Bank of America: Digital Evolution Demands ‘High-Tech and High-Touch’ Approach

Rich Clow, managing director and head of innovation and strategy, Global Payments Solutions, Bank of America, told PYMNTS that omnichannel demands are pointing banks toward a seamless continuum of digital and brick-and-mortar services.

Consumers are indeed embracing their mobile devices and other electronics as key points of interaction to get their banking done. In addition, banks are finding value in using financial centers to exist as key settings for clients to visit if they need to speak to financial services experts or get advice, he said.

“But these are not the same branches that your parents went to,” he said.

Gone are the days when people visited the branch to cash their paychecks or brought in their bank books. Forward-thinking financial institutions, Bank of America among them, have made it possible to schedule appointments online and to meet face-to-face to discuss specific loans or other products, Clow said.

“This helps a client avoid being in a queue, waiting for a teller, and it also helps us prepare and have the right person doing the preparation for the interaction,” he said. “The result is a much more valuable exchange,” especially when high-value transactions are involved, or when customers might feel more comfortable with other languages (such as Spanish) to be spoken during the visit.

The conversation with Clow was part of the “What’s Next in Payments” series seeking executives’ perspectives on just “what” a bank is nowadays.

High Touch and High Tech

To facilitate seamless interactions at a high level, “our clients are demanding a high-tech and a high-touch solution set,” Clow said. Financial institutions across the board need simple and intuitive solutions to meet those needs.

From his vantage point, at the intersection of innovation and payments, Clow noted that payments can lead to engagement and deepened relationships with banking clients. Artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies have proven helpful in crafting new offerings that help customers gain insight and take a proactive approach to managing their finances, he said.

Bank of America introduced its Life Plan feature, which uses AI-powered chatbot Erica to prod users to mull how to plan for and achieve goals, such as saving for college or a new home. The same technologies can help engage with consumers about how and when they might use peer-to-peer payments or tokenization to make their checkouts more secure. The wealth of data that crosses banking channels helps financial institutions understand how they can come to market with new ways to educate customers, he said.

Data and a streamlined digital interaction also can help with fraud education and prevention. Clow noted that Erica can be used to double-check, and flag, if transactions have been repeated — and help initiate disputes electronically. Additional layers of security and fraud detection can be used to introduce friction at key strategic points, such as for larger transactions, so that clients affirm they want to send money to a particular destination.

No discussion seeking to answer the “What is a bank?” question would be complete without delving into open banking. In the United States, we’ve seen the rise of aggregators and FinTechs, in collaboration with financial institutions and customers, that will enable new ways of money movement.

The future may be one where bill payments can be more widely done through account transfers, instead of using cards or ACH transactions. But the evolution will take time and rests with having the right experiences and incentives in place for merchants, billers and consumers, Clow said.

“There’s a lot of innovation, and it will accelerate,” he said. “The best solutions will be the ones that work across the banks and all the different types of client experiences and relationships.”