What is the right mix between physical and digital? All finance and xtech players are adopting a ‘phygital’ relationship model, seeking the right balance between the two components of a single experience.
The key is the customisation of the service model, i.e. the ability to offer distinctive journeys depending on the customer segment (affluent, SMEs and private individuals) and the product or service requested. Leveraging the right mix of physical and digital, also thanks to the use of technology. Here are the Italian and foreign experiences of the banking groups and InsurTech players who participated in the 2023 edition of AziendaBanca Day, organized in collaboration with Objectway.
Rethink the physical space for the affluent customer
Let’s start with DINN’s experiences in Georgia, which, like an innovation laboratory, accompanied a national bank in this process of differentiating the service model based on the target: private customers, businesses, and new generations. A clear objective: to build customer loyalty through a distinctive experience capable of strengthening the image of the banking brand. “SOLO by Bank of Georgia was born eight years ago,” says Andrea Borsetto, Chief Creative and Founder of DINN. A sort of private club dedicated to the affluent segment, which offers within a physical space a series of opportunities and experiences between the physical and the digital: from shopping in exclusive boutiques to travelling and consultancy. This is accompanied by SOLO and supported in asset management thanks to a network of active partnerships between credit lines, making the spaces inside the branch available to the bank’s corporate clients, to organise workshops or training courses.
Tailored to private customers
Remaining in the field of large assets in Italy, Zurich Bank has just turned one, combining Zurich’s network of financial advisers with a network of partnerships to serve customers holistically. The relationship is in the hands of the consultant, but refined by technology thanks to the digital advisory platform created with Objectway.
“Through a new platform, we have served our entire customer base, generating thousands of orders in these first 12 months,” stated Omar Campana, Chief Operating Officer of Zurich Italy Bank. “And activating what, in fact, represents the first IT asset of Zurich Bank, also developed thanks to partnerships with leading players in the technological sector, with the aim of continuing to evolve our offer. We involved the network of financial advisers in the transformative roadmap and went beyond simply listening to the customer: together with the advisers, we built, in a social logic, an offer that adapts to the needs of the most important customers, with a sophisticated consultancy model open architecture”.
Automation and data quality for a new experience
The challenge for Objectway was to implement an advisory solution for the neobank that was easy to use and capable of improving the experience of consultants and customers. Within six months, the dedicated platform for Zurich was created, allowing the automated analysis of investment portfolios from a qualitative and quantitative point of view and creating client reporting, i.e. historical performance indicators on the client to refine the analyses, with personalised consultancy models on the customer segments targeted by Zurich Bank. The platform has also built and validated over 100 thousand investment proposals, which were then accepted by customers, achieving the objective of simplifying the creation of personalised investment recommendations.
A platform for businesses and entrepreneurs
The presence of technology also extends into interaction with another customer segment, namely those of Italian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Recently, CheBanca! launched the Premier Business platform, developed in collaboration with Accenture. The objective is to intercept entrepreneurs who are already customers of CheBanca! and prospects, providing a solution capable of satisfying a company’s typical transactional operational needs. This includes the opening of an online account with digital onboarding, the payment of F24, but also the offer of financing, protection products and obviously investments, all with the assistance of a banker equipped with the latest generation platform.
“Our ambition is to create a synergy between the business customer and the entrepreneur, considered as a private customer,” explains Marco Zaffaroni, Chief Operating Officer of CheBanca!. “The platform, based on Cloud technology and open banking, is available to bankers and consultants with the aim of simplifying consultancy for entrepreneurs. However, the project also required a training plan for our advisers on business management issues in order to leverage the skills and offerings of the Mediobanca Group.”
“There are few banks that have invested in the creation of specialised platforms for SMEs,” continues Giorgio Coppola, Managing Director, Banking Lead Italy, Central Europe and Greece at Accenture. “The SME world has always been considered as an extension of private individuals. The supply deficit has shown an opportunity for some players who have largely digitised the transactional part and then tried to enter lending. But technology today is a facilitator for banks, which can create dedicated platforms to offer ancillary but integrated services to the core business.”
The phygital model for SME insurance
The pure digital model, especially when it comes to important issues such as protection, is not always the most suitable. Even more so, if we look at a segment such as that of SMEs, artisans and professionals, who have always been under-insured in Italy and who seek a comparison to obtain personalised policies.
"Italian SMEs spend 40% less on insurance protection than European ones, but consultancy is the most important element, even the price, for a customer looking for personalized solutions,” explains Ivan Pivirotto, Managing Director of Wopta Assicurazioni. “Our business model is based on three pillars: designing ad hoc solutions with insurance partners, exploiting technology and data integration and, finally, relying on a network of insurance specialists present in the area. Less than two years ago, we started with a mixed phygital business model, between physical and digital, because the target has different needs in terms of culture, risks and coverage.”
Furthermore, the InsurTech has active collaborations with CNA - National Confederation of Crafts and Small Business, BeProf - the service platform of ConfProfessioni, ConfCommercio, Hype, and Facile.it Partner, for the distribution of Wopta policies for you, also presents online in simplified versions, where the customer can request quotes with just a few data, including for example the VAT number, and then a Machine Learning (ML) algorithm processes three offer packages.
