Network outreach - Contribution to academic research

Digital interfaces are steadily gaining in importance in the private banking sector, driven by national and international competition and "digital-first" market entrants. To provide an overview of this topic in the Swiss and Liechtenstein markets, e.foresight (a banking trendscout owned by Swisscom) launched a recurring study in 2023 in collaboration with the Geneva School of Management (HEG) and the Institut Supérieur de Formation Bancaire (ISFB). The e.foresight digital private banking benchmarking study provides an analysis of current and future functionalities covered by the customer interfaces of private banking players operating in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. By means of a systematic questionnaire completed by the participating banks, the relevant functionalities in terms of e-banking, mobile-banking and advisor applications (i.e. the applications used by advisors for physical meetings with customers) are analyzed. The survey covers asset managers and private banks, as well as universal banks active in the segment.

Key information

• With an average functionality coverage of 32% across all customer interaction channels, there is still plenty of room for digital development. While today, private banking's digital customer interfaces mainly cover administrative services, their relevance to core wealth management services will increase in the future. This includes digital functionalities related to discretionary and advisory mandates.

• Medium-sized and large universal banks lead the way in terms of digital functionality coverage. They benefit from the scalability effects of more digital interaction models in their retail banking activities. Although they currently cover only around 25% of functionalities on average, medium-sized and large asset managers are the segment that plans to implement the highest number of functionalities (around 15%) in the near future. This segment of players should therefore be the most dynamic in terms of digitizing the customer interface in the short term.

• The most digitized institutions are clearly moving towards a hybrid service model, in which most services are accessible via digital channels (including, and increasingly so, services linked to discretionary and advisory mandates). Other players will adhere to a "physical-first" interaction model, while investing in new functionalities to update the customer experience in specific areas.

• An additional survey included in this study covers digital sustainability functionalities in online banking, advisor applications and purely internal (non-customer-oriented) applications. Most of the sustainability functionalities studied are currently limited to purely internal applications, not yet playing a significant role in the customer interface. However, major investments are underway, particularly from the largest asset managers over the next few years, creating increased momentum for digital customer interactions in the area of sustainability.

The complete anonymous study document is only available to participating establishments. If you have any questions or require further information about the study results, please contact Simon Ruettimann (e.foresight, simon.ruettimann@swisscom.com).

Recurrent study conducted by e.foresight in collaboration with the Haute école de gestion de Genève and the Institut Supérieur de Formation Bancaire.

Authors

Simon Ruettimann

Prof. Dr. Anjeza Kadili

December 15, 2023

Strategic Business Area 4

Contributing to network outreach

As a professional association, the ISFB operates within an ecosystem made up of numerous stakeholders: on the one hand, member institutions, their employees and the general public interested in banking and finance; and on the other, public and private players, training centers and universities, involved in initial or continuing training, career development and advice. What they all have in common is that they are active in the management of banking and financial skills.

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