We sat down with Jonathan Jewett, Vice President of Sales for the North-East U.S, after a busy second day at Bank Customer Experience Summit 2018.
Hi Jonathan. So, what’s being going on since we last spoke?
Well, we finally moved into our new offices in Boston. So, we’ve been busy setting up and contacting our clients to let them know that Vizolution has officially arrived in the US. It’s an exciting time! I have also, of course, been attending events like today’s Bank Customer Experience Summit 2018.
Could you tell me a little more about BCX Summit 2018?
It’s an event aimed at providing bank executives with insights into financial trends, and highlighting technology that could help financial institutions capture the next generation of consumers, so, of course, we're very excited to be attending.
How has it been so far?
It’s been great! On the first day’s opening keynote session, Suresh Ramamurthi, Chairman of CBW Bank, talked about how banks were missing opportunities to offer services to address customers’ pain points because quite often their technology was lacking.
As such, he advocated strategic working relationships between financial institutions and fintech start-ups to empower the delivery of next generation banking services. It was very insightful.
Today I went to a great breakout session in the morning called ‘Clicks and mortar: how banks can better service their customers in a digital world’ featuring panellists Andrea Boone, executive director of EY, and Aaron Frydman, EVP/CIO of Partners Federal Credit Union.
At Vizolution, we know that despite there being a growing number of users who bank digitally, there are still significant numbers who prefer the benefits of face-to-face interactions, especially for complicated transactions that require high levels of reassurance.
It was interesting to hear some of the ways that financial institutions are making the in-branch experience more appealing, including transforming branches to resemble retail stores, deploying interactive touchscreens, and even introducing robot greeters.
Very interesting. It is indeed imperative for banks to keep one eye on the future, if they wish to prosper in the present. Have there been any other standout seminars and sessions?
Absolutely, the ‘We’re in this together: How to turn customer relationships into partnerships’ panel session was very insightful.
Andy Joneson, VP of Information Technology at Members Cooperative Credit Union, Joe Militello, VP of Engineering at Hyosung, and Erik Nilsen and VP of Product Management at Fiserv discussed how account holders are now in the driver’s seat in this new era of banking and how financial institutions should think of themselves as customer partners, not simply service providers.
This is a philosophy we’ve had at Vizolution since we started.
Customer journeys, in particular, should be designed with the customer in mind, taking every step to make their experience, whether in branch, online or on the telephone, as intuitive and personal as possible.
Customers now also expect to be able to complete their journey in their channel of choice, setting the terms of their own journey rather than being forced through a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
Well, thanks for taking the time for speaking with me. Hope you enjoy the rest of the event!
BCX Summit 2018 is taking place from Sep 12 – 14.
