking journey. In a new survey, Lightico found more than six of 10 respondents less likely to bank face-to-face in the future, but two-thirds revealed that broken digital experiences forced them to complete their banking offline.
These were among the discoveries in a new survey, “Data Trends in Banking 2021 — Back to Normal or the New Normal,” in which New York City-based digital completion platform firm Lightico polled 1,037 consumers June 17-20, 2021 via an online survey panel.
The new banking data showed other trends, expectations, experiences and the lingering effects of the pandemic in digital banking that financial institutions need to keep in mind:
· Forty percent would be less likely to attend to a banking or financial task if it required visiting a branch.
· Eighty percent feel having to complete an interaction offline after starting it online reduces the chances of their finalizing it.
· Seventy-two percent want more all-digital/remote processes from financial institutions in the future.
· Ninety-five percent of consumers trust their financial institution to keep their data secure and private.
· Responding to “Which type of banking interaction do you feel is most secure?”: 56.9 %, chose face-to-face; 15.6%, app; 12.6%, website; 6.1%, for both drive thru and phone; 2.7%, email.
· In response to the statement, “In the future, I am likely to visit my bank branch,” only 37.5% said more often. Responses from the rest: 40.9% (less often); 15.7% (I will avoid face-to-face banking); 5.9% (only visit if mask and hand sanitizer available).
· Consumer spending on finance and savings is set to increase more than any other category with 44.6% expected to focus on finance and savings. Another 27.5% and 24% are respectively zeroing in on home and car ownership.
“Broken digital journeys might sound like an inconvenience but today it is a business blocker, with 80% of consumers saying they might not complete an interaction that started online and was redirected,” Zviki Ben Ishay, CEO and co-founder at Lightico, said. “Current members and even more so the future members at credit unions are looking to take care of their finances easily, on their own terms, sometimes in branch, but most often on their phone or computer with a few clicks.” He added, that can be a challenge given the limited budget available for technology. “Ultimately, credit union leaders need to focus on making smart investments in tech that is easy to implement and provides a good ROI in terms of efficiency and customer satisfaction."
CapitalOne Ventures Makes Second Lightico Investment
In a separate announcement, Lightico received an additional $15 million Series B funding round led by Capital One Ventures, bringing the total round to $27 million. Joining the round is Poalim Capital Markets as well as previous Lightico investors: lool Ventures, Crescendo Venture Partners and Mangrove Capital Partners. Capital One Venture’s financial investment in Lightico, its second in less than a year, comes after scaling Lightico’s digital solution to fully digitize its own customer-facing interactions.
The funds will support the rollout of Lightico’s Digital Completion Cloud, Lightico’s Digital Completion Cloud allows companies to gather e-signatures, collect documents, identify and verify customers (ID&V), accept payment in an app-free, secure manner through a simple collaboration window opened on the browser of the customer’s smartphone.
“Capital One seeks to consistently provide the best possible digital experience to its customers, and Lightico has been a valuable partner in keeping Capital One Auto Finance at the forefront of our industry,” said Steve Braskamp, senior vice president in Capital One’s Auto Finance division.
Adam Boutin, partner at Capital One Ventures, added: “Traditional e-sign and e-contracting solutions weren’t built for the millions of B2C, consumer-focused interactions that happen every day. Today, companies need to offer start-to-finish journeys that match consumer expectations, allowing them to complete everything from auto loans to insurance claims with just a few clicks on their phone. Our investment in Lightico is a result of the demonstrated value of the company’s platform, the rapidly accelerating adoption of Lightico’s Digital Completion Cloud, and its enormous market potential.”
“The growth we’ve seen over the past 18 months has been incredible and the value of enabling consumer-facing businesses complete their journeys digitally and quickly has been proven time and again in terms of real ROI,” said Lightico’s Zviki Ben Ishay. “We’re excited that Capital One continues to be part of our vision of creating effortless, efficient and digitally complete customer journeys will become a reality.”