Digital banking innovation shouldn’t be reserved for the big players

In the US, there are more than 9 thousands financial institutions who are providing checking accounts which could be acting as the “primary account” for an individual customer. Credit Unions are the most numerous, but large banks dominate in terms of assets. And in between, neobanks that mostly focus on providing digital-only services try to establish a major footprint.

The competition is fierce and neobanks are not the only ones focusing on digital channels – in fact, digital channels dominate in terms of touchpoints, transactions, engagement and lag slightly behind branches only for “new-to-bank” sales.

Adoption of digital channels across the industry means that there are certain features a customer expects to see. There is also a set of elements that have been proven to provide additional value to customers, ranging from utility banking to financial advice and insights. For big banks with large R&D budgets, or neobanks built around modern technology stacks, it is relatively easy to build those features and keep up with what the current “digital banking best practices” are. It is slightly different for smaller institutions who prioritise products and community engagement over digital journeys.

This is why Bud has built a comprehensive set of embeddable widgets which are easy to integrate, style and adjust. We have deep expertise in understanding customers, analysing financial transactions and consolidating data. For big banks, fintechs or technology partners, those are consumed via API and presented in a custom-built digital experience.

Now, with embeddable widgets, every financial institution – regardless of size or technical capabilities – is in a position to take advantage of AI-driven transaction enrichment, deep customer insights and a holistic understanding of personal finances, and bring it all together into their existing user experience.

The portfolio of widgets we offer covers pretty much anything: AI-aided transaction search, rich transaction details, spend analytics, financial insights, budgets, cash flow predictions and more. And in order to help the branch or contact center experience keep track, Bud also provides versions of those intended for employees of the bank, so that both sides of the relation can benefit from the same understanding of data.

To further extend this, we also offer embeddable widgets that are dedicated to front-line employees, providing them with summaries and insights that otherwise require time-consuming preparation or would simply not be available.

The availability of easy to use visual building blocks that surface valuable information to customers is huge for smaller institutions. It means that they can continue to focus on what is important for their communities and end-users, while always being able to support that with great digital journeys that let them stay competitive. Digital channels will continue to evolve – and so will customer habits and expectations – but that doesn’t mean every financial institution must now turn into a software house. This has never been true and, with the right tools and partners, is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

Ready to start integrating? Get in touch to learn more about our widgets here.