The impact of the digital revolution on the interrelation between financial institutions and their customers

Abstract

The technological revolution has given a strong impulse to the financial industry in relation to gaining new clients and managing the relationships and communication with them.

It is a fact that digitalization has had a lower impact on high net worth individuals (those whose financial wealth is over one million euros) than on retail clients. There are several reasons for this, amongst which are the following: wealthy clients need advisory on their portfolios and, therefore, it is necessary to hold regular meetings with their banker and advisors. Additionally, these clients are usually older than those that belong to the personal and retail segments.

The technological revolution allows clients to be more autonomous and to execute a larger number of financial transactions since they do not need to go to a branch, they have access to all the products and services through their online account and can do it via their cell phone, tablet or laptop. Therefore, it is a win-win scenario both for the financial entities as well as for the clients.

Two of the main challenges banks face are the recovery of the prestige of the industry and to raise awareness amongst clients of investing part of their savings in sustainable investments to obtain a yield and to attain a positive impact on the environment.