Washington, D.C.
When it comes to real-time technologies for financial services, the insurance industry can learn a lot from the banking industryand it had better do so soon or face significant problems in the online marketplace, says an expert.
According to David Becker, chairman and CEO of First Internet Bank of Indiana (www.firstib.com), based in Indianapolis, online real-time transactions are coming, and carriers who are slow to implement Web-based communications systems for agents and customers "will quickly find themselves at a competitive disadvantage."
Speaking during the LOMA Emerging Technology Conference here last month, Becker said that, "probably 80% of financial institutions have some kind of Web presence today, but less than 25% of them are transaction-oriented." Instead, he noted, they offer "static" data that is not updated in real time.
"I call them electronic newsletters at best," he said of these non-transactional sites.
One factor that has made moving transactions to the Web very attractive to the banking industry is huge cost savings, said Becker. He cited figures showing a per-transaction cost of $1.07 at a bank branch, $0.54 by phone, $0.27 at an ATM, $0.02 using PC-based banking with a CD, and $0.01 via the Web. While the CD option is very low-cost, "its not dynamic enough to keep people engaged," he said.
According to Becker, First Internet Bank of Indiana, launched in 1998, has gone from "ground zero to $250 million in assets" by building a brand and image. The key to the banks success, however, has been customer service. Part of that service, he pointed out, is giving customers a single account number to simplify communication, no matter how the customer accesses the banks system.
The back end of the banks system features a Central Information File (CIF) system with real-time transaction-processing capabilities, he explained. "The key is to create good interaction with the customer. To avoid a host of customer service issues [the system] has to be integrated at all access points."
