Swiping right on banks: the quest for digital excellence in financial services

Most consumers expect their bank to be as cutting-edge as their smartphones and as intuitive as their favorite apps. They demand seamless, personalized and innovative digital financial services.   

Imagine trying to transfer money using a clunky, outdated mobile app that crashes mid-transaction, or waiting in line at a branch because the bank’s website is down. These frustrations are deal-breakers for consumers who have other options at their fingertips at a time when fintech startups and digital-first challengers are disrupting traditional banking models.

When banks fail to keep up with the latest technology, they risk more than just losing customers. They also jeopardize their reputation and their relevance in an increasingly competitive market.

Staying at the forefront of technology is therefore a must, which is why a large bank in South Africa decided to modernize their network by working with a managed network provider as part of their cloud-first strategy.

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The genesis of the relationship

The journey started about two years ago when the bank put out a request for proposals and NTT DATA stepped in to help them navigate their digital transformation.

At the time, the bank’s market share had begun to wane because network outages and poor technical performance had affected customer trust.

To show we understood the bank’s desire to pivot toward a more agile, reliable and cloud-centric model, we drafted a white paper that set out the prevailing market challenges and technological opportunities for financial services providers in South Africa.

We also shared assessments of our cloud and network services, conducted by leading analysts such as IDC and Gartner, to position ourselves as both a vendor and a strategic partner.

Tailored solutions for specific needs

As the discussions progressed, it became clear that the bank needed an innovative approach to their main underlying issue: their digital backbone. They also struggled with talent retention in their IT team and could not keep up with the rapid changes in the technology landscape.

This led us to introduce our platform-based service model, which would augment the bank’s in-house IT team with advanced operational support. The service included a focus on AIOps – the AI framework for IT operations that’s designed to improve observability and provide insights that prevent network outages. We would also provide full visibility of the bank’s ecosystem in one place.

Further engagement led to discussions about contractual agility. The bank needed a strategy that would allow it to adapt its services agreement over time as its business goals shifted. We proposed a service model that was flexible enough to meet this requirement.

• ALSO READ → Modernize your network to succeed in multicloud networking

How the bank benefited

The impact of this collaboration was profound. NTT DATA delivered a transformative network modernization plan with a focus on efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Preliminary estimates showed that the bank could achieve savings in the range of 35% to 40% through our service model.

Such a significant reduction in costs played directly into the bank’s operational metrics, especially its cost-to-income ratio, which is critical for institutions in the financial sector.

Our services model – which is based on local insights and backed up by global expertise – allowed the bank to apply international best practices in the South African context, and our close partnerships with technology vendors like Cisco enabled cost savings of up to 25% in licensing fees and hardware purchases.

We also improved operational transparency and accountability within the bank’s operations by implementing real-time data sharing as part of integrating third-party services such as those of a major connectivity provider.

5 takeaways from the experience

The NTT DATA Middle East and Africa team also learned valuable lessons as we got to grips with the bank’s operational priorities and unique culture:

1. Listen, listen, listen: Continuous engagement with the bank made us more adaptable in our approach. Our ability to understand their North Star from the start and pivot quickly as they shifted their business objectives was fundamental to the success of the partnership.
2. Understand the culture: A deep understanding of a client’s operational culture is vital for crafting effective solutions. Each client’s digital transformation is informed by their historical context and operational maturity.
3. Foster collaboration: It was essential to build relationships based on trust and understand the business priorities of all stakeholders within the bank. This laid the foundation for a cooperative partnership with a balanced approach to commercial, operational and business risk.
4. Innovate to reduce complexity: The complexity of the financial services industry pushed us to think creatively about service delivery, particularly the integration of shared services and advanced technologies like AIOps.
5. Find the metrics that matter: Client satisfaction and cost savings were the most compelling metrics for the bank, and our ability to deliver these from day one helped to win us the contract.

Who’s next?

Our collaboration with the bank shows the transformative potential of strategic partnerships in financial services as new technologies continue to disrupt the industry.

We are confident that our unique combination of global expertise with a local touch positions us perfectly to shape digitally resilient financial institutions that earn their customers’ trust.