Whatever happened to joined-up banking?

摘要

In 1997, Coopers&Lybrand's international banking practice produced some seminal research (Tomorrow's Leading Retail Bank) predicting that the effective management of multiple distribution channels would be the key challenge for retail bankers in the first decade of this century. They foresaw an era in which all customers could gain access to the right financial expertise "anytime, anywhere, anyhow". Yet in 2004, only the wealthy with 24-hour access to their private banking team benefit from such a vision. The rest must put up with unanswered phone calls and e-mails, constant handovers to see the mortgage or investment expert, and waiting to be put in touch by phone or e-mail with "somebody who can help". Why has there been so little progress towards joined-up, "anytime, anywhere, anyhow banking" - and is it about to change? Are retail banks about to move from strategic management of multiple channels to real cross-channel collaboration aimed at meeting customers' growing expectations?