I recently had the privilege of attending the World Credit Union Conference (WCUC) in Gold Coast, Australia. I joined IQR Consulting President Rahul Nawab as a presenter during the “Consumer Expectations in Payment Trends” session.
In my presentation, “Consumer Mindsets Driving Payments Innovation,” I highlighted some of the ways consumers themselves are disrupting the payments industry. Specifically, consumers are looking for omni-channel interactions that meet their standards of service across all platforms, seamlessly and on demand.
The ability to bank and pay seamlessly on-the-go and easy access to sharable, interactive rewards, discounts and other types of loyalty perks is the future of consumer-driven payments solutions. As consumer demand continues to influence an anytime, anywhere payments technology movement, our industry must work to stay one step ahead of this desire.
That’s where data analytics emerges as the key to delivering consumer-focused payments solutions. With so many consumers connected through a variety of devices, not only are organizations able to collect personal data, they can obtain behavioral data, as well. Transaction data, third-party data, social media and demographics all come together to allow companies to understand consumer patterns and predict future behaviors.
Additionally, the multi-dimensional nature of today’s transactions (Search > Shop > Redeem > Pay > Share) calls for the use of analytics. Sure, we can collect information on shopping patterns and make predictions, but can we actually use that information to glean insight? The answer, fortunately, is yes.
Analytics capabilities enable financial institutions to accurately forecast consumer demand and respond by providing precisely what their target market wants, even before consumers within that market know they want it. In short, data analytics is allowing organizations to better meet the needs of their customers.
Next month, I’ll blog about another WCUC session, “Advancing Women in Leadership,” for which I was so honored to serve as moderator.