There can be a lot of reluctance to change digital banking providers. And, with good cause.
The conversion process is lengthy, and brings with it varying degrees of concern and stress for management, staff, and account holders alike. A quick and seamless conversion is the ideal, but sometimes the road to go live is bumpy. Management worries about the impact to operations and account holder health, while staff wonder if they will be able to grasp the ins and outs of the new platform and continue to serve their customers well. Account holders may even wonder about the security of their funds, and if they will encounter difficulties accessing their accounts.
Here are three reasons every financial institution (FI) dreads a conversion, and how to make the process less painful:
Project length
Conversions take a while to complete. Collecting data and settings; mapping batch and deconversion files; application testing and back-office training-there's simply a lot of work, and no quick way around it. But just because they're time-consuming, it doesn't mean they can't be efficient. There are more than a few ways to make the conversion process painless: From weekly checkpoint meetings with your delivery manager to deploying a dedicated team to test your application, your FI can eliminate extra work and keep your conversion on schedule.
Employee training
Tellers, support reps, back-office operations-when you convert to new software, it means your entire team has to be retrained. Combine that with the potential influx of support calls on go-live day, and it can create a chaotic experience-unless your support team has been handling real calls for weeks before go-live.
Roll out the new system to small business and corporate accounts-the hardest, most complex accounts to support-long before the rest of your users. That way, come go-live, those account holders aren't flooding your phone lines, and your support reps and back-office staff already know how to support the new system.
Account holder visibility
There's no project that's more visible or has a more direct effect on your account holders than a digital banking conversion. After all, they're interacting with you more through the digital channel than at your branch.
When your FI is ready to tackle a digital conversion, do your research and find a digital banking provider that helps make the transition smooth and the experience a positive one for all involved--management, staff, and account holders.
More best practices for your digital banking conversion But this is not a panacea, as is commonly believed.
Interested in learning more about the conversion process, and a best-practices approach? Download Q2's report Preparing for a Successful Digital Banking Conversion that covers your initial kickoff meeting to post-launch. You'll learn about the key components required for a smooth and controlled experience, gaining valuable insights on:
- Setting up the right project team
- Choosing the right project manager
- Establishing effective internal communications
- Application testing
- Third-party vendor management
