How banking CIOs can create more digital customers in 2024

How do financial institutions view their Chief Information Officers (CIOs)?  Is the CIO the person to call when a computer doesn’t boot or the network is down?  Are they the people who source all your hardware, software, and IT services?  Is the IT department that group of “techies” with offices next to the freezing computer room?

CIOs are more than technical resources. Initially, they may have been responsible for implementing and managing computer technologies that delivered tools and information for use within a company.  Today, CIOs must be more strategic.  They can no longer exist in an IT silo, where keeping the computer systems running is their only task.   

Without technology, financial institutions would not exist.  Their delivery channels depend on technology.  Whether it is the banking system in the branch or the mobile app on a smartphone, financial services are tied to a technology-based delivery channel.  That’s why CIOs need to become:

• Collaborators
• Innovators
• Integrators

The more CIOs participate in the planning and implementation of strategic initiatives, the more integrated the solutions will be.  The more integrated the solutions, the better the customer experience. 

Banking CIOs as collaborators

Consumers are looking for consistent user experiences across all delivery channels.  Without a CIO’s participation in the development and implementation of omnichannel delivery, financial institutions will have difficulty meeting that demand.  Letting CIOs spend more time working with customer-facing departments helps them understand the consumer.

Some financial institutions are implementing customer-centric functions within IT so technical staff can see firsthand how the technology works.  For example, consumers using an institution’s mobile app became frustrated if they had to contact the bank by phone.  Their frustration came from having to call the bank from outside the application.  A percentage of customers or potential customers exited the app and never returned.   

Working with IT, marketing was able to identify the problem and implement a simple solution.  A feature was added to the mobile app that allowed the end-user to call the financial institution from within the application.  From that collaboration, a strategic CIO could evaluate other delivery channels to ensure a consistent customer experience. 

Using enterprise data and analytics, a CIO can identify ways to personalize product offerings and increase cross-selling opportunities.  To be effective, CIOs need to collaborate with marketing as well as executive management to turn the data into actionable insights for business growth.

Banking CIOs as innovators

CIOs must be innovators who identify ways that technology can improve the internal workings of a financial institution.  Often, banks are so focused on customer-facing solutions that they fail to realize that transforming back-office systems could result in improved customer experiences.  

The dependency on older systems forces employees to jump from application-to-application to complete a customer request.  Accessing multiple applications slows the process for the customer and increases the chances of incorrect or incomplete data appearing in different systems.   CIOs need to act as innovators who are rethinking traditional banking models to leverage new technologies to improve the customer experience.

Stepping outside the computer room lets CIOs use their technical expertise to set strategic directions for digital transformation.  As recent research has indicated, about 70% of CIOs said that the corporate culture was a primary obstacle to digital growth, and 66% indicated a lack of commitment from the financial institution limited the success of a transformation.

For many institutions, innovation means new products and services, which translates into IT involvement.  At the same time, organizations fail to look at innovation in internal operations.  CIOs are in a unique position to champion new technologies that can make a more effective and efficient back-office that result in a better customer experience.

Banking CIOs as integrators

Trying to marry legacy systems with emerging technologies can be a CIO’s worst nightmare, especially if the CIO had limited involvement in selecting new technology.  CIOs have to become integrators who can guide the evolution of a bank’s infrastructure.  They cannot do that if they are not part of the process of defining an institution’s business strategy.

How many projects have taken twice as long to complete because IT was not part of the planning process?  During the planning phase is when CIOs can use their technical expertise to identify the best solutions for implementing emerging technologies in legacy infrastructures.  They can evaluate different solutions to determine which ones best meet the strategic initiatives of the bank.

With more solutions coming from third-party vendors, CIOs must learn to manage these relationships.  They need to make strategic decisions as to what skills to foster in-house and what capabilities can be out-sourced.  They have to understand how the vendor relationships can contribute to a collaborative environment where innovative solutions can thrive.

Careful integration of vendor-supplied solutions can help move a financial institution closer to its goal of digital transformation.  Only if a CIO is part of the process can integration occur.  Knowing the strategic objectives makes it easier to decide what technologies are best suited for a bank’s goals.

Meet the strategic CIO: bringing technology and business goals together

Making CIOs a part of the strategic planning team within a financial organization means expanding their role to include:

• Collaborating with executives to create a strategic vision for transformation
• Instilling digital discipline across the enterprise
• Delivering operation efficiencies
• Focusing on customer experience

Organizations that follow this formula find their technology teams deliver 24% higher profitability.MIT-CISR research. 

What does no-code development have to do with this?

As CIOs look for solutions to address strategic initiatives, they should consider no-code solutions that can deliver:

• Digital Discipline
• Operation Efficiencies
• Customer Experience

Using a development platform that enables individuals to create apps without a technical background, CIOs can address crucial initiatives for profitability.

No-code brings business and technology together

No-code solutions can keep innovation and customer satisfaction as the focus for employees across the enterprise.  Helping non-technical workers become more familiar with technical tools brings a greater understanding of how technology can benefit an organization.  However, it is still IT’s responsibility to ensure that everyone understands the essential development processes.

No-code boosts operational efficiencies

Doing more with less is a constant reminder of how limited resources have become.  Financial institutions must assess every aspect of the organization for opportunities to cut costs while moving towards a more digital future.  No-code platforms are perfect in such an environment.  They let subject experts develop solutions to meet customer needs with little to no IT support.   Less support enables CIOs to focus on the overall business strategy instead of a single application

No-Code Improves Customer Experience in Banking

When customers want a change, they want it now.  Whether it’s the ability to view more accounts or to complete loan paperwork, CIOs need tools to deliver new features as quickly as possible.  No-code solutions make for an agile enterprise.  Changes do not have to go through a labor-intensive development cycle.  Instead, employees can create solutions that address consumer demands quickly.   No-code tools can deliver new digital products ten times faster by using templates and pre-existing components that an institution can customize.

If you are looking for ways to move your CIOs into a more strategic role, EasySend’s no-code solutions can help.  With its feature-rich solution, CIOs can spend more time envisioning the digital transformation to increase a financial institution’s customer base.