The Value of Brand Identity within Digital Banking Channels: Bridge the Gap with the Branch and Enable a Stronger User Experience
A brand identity distinguishes who you are in the eyes of your target audience and is equally important to banks and credit unions as it is to any other consumer-facing organization. In addition to colors, fonts and logos, these brand elements tell your story through messaging, tone, and other representations of your missions and values. Often various community or regional elements are incorporated into an identity as well, to demonstrate an institution’s history or commitment to various account holders – for example, to show support of specific business sectors, professional unions, or religious organizations.
Banks and credit unions go to great lengths to develop their branding and ensure it’s seen throughout corporate offices and within their branches, as well as across other points of engagement with customers and members.
So why then do banks and credit unions settle so often for a digital banking platform that looks and feels virtually identical to a dozen competitors in the marketplace? Why is a cookie-cutter mobile banking app or online banking solution sufficient? Shouldn’t the importance and value of a brand identity extend into the digital banking channels beyond “just” the use of corporate colors and a logo?
Often, the limitations of a digital banking platform hold an institution back. If technology is outdated, it oftentimes won’t permit specific modifications such as to support unique product naming conventions, or enable rich graphics and screen layouts needed to fully represent an institution. The login screen of your digital platform, regardless of device or browser, should present similarly to the brand elements within your branches as a seamless extension. Digital users should know they are banking with your institution from the moment they access your platform, until they complete their transaction and end their session.
The same can be said for personalization – an in-person feel shouldn’t stop at the branch. Customized messages and campaigns that support your brand tone can easily extend into the digital channel, bridging the gap between in-person and remote, and capitalizing on unique account holder elements to build loyalty and trust.
In addition to visual or written brand elements, it’s important have flexibility within your platform to show support for local businesses and charities, or to share custom messages linked to the community. As a regional institution, being an active participant is a critical component to your identity and account holder loyalty, making this capability important to fully represent your brand.
If your digital banking channel isn’t your largest point of engagement today, it will be soon – consider it your “virtual branch.” Ensure your branding, messaging and identity is paired with personalization that mimics an in-person feel throughout the customer or member journey to drive loyalty and attract account holders.
At Alogent, our digital banking platform, NXT, was built from the ground-up with best practices at the forefront. With built-in branding, marketing, and personalization capabilities, NXT ensures your brand identity is realized across all online, mobile and digital banking channels, supported by the expertise of our UI/UX and project management teams who ensure you achieve your institutions’ unique goals. With a single, API-driven platform, modern tech stack, open architecture and robust set of pre-built integrations to third party capabilities, banks and credit unions elevate the user journey and drive engagement by keeping users in-solution.
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