Preface

Ninety percent of financial transactions are being executed electronically, yet many in the banking industry still refer to any transaction other than cash or paper check as being an "alternative" channel. Clearly the alternative is become mainstream, and those inside the industry remain reluctant to give the electronic channel due consideration as the primary method for doing business.

Aside of the channel itself, there has been much upheaval in the industry: deregulation, globalization, volatility, lower margins, lower entry barriers, and regulation. The recent meltdown in the financial services industry has made both the customers and regulators more critical of the "institution" of banking and finance, and bankers face a market that is angry and bitter, not longer easily herded or intimidated. And change will continue. In the next five years, paper checks will disappear in developed economies, mobile banking will come into its own, competition will get tougher, and customers will become more demanding.

This book is based on ten years of research into the industry, and what the authors have found is less about technology or channel, but about customers and what they need from their institution - the channel being merely a way for them to engage with, and be engaged by, the suppliers who serve their needs. The "revolution" in banking isn't industry-driven, but customer-driven, and those who wish to succeed will need to switch gears, from the holders of financial power to the servants of empowered customers. Not all will succeed.

(EN: As the "behaviour" in the title implies, this books is written from a British perspective. My sense is that many of the principles remain valid in the American arena, though there will be cultural and regulatory differences that will require adjustment and accommodation.)