Can AI Help Marketers Meet Gen Z's Rising Expectations?
A new generation of customers, an evolved technology stack, with the continued philosophy of customer-centricity — what does the new marketing strategy look like for the BFSI sector?
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Ferdi Anggriawan, Vice President of Growth at Allo Bank, believes that once the issue of the ubiquity of payment acceptance from both offline and online merchants has been fixed, the industry will look forward to centralising all payment history for credit scoring, which can be used to determine individuals’ risk profiles.
He thinks the future of payments is more about utilising the payment history rather than end-to-end integration. “Getting your payment enabled inside super-apps, services, and other channels would be just the start of something big & exciting,” says Anggriawan. End-to-end integration is becoming the future of everything finance. The definition of digital finance has become equivalent to convenience and speed. While people have long been accustomed to conventional banking methods, the new customer comes from Generation Z, and this is a segment of customers who prefer having services at their fingertips and would take little time to switch providers upon experiencing even a single negative customer experience.
Besides speed and efficiency, customers are now preferring a consolidation of services, products, channels and payments. With the retail industry moving towards super-apps and the unification of facilities, the future of payments is changing.
Retention Or Acquisition?
Amidst this changing landscape, the principle of customer-centricity continues to be a core aspect of marketing efforts. For banking organisations, there are a multitude of factors that customers judge a bank on. Customers want a simple, seamless experience, which comprises the banks having an understanding of what the customer wants, for the customer to be heard and responded to on time, and for them to see clear value in the products or services they use. Anggriawan says the key to successful and sustainable growth is prioritising retention over acquisition.
Retention versus acquisition is a question marketers have long debated on. Is it beneficial to retain a customer or to acquire a new one? Depending on what industry you are in, the answer can vary. In the current economic climate and for the BFSI sector, Anggriawan says if you miss strong customer-centric products and services at the core of your marketing retention program, there’s no point in scaling your acquisition.
“It will just bring more detractors into your ecosystem.” At Allo Bank, he adds, the brand promise has always been about simplicity “in both the ways we deliver our product features as well as the way we reach out to our fellow customers.”
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence
As banks move forward with accommodating the changing topography, they are looking up to new-age fintechs, whose primary technology partner to provide speed and efficiency is artificial intelligence (AI). With technology, the offerings change rapidly. Not more than five years ago, personalisation was deemed the anchor to having a competitive edge. But now, says Anggriawan, it’s all about knowing the best timing, offers, and approach to reach your customers. “With the help of AI, all those three can be fulfilled simultaneously.”
AI will play a crucial role in scaling up your lending & saving products, continues Anggriawan, but the question is, “Will the customers react the same way once they know the content they’re consuming is being generated from AI?” This is where marketers must tread carefully when utilising AI in their marketing strategy.
In the current technology terrain, AI is the best option to meet the demands of the Gen Z population. However, this is a generation with increased financial awareness. While it means they will have a higher inclination towards adopting financial solutions in their daily needs, explains Anggriawan, it also signals an alert for higher expectations towards every penny spent in each of these financial offerings. Gen Z customers have questions like “How do they make the most out of their spending, and what sort of short and long-term impact can they earn from being loyal to your products,” adds Anggriawan.
