Just before our upcomung CEE24 SME Banking Conference, I asked Andras Rung – Founder, CEO & UX Strategist at Ergomania – about AI and its role in improving SME Banking. Read our conversation below.
Olena Gryniuk: What are the current trends in UX and UI in business/SME banking?
Andras Rung: There are a lot of them, just mention the main ones:
- Cashflow forecasting tools: Helping businesses predict future cash flows for better financial planning.
- Peer comparison features: Allowing businesses to benchmark their performance against similar companies.
- Balancing simplicity with detailed overviews: Creating a streamlined interface without sacrificing necessary complexity.
- Radically reinventing outdated UI patterns: Modernizing legacy interfaces and processes to improve usability.
- Borrowing from retail UX: Adapting simple, intuitive retail banking experiences while managing the complexity of business needs.
- Multiple views for different personas: Offering tailored dashboards and experiences based on roles (e.g., CEO, accountant).
- Sophisticated approval and rights management: Enhanced control and approval workflows for financial transactions.
- Better handling of international business operations: Improving support for multi-currency and cross-border transactions.
- Integration with Accounting and ERP Systems: Seamless integration with popular accounting software and enterprise resource planning systems for unified financial management.
- Mobile-First and Responsive Design: Prioritizing mobile accessibility to cater to business users who need to manage finances on the go.
- AI and Machine Learning Personalization: Leveraging AI to provide personalized insights, financial advice, and anomaly detection.
- Advanced Data Visualization: Interactive charts and dashboards that make complex financial data easy to understand and act upon.
- Open Banking and API Integration: Enabling third-party developers to build applications and services around the financial institution’s offerings, increasing flexibility and customization.
- Chatbots and Conversational Interfaces: Offering instant support and facilitating transactions through AI-powered chat interfaces.
- Real-Time Notifications and Alerts: Providing immediate updates on account activities, transactions, and important financial thresholds.
- Voice-Activated Services: Incorporating voice commands and assistants for hands-free banking operations.
- Sustainability and Ethical Features: Highlighting green banking options and ethical investments within the user interface.
- Gamification Elements: Using game design elements to increase engagement and encourage positive financial behaviors.
- Collaborative Tools: Features that allow team members to work together within the platform, such as shared notes or transaction comments.
- Regulatory Compliance Assistance: Integrating tools that help businesses stay compliant with financial regulations through automated reporting and alerts.
- Predictive Analytics: Utilizing data to forecast market trends and provide proactive financial advice.
- User Education and Onboarding: Interactive tutorials and tooltips help users navigate complex features more easily.
Olena Gryniuk: What is your experience with banks in the CEE region? What are your latest use cases in helping banks improve UI and UX when serving SME customers?
Andras Rung: If we put it structurally, I’d say the following:
- Transformations are slow but steady: Banks in the CEE region tend to adopt changes gradually, but progress can be accelerated by integrating SME teams with retail experts who bring fresh perspectives.
- Mixing retail and SME expertise: Combining insights from retail banking teams with SME-focused efforts often leads to innovation and improved customer experiences.
- Scarcity of best practices: Best practices for serving SME customers are still rare, and when they do exist, they are not always shared transparently across the industry.
- Innovation is often blocked: Outdated business thinking and limited IT capabilities pose significant barriers to adopting modern UX/UI improvements for SME banking.
- Heavy reliance on legacy systems: Many banks still operate on outdated core systems, making digital transformation and UX improvements more challenging.
- Lack of customer-centric approaches: There is often a gap in understanding the specific needs of SME clients, leading to designs that are more focused on internal processes than user experience.
- Missed opportunities in cross-functional teams: Cross-functional teams, combining product, IT, and design, are underutilized, leading to slower implementation of customer-focused solutions.
- Potential of fintech collaboration: Partnering with fintech companies can help banks overcome internal limitations and bring innovative, user-friendly solutions to SMEs. On the other hand, it is difficult to align the UX of these integrated solutions with the overall offering of the bank.
- Customer feedback loops are minimal: There is a lack of consistent feedback channels with SME customers, which slows down the ability to iterate and improve services quickly.
- Need for personalized solutions: Many banks still offer generic services instead of personalized tools that cater specifically to the diverse needs of SME clients.
Olena Gryniuk: How can AI help in building better banking products for SMEs?
Andras Rung: AI can play a crucial role in improving banking products for SMEs by offering personalized, timely, and proactive solutions.
- Personalized product recommendations: SMEs often don’t know what financial products are available or how to use them effectively. AI can analyze financial behavior and suggest relevant products when needed, such as offering factoring solutions to SMEs experiencing cash flow challenges.
- Proactive needs detection: AI can detect early signs of financial needs by analyzing not only banking activities but also non-financial behaviors, helping SMEs discover relevant products before they even know they need them.
- Analyzing customer conversations: Banks gather large volumes of text data from customer interactions. AI can process and analyze this data to uncover new needs and trends, which can inform product development and improvement.
- AI-driven micro-surveys: AI can conduct ongoing micro-surveys by asking one question at a time within mobile or internet banking, gathering valuable user feedback without overwhelming busy SME clients.
- Automated customer support: AI-powered chatbots can offer SMEs immediate assistance with financial questions or advisory services, making product usage easier and more intuitive.
By using AI to understand and predict SMEs’ needs, banks can offer smarter, more responsive products and improve user satisfaction.
Olena Gryniuk: How can AI help in making better customer service for SMEs?
Andras Rung: AI can revolutionize customer service for SMEs by offering personalized, efficient, and multilingual support.
- Tailored solutions for diverse SMEs: SMEs differ greatly, yet most receive a one-size-fits-all solution, often an oversized retail banking interface. AI enables banks to offer personalized interfaces and functionalities. A fishing company may require different user journeys and tools than a law firm, and AI can adapt services to match these unique needs.
- Quicker, standardized support with AI chat and voice: AI-driven chat and voice solutions can provide fast, consistent responses. Unlike retail customers, SMEs prioritize efficiency over the human touch. AI can handle complex queries outside of regular office hours, giving businesses the quick responses they need, without the cost of extensive human support.
- Multilingual support for globalized markets: As Central European countries become more multinational, SMEs increasingly require English-language interfaces. Many banks offer limited or poor-quality English support. AI can enhance multilingual capabilities, offering seamless communication and service for non-local users, and ensuring higher language accuracy and consistency.
- Proactive customer service: AI can anticipate problems or needs by analyzing SME data in real time. This allows banks to offer solutions before SMEs encounter issues, whether it’s advice on cash flow management or compliance support.
- Scalability and cost-efficiency: AI allows banks to scale their customer service offerings without the need for large teams. This enables cost-effective, high-quality service for SMEs that may have complex needs but cannot justify the expense of dedicated human support.
AI brings flexibility, efficiency, and enhanced communication to SME customer service, addressing their diverse needs more effectively.
Join the CEE24 SME Banking Conference to meet Olena Gryniuk and Andras Rung on November 15 in-person in Vienna.