Even before the pandemic, the financial services industry was grappling with “disruptor” brands — digitally native challengers that deliver innovative experiences across products and services to make customers’ financial services easier. They offer products and features that surpass consumers’ expectations, like personalization or seamless integration with other accounts and services. With their commitment to meeting customer needs, they’re elevating consumers’ expectations of banks, insurers, and payment providers altogether and, ultimately, changing what it means to be a trustworthy financial service brand. As the uncertainty of COVID-19 wears on, the stage is set for a dramatic acceleration of these trends.
In the end, early adopters and mainstream financial decision-makers want and need the same things: financial wellness and security. It used to be that trust in established financial services came from good stewardship of customers’ money. Now, trust is increasingly driven by good stewardship of the time and effort customers put into managing their financial lives. The future of finance industry trends will be shaped by brands that build experiences deserving of consumers’ trust.
