Businesses Enhancing Consumer Experience With Latest In Financial Tech

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When we think about services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, and other streaming platforms, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Convenience. 

When we talk about these different platforms, it’s always about the handpicked shows based on our preferences, same-day or one-day shipping, and the satisfaction of knowing our favorite songs are readily available at a moment’s click. They all provide an excellent and personal customer experience, which is the main thing—if not the only thing—that keeps consumers coming back time and time again. 

While we mostly use this trait—the convenience of immediacy—to describe entertainment apps, we are beginning to broaden the scope to include our finances as well—and fintech companies are taking notice. 

Financial technology is unlocking a stronger connection between businesses and their customers. Dealing with finances can be a sensitive subject. There’s always risk involved with giving another device, application, or company access to your banking information. You would never give your hard-earned money to someone you didn’t trust, and yet, many of us record our credit card or banking information in our Amazon accounts—or Netflix, or Spotify. So what compels us to trust these companies and so many others with our most confidential information? 

Part of the answer is frequency bias. These brands are so prevalent in our culture and so visible that we trust them. We figure that if they were untrustworthy, then millions of other customers would make it known. 

The other part of the answer is the customer experience (CX). CX is inexplicably connected to trust and the consumer’s overall impression of a company’s services. It is the interaction you have with the company from the time you access their website, platform, or location, through your purchase and/or use of their services, and beyond. Each time we choose a show to binge on Netflix, their easy interface helps us trust them as a business. Each time our Amazon package arrives on time, with our card correctly billed, our trust deepens. The role CX plays is never to be underestimated. 

And now, we are seeing fintechs increasing their focus on CX, and some are even leaning into the convenience of immediacy akin to their entertainment and shopping counterparts. 

Improved CX With Fintech Innovations

Besides physical exchanges, digital interactions have extended the borders of customer relationships. The more convenient customers find the CX of a product or service, the easier it will be for a brand to attract and retain customers. Some companies are taking the focus on convenience past just having a simple-to-use interface and are customizing their products for specific groups or niches. 

Nearside, for example, is a financial services provider and neobanking platform that launched a new app specifically for aspiring business owners. Nearside Sprout enables users to start the process of turning any business idea into a formal business in just 5 minutes. Nearside helps small business owners incorporate their businesses, register an EIN, and provide ongoing registered agent services and monitoring, all through one easy form. For entrepreneurs, the quality of their Nearside Sprout digital experience may be the determining factor in whether they explore the company and its other offerings further. 

Another element of CX today is the ability to do it yourself. We want to be able to access our account and make changes in an instant, just like we can change our address in our Uber app or update our preferences on Pandora. And the same is true for money. People want to feel in control of their money, now more than ever. They want to be able to apply, receive, and start using a credit or debit card in minutes. They want to transfer money instantaneously by tapping an icon on their smartphone. And while apps like Venmo are making this a reality in the consumer space, since the way we work has changed remarkably, how we handle our paychecks and income should too. 

Fintech companies like Dwolla are trying to meet this new demand by enabling companies to pay their workers as soon as they complete a shift, rather than having them wait for weekly paychecks. 

Account-to-account transfers help businesses across various industries take back control of their money and how it’s spent. With a daily payment option, Uber drivers, DoorDashers, and other gig workers can receive on-demand pay rather than wait hours, days, or weeks—something that should already be the standard for the gig economy.

Sometimes in the rush to create experiences, we outrun technology. Netflix and other streaming services needed AWS and others to amplify internet and processing speeds to make what we now take for granted a reality. And we’re seeing this play out in the same way in the financial sector. Consumer desire is for faster, easier and better CX, and companies are scrambling to make this happen, with a few rising above the rest.  

As we continue to go about our daily lives, convenience and seamless customer experiences will always be anticipated and expected, and the companies that don’t step up will get left behind. What once sounded crazy or farfetched—like buying a car with a text, grocery stores without cashiers, or paying bills through social media—now, in hindsight, seem visionary, innovative, or just “the new normal”. And companies need to continue to think outside the box to capture the attention, trust, and loyalty of today’s consumers. 

One company that’s thinking outside the box and heading out to left field is FIS, a leader in cloud-based fintech software. They’ve announced that they are integrating payments technology with The Washington Nationals this baseball season so fans can quickly pay for tickets, food, beverages, and merchandise. While the audience pool is limited to a single team’s fanbase (for now), it’s a bold move and a sign of things to come. Enabling “grab and go” experiences without traditional checkouts, all while leveraging data in a safe and secure way, may just become the next frontier of shopping and entertainment experiences. 

Fintech innovation is at the heart of next-gen banking. Life is already stressful and tedious enough without having to worry about money. Fintech companies at the front of the pack are stepping up their CX-game by creating fast, personalized, and convenient experiences that prioritize customers. 

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.