Independent Banker - July 2023 - 58

Too often, an inconsistent digital
experience stems from " a lack of
communication between different areas
within a bank, " Wein says.
3. Figure
out who
owns what
2. Make
omnichannel
a priority
Updating Ledyard's digital image
meant harmonizing the various
interfaces so that there was a single
look and feel for online and mobile
users, says Parisi.
" Going from a desktop to a
mobile device shouldn't be a
scary proposition, " he says. " An
omnichannel approach is important. "
One way to foster consistency is
by creating what Wein calls " change
management guardrails, " or a written
set of standards for color schemes,
the flow of information and other
key elements of digital design. " As
changes occur, they have to line up
with certain standards, " he says.
An omnichannel makeover
extends beyond the cosmetic. It's
also important, Wein says, to make
sure information, such as account
balances, is rapidly updated across all
channels. Customers expect whatever
information they supply online to be
available when contacting call center
and branch employees.
" Whichever channel you interact
with, " says Wein, " you want to be able
to switch to a different channel in real
time and know that the transaction
integrity is retained. "
Although this common breakdown
has historically plagued larger banks,
community banks
are not immune. " A
lot of community
banks are growing
and/or merging with
other community
banks, and that's when it becomes more
problematic, " he explains.
The solution, says Wein, is simple: Assign
ownership of the digital experience to a
C-level executive. Having a single leader at
the helm makes it easier to view the digital
experience holistically.
4. Rethink your website
With so many glittery new arrivals out there, from online account
opening software to ChatGPT, it would be easy to neglect the humble
website. But this would be a mistake, especially given the heavy traffic
bank web pages see.
Last fall, Honor Bank in Honor, Mich., overhauled its site, rebuilding
" from the ground up, " says Norman Plumstead, president and CEO of the
$380 million-asset community bank. It scrapped an estimated third of
website content to make the search experience more streamlined.
" You sometimes had to click three or four or five separate times to get
an answer about business banking or mortgages, " recalls Plumstead.
" It wasn't good for SEO [search
engine optimization], and more
importantly, it made the website
harder to use for customers. "
Making the site more intuitive
was an exercise in " addition by
subtraction, " he jokes.
Creating a user-friendly
website is " a huge opportunity, "
agrees Fiserv's Stewart
Russell. She recommends
envisioning your website " less
as brochureware and more as a shopping experience. " Here, her guiding
star is Amazon, which often presents shoppers with a number of similar
choices, allowing them to base decisions on features as well as price.
" Think about needs and comparatives on your website, and make
everything actionable, " Stewart Russell says. " Doing so can be a relatively
light lift with a big return. "
58 // ICBA Independent Banker // July 2023
Independent Banker - July 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - July 2023
