The research analyzes how financial institutions can leverage technology to improve the employee experience — and how that can bolster a customer-centric approach to banking.

NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- American Banker, Arizent's leading resource for senior executives in financial services, publishes its latest research report, Bank of the Future 2024: EX Strategies for Customer-Centric Banks. Sponsored by ServiceNow, the report assesses how financial institutions are — and are not — leveraging technology to enhance the employee experience (EX) as a pivotal strategy for bolstering customer-centric banking.

The findings reveal a growing focus among bank leaders on improving productivity, streamlining workflows and adopting technology to empower employees. This highlights the inextricable link between employee satisfaction and superior customer experiences.

"Front-line employees are critical to the customer experience, and there's an understanding that many customer-experience roadblocks stem from employee-experience challenges. Yet our research reveals a notable disparity in how bank leadership and front-line employees perceive obstacles," says Janet King, VP of Research at Arizent. "Leaders tend to focus on issues like legacy systems and data silos, while employees face daily challenges with disconnected workflows and manual processes. Bridging this gap is crucial to empowering teams and enhancing customer service."

Inadequate tools and technologies, disconnected workflows and a lack of process automation top the list of challenges cited by banking professionals, with leadership significantly more likely to see the systems associated as a challenge.

Additional key insights for the research include:

• Strategic priority on EX: 70% of bank leaders consider improving the employee experience a critical or high priority, citing its potential to enhance customer trust and operational efficiency.
• Challenges to progress: While many banks aim to adopt advanced tools, integration challenges and reliance on manual processes continue to hinder seamless employee workflows.
• AI adoption at a crossroads: Opinions are split on the pace of artificial intelligence implementation, with leadership eager to accelerate adoption while front-line employees express caution.
• Data-driven approaches lagging: Fewer than half of banks actively measure employee productivity or assess how EX impacts customer satisfaction, underscoring a need for better metrics.

"If productivity will serve as the centerpiece of EX strategies, many banks will need to lay some groundwork before they can guide and assess their efforts," King continues. "Relatively few banks are collecting the information they need to understand current levels of productivity and measure their success in improving it."

To learn more about how financial institutions are prioritizing improvements to EX, where they're willing to invest and how AI factors in, download the full report here:

Research methodology

The report is based on a survey of 224 banking professionals conducted by Arizent, American Banker's parent company, in August and September 2024. Respondents included bank leadership, functional managers and front-line employees from institutions of all sizes.

About Arizent

Arizent is a business information company that advances professional communities by providing insights and analysis and convening industry leaders. The company uses deep industry expertise and a data-driven platform to deliver its services, which include subscriptions, marketing services, live events, and access to Leaders, an executive forum. Arizent also connects business communities through leading financial services brands like American Banker, The Bond Buyer, Financial Planning, and National Mortgage News, as well as professional services brands like Accounting Today, Employee Benefit News, and Digital Insurance.

About American Banker

American Banker is the essential resource for senior executives in banking and financial services, keeping its users updated on vital developments and focusing sharply on their most important concerns — innovation, transformation and disruption; technology, regulation and reform. Financial industry professionals turn to American Banker every day and throughout the day to stay maximally informed — drilling down on complex issues, keeping up with breaking news and downloading research and data.

About ServiceNow

ServiceNow makes the world of financial services work better for everyone. Over 1,500 financial institutions globally use ServiceNow's cloud-based platform and solutions to intelligently automate processes and services across their businesses. So financial institutions can future-proof their customer experiences, employee engagements, risk management, security, and technology innovation. And we can all create the future of financial services that we imagine. For more information, visit: .

SOURCE Arizent