One size does fit everyone.
But creating individual portals for each customer segment eats into
the budget and is time consuming. So software developer Backbase
created an app store for banks with access to pre-built
functionalities. Jouk Pleiter, Backbase CEO, tells Duygu Tavan what
the app store is about
Go deeper with GlobalData
B2B software developer Backbase has
launched an app store for banks, in cooperation with Thomson
Reuters and Strand Personal Finance, whose apps are supported in
the app store. The app store is available via the vendor’s Backbase
Bank 2.0 Portal.
Jouk Pleiter, CEO of the
Netherlands-headquartered vendor, says: “In today’s Web 2.0 world,
banks need to offer a superior online customer experience that goes
way beyond offering an online transaction capability alone.
“In order to be customer-centric
and optimise the online customer journey, financial services firms
need to be able to create the right blend of functionality and
content to serve their customers in a more personal way,” he
adds.
Pleiter told RBI that the
app store’s main benefit to banks is the enhanced – and faster –
marketing opportunity, because banks will not need to develop apps
themselves.
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By GlobalData“Banks can choose from a selection
of pre-build functional components which they can then configure
and integrate with their own portal,” he explains.
“The Backbase app store is like an
ecosystem – we provide the widgets, but third-party vendors do
too,” Pleiter says.
In additional to available apps,
Backbase offers banks the opportunity to develop their own apps –
that, according to Pleiter, “is the whole idea”.
“My size fits
me”
“We help banks become the Apple or
Amazon of banking. Banks’ customers are getting an excellent
experience on Amazon or Apple, but the problem is that banks’
internal IT systems are not as flexible, so it is extremely
difficult [for them] to deliver the same kind of quality
experience.
“Our key proposition is that we
introduce a new presentation layer on top of banks’ core
systems.
“With the concept of widgets, we
help banks to ‘widgetise’ their internal functionalities and launch
into fresh, easy-to-use functional components.”
However, Pleiter emphasised that
the purpose of the app store was not to sell; typically, banks,
such as ABN Amro, ING and Barclays who deploy the vendor’s
platform, offer the service for free.
“Most banks today have a
one-size-fits-all type of website. With the widget approach, the
theme is ‘my size fits me’.
“We started to refer to this as an
app store because people can use it like a buffet. Banks can make
their capabilities more modular, more app-like, and thus enable
customers to customise to their personal banking portal
experience.”
The app includes categories such as financial news and data,
personal finance management, financial planning and budgeting.
