Big data is a big priority

NGDATA shared the results of their survey executed in co-operation with Clear2Pay – sharing insights from 183 global bankers around issues like the monetization of mobile payments and the value and revenue that could be generated with the support of Big Data.

The survey was executed in Q1 of 2013 and respondents were primarily (76 percent) employed by large banks with more than 2500 employees and ranged from C-level executives to business development, IT and marketing strategy management – with a nearly even split between national and international banks.

There continues to be growing awareness among banking executives as it pertains to mobile wallet strategies. More than half of respondents said they understood the mobile wallet’s role in the overall mobile banking ecosystem.

In terms of the biggest mobile wallet drivers and strategies, the survey found that:

• 81 percent of banks would like to add value beyond the transaction by making relevant commercial offers at the Point of Sale (POS)
• 67 percent of banks said they would like to capture and be the full custodian of their customers’ value (money, coupons, air miles, etc.)
• 43 percent said they have plans to deploy a mobile wallet offering within the next six to 12 months
• 60 percent believe that the natural home for mobile wallet is within the trusted banking environment, rather than a third party application
• 49 percent said they would co-operate if there was an open industry wallet initiative to drive the future of a customer-centric mobile wallet offering.

Customer churn and engagement has become one of the top issues for most banks. In fact, several empirical studies and models have proven that churn remains one of the biggest destructors of enterprise value. Yet, while most banks are aware how important a Big Data strategy is when it comes to understanding customers, many are still unsure of how to effectively assess and use their data to improve customer loyalty and lower attrition. Approximately 44 percent of banks claim they do not have the right resources in place to take advantage of Big Data. Additionally, 68 percent say that one-to-one targeting and personalized product offers are or will be an important business driver for their Big Data initiative.

Other findings from the survey include:

• 76 percent of banks say that the business driver for embracing Big Data is to enhance customer engagement, retention and loyalty
• 71 percent acknowledged that in order to increase their top line, banks need to better understand customers and Big Data will help them do so
• 55 percent of banks feel that having a real-time view of data provides a significant competitive advantage and believe that batch mode data is ineffective.