There is no doubt that the covid-19 pandemic has had a major influence on the entire world. For more than a year, we have been affected by the pandemic, and it looks like we are still going to live with the virus for a little while. During this past year, we have been in lockdown for the majority of the time, and we have not been able to do all the things we normally enjoy doing. As a result, many people have been working from home or have even lost their jobs and are struggling to pay bills.
Businesses have also struggled to survive, and the pandemic has made it even more difficult for many startups like Prekredit to succeed with their business. Due to the pandemic, the world is transformed, and it will most likely never go back to the way it was before the pandemic.
This means that we have to start figuring out how to adapt to the post pandemic world. This also includes the financial services who need to make changes in order to fit into this new world. Read the article below and find out how financial services are adapting to the post pandemic world.
A shift from physical to digital
During this past year, we have had to practice social distancing and avoid seeing too many people. This means that a lot of things have been adapted to digital versions. For the financial services, the covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift from physical to digital channels because it has not been possible for customers to visit any banks physically.
This means that there are now more users of e-banking and less users of physical banks. Even though there will always be people who prefer to visit their bank in person, many people have also come to realize the benefits of digital channels, and therefore the financial services have to take this into consideration in the post pandemic world. This might mean that the financial service firms need to create new ways of working in order to be available to their customers when they need it. This could be something like having more focus on being reachable during the entire day and not just in the normal working hours. As customers get used to doing things the digital way there are created new needs that the financial services need to fulfill.
A great customer service is important
It has always been important to provide good customer service, but it feels like it has become even more important in the post pandemic world. For financial services, great customer support is important and in the post pandemic world, it seems like the financial services need to redefine their strategies and go beyond the traditional services. Financial services need to recognize that their customers’ needs and expectations have changed. They are now, or should be, implementing programs that are meant to improve customer engagement.
This way they can expand their ecosystem, create value and become a part of their customer’s daily life. This means that the financial services need to help customers whenever they need it with for example trips, business and personal financing trends. In general the role of financial institutions has become more important than ever in these times. This is especially the case in the countries that are badly hit by the covid-19 pandemic. When possible, financial institutions can help provide liquidity, necessary forbearance and support to their personal customers who are going through temporary difficulties in their finances.
Cost efficiencies
During the covid-19 pandemic, many people have struggled with their finances and even the financial services have been affected negatively by the pandemic. In the post pandemic world, the financial services need to optimize and increase their cost efficiencies in order to rethink and maximise their productivity. This can also lead to new partners who might not be traditional, but who can help the financial services to create value propositions for their customers.
Innovation
Financial services, as well as all other kinds of organisations, also need to learn from their experiences with doing business in the midst of covid-19. It is an opportunity to rethink their business and how they operate. This means that many financial services are trying to think of new technologies, ideas and also capabilities to help them restore and grow after the pandemic. Rethinking your business and how you operate as a financial service firm helps to achieve innovation, get results, discover new ideas and foster collaboration in a new way. All in all things that can help enhance and optimize the institution both short- and long-term. Financial services are basically optimizing how to deliver in the present while still anticipating and being ready for the future. As tragic and horrible as covid-19 is, the way it is pushing organisations such as the financial services to rethink and redo the way they do business might be beneficial to some financial service firms in the end.
Employees
As well as before the pandemic, the well-being of the employees in the financial service firms need to remain a central part of their overall strategy. It’s a fact that the way a firm treats their employees has a huge effect on their general wellbeing as well as their motivation, productivity and loyalty to the firm. In the post pandemic world, employees might have other needs than they had before. Financial service firms should support these needs that the employees might have by being supportive in a very vocal way when it comes to possible changes that the employees might need to make in regard to e.g. work arrangements so they can fulfill the responsibilities that they might have to their communities or families post pandemic. The changes can for example be in the form of working more often from home. Happy employees who feel seen, heard and supported will keep the financial service firms running. There are financial service institutions across the globe are already making pretty big changes to their current working arrangements which helps them to be able to keep delivering the services that they need to their customers.