Customer data ‘as important as capital’ for banks

The report, Banking the Customer Experience Dividend, by KPMG Nunwood, warns that the UK’s biggest banks risk eroding profitability through poor customer service. 

The report was based on a survey of 10,000 people and aimed to determine Britain’s top 100 consumer brands. It found that overall, the banking sector was performing well, with six banks (First Direct, Skipton Building Society, M&S Bank, Nationwide, Santander and Halifax) all making the top 100 list. But the biggest banks did not feature, leading the analysts behind the report to warn of a ‘millennial time bomb’ if they continued to delay transforming their customer service offerings. 

The report suggested that the key to this transformation would be to start with the customer, rather than the product; in this way, it stated, data is now ‘as important as capital’ as it allows greater personalisation for each customer. 

“The banking landscape has been disrupted by technology which appeals to new generations of customers, and the changing regulatory environment has opened the door for challenger banks to emerge," said Mark Guinibert, head of banking customer and growth consulting at KPMG UK.

"So change cannot be deferred until tomorrow, banks must keep pace now or risk significant erosion of their revenues and profitability over time.”