Polski
The September meeting of the FTB Technology Breakfast series has come to an end. Representatives of the banking and IT sectors met in the historic building of the Polish Bank Association’s Banker’s Club to discuss the technology that is key to understanding the future changes in bank branches. The event was hosted by a team of experts from Ailleron, LiveBank, and Accenture Poland, a company specializing in tech consulting, cloud services, and cybersecurity.
Włodzimierz Kiciński, Vice President of the Polish Bank Association, opened the meeting with a strong emphasis on the imperative for the banking sector to align with the evolving expectations of modern, digitized customers. He also pointed out the need to evaluate the efficiency of bank branches in the context of current market changes.
During his presentation, Mateusz Grys, LiveBank Cloud Product Manager at Ailleron, argued that modern technology solutions are invaluable in the daily work of bank employees, providing tools for more efficient sales and upselling.
Another intriguing topic discussed during the meeting was the optichannel concept that organizations, including banks, adopt to provide a seamless and integrated customer experience across various communication and service channels. As part of this strategy, banks establish a consistent customer journey, whether the client accesses their services at a physical branch, through online banking, mobile apps, or other channels. The idea behind optichannel is that recipients switch between channels based on their needs and preferences while banks maintain continuity of interaction, information flow, and service quality at all these touchpoints.
The transformation of branches is driven by changing customer expectations, ongoing technological advancements, high operational costs associated with maintaining traditional branches, and the increasing popularity of hybrid work models, which also impact bank advisors. The digital evolution process should minimize inconveniences customers may encounter during in-person visits. It’s crucial to reduce waiting time for consultations, optimize the extended customer journey that starts from leaving home, and ensure a personalized approach from advisors, as Mateusz Grys emphasizes.
Piotr Piątosa, COO and Vice President of Ailleron spoke about streamlining processes and optimizing access to bank branches to provide customers with convenience, simplicity, and quick service.
Maciej Jopyk, Managing Director at Accenture Poland responsible for Strategy & Consulting, discussed the growing impact of artificial intelligence on the financial sector and introduced global trends in the evolution of bank branches, such as smart branches and the metaverse.
Jakub Bogusz, Managing Director of the Retail Banking Department at ING Bank Śląski, shared some valuable insights. Referring to the implementation of LiveBank Cloud, he explained that the bank’s response to employees’ concerns about introducing modern service tools was a series of training sessions conducted by the LiveBank team. As a result, these worries were dispelled, leading to high satisfaction ratings for the remote channel, both among agents and clients. Currently, ING uses Ailleron’s mortgage servicing and sales solution, with plans to expand collaboration into other domains.
Representatives from both the Ailleron and LiveBank teams were also present at the meeting: General Manager Łukasz Byrski, Senior Solution Advisor Zbigniew Glinka, Business Development Manager Maciej Mazurkiewicz and Key Account Manager Daniel Walczyk.
We want to thank all participants of the FTB Technology Breakfast for their enthusiastic involvement, engaging discussions, and valuable insights on the challenges and opportunities of implementing innovations in the banking sector.