Pawn credit: apps and partners in the area
The phygital model is also found in pawn credit, where technology is a powerful enabler of the relationship: it allows us to reach an ever-increasing number of customers or potential ones. Simply with an app. The new Kruso Kapital app for pawn credit has been active for a few months; the entire process is digitalised. You can access through SPID, estimate the asset online by taking a photo and entering some information, ask for it to be collected at home, accept the appraiser’s offer, sign up (and renew) the policy, and receive the financing directly on your IBAN.
“From home, in a few days, you can obtain credit on the pledge: the historic service is virtualised in an application,” explains Roberto Casanova, Operations and ICT Director of Kruso Kapital, “and we no longer have limits linked to territoriality. We can potentially reach all of Italy thanks to the network of partners who collect the pledged goods from customers’ homes in complete safety to store them in our vaults.”
Blockchain and digital auctions to reach more customers
This is a cutting-edge process based on Blockchain, where the policies on the pledged assets are dematerialised in the form of NFTs. The pledged credit has historically been a bearer of security, so it has been translated into a unique token, note-raised on a private Blockchain. "Despite the initial hesitation, but thanks to the branches and marketing campaigns, we have reached the goal of 1,400 policies renewed every month via an app, more than 20% of the total, with a notable saving of time for our network, which is why it will also be offered to customers in the branch – continues Casanova. Furthermore, for goods at auction, over 90% of offers take place digitally, and we have expanded our customer base, counting almost 30 new customers every month.”
Pure digital bank-assurance
Bancassurance is also evolving towards a full digital model. The project is carried out by BPER Banca, which, together with its partner Unipol, has created a platform for the distribution of full digital policies.
"Our mission is to support the bancassurance objectives of the industrial plan," announces Pasquale Panzarino, Head of the Insurance Strategies Department of BPER Banca, “and position ourselves as a leader in the retail market thanks to the bancassurance division. We want to bring customers who prefer digital closer to more traditional insurance products and propose the most suitable solutions for a digital proposition, and shortly, we will launch the first completely digital bancassurance solution, dedicated to the dental world.” The task of AI, at the moment, is to improve the definition of the target of digital bancassurance and also the customer’s customer journey: in the digital world, unlike what happens in discrete insurance consultancy, it is all a question of knowing how to seize the moment and create personalised experiences. So as to increase contact opportunities and business opportunities.
The conversational virtual assistant
And if the customer needs to ask the bank a question, the technology works alongside people thanks to an intelligent virtual assistant. “Stella is our virtual assistant which, recently, has also been equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI), thus increasing its effectiveness," explains Salvatore Naous, Digital Channels of Banca Sella.
“We want to be close to our customers when and where they need us, at all times. This is possible thanks to the combination of people and technology, with the ambition of offering an experience naturally close to human interaction 24/7. Stella is available to our customers within digital channels and, recently, also in our IVR system, improving her understanding ability on a daily basis, which currently exceeds 90% of dialogues. When there are specific needs, the customer is contacted with a consultant or can make an appointment. A phygital approach that we find, for example, in the field of investments and the advisory desk service, through our Sella Invest app, the customer can finalise transactions in self mode or contact one of our consultants by calling him directly, making a telephone appointment or a video call. Technology remains a central theme, and in the Sella competence centres, we have created various use cases for AI in other areas too: from fraud prevention, to propensity models used for marketing campaigns, up to the automation of onboarding and KYC”.
The chatbot in the remote branch
Finally, for all customers who choose not to go to the physical branch, but still want to have a relationship and talk to an adviser after hours, UniCredit’s remote branch is coming: Buddy. Born as the group’s conversational model, today Buddy presents itself as a complementary model in the Group’s offering, integrating UniCredit Subito Casa’s intermediation services. And it broadens the target, addressing not only young people but all customers: it operates like a branch alongside the physical ones but using digital and remote channels.
“We start from the chat, to respond to the first needs of customers, but with Buddy revolution,” declares Barbara Tamburini, Head of Products Development and Marketing Communication of UniCredit. “Consultants will be available remotely for extended hours, even on Saturdays, in addition to the possibility to request an appointment from the network of financial agents at your home. The dichotomy between physical and digital must be overcome because the relationship we have with a self-service experience has also changed: first and foremost, it is a choice, not an obligation or a necessity, and to work, it must be based on the relationship of trust with the customer, which no one digital tool can replace. But it can be of support to enhance the customer experience: we have recently launched, thanks to AI, the possibility for customers to transfer their current account via chat using the chatbot, and in case of questions, they will be able to speak to an operator, and then return to the chatbot again to conclude the operation, with a fluid and smart experience”.
“Every day, financial advisors have at their disposal an advanced data quality system that updates all customer portfolio data, applying risk scenarios on 14 thousand instruments and solutions, for 135 thousand customers and over 500 thousand historical returns,” says Michele Tanz, Wealth Management Solution Director at Objectway.
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