The User-First Approach to Banking: Why ‘User Experience’ is More than Just a Buzzword

We’ve all seen the photo of a paved walking path and a worn patch of grass nearby where pedestrians have created their own trail because it’s either shorter or easier to reach their destination.

If you’re like those I know, you smile at this image and then scroll to the next post on your favorite social media site. But have you ever stopped to really understand what it means and how valuable of a visual this really is?

Especially as fintech professionals enter the payments arena, the notion of “user experience” is key. Undoubtedly, it’s one of the buzzwords you’ve heard around the office: How do we meet the expectations of our members who wish to have the ability to bank from any device, at any time, and from anywhere in the world?

The industry offers countless solutions for each channel of deposit, but all have their own user experience that need to be managed. On top of that, overseeing multiple vendors and solutions can become cumbersome and costly for the financial institution.

This is why Alogent has taken the “user first” approach rather than design products unique to the specific input channel or device used: native mobile app vs. ATM vs. teller station, for example.

Of course, all of these are paramount components to product design. But first and foremost is user experience.

How can we address the diverse requirements of each business unit at the financial institution, balance that with what the user wants, ensure it’s consistent across all devices, and deliver a product that will simplify the user experience through his deposits’ journey?

Alogent’s newest product, Unify, is a patent-pending, single-capture platform that ensures the consistency of data across all points of input while maintaining a simplified and streamlined customer-centric workflow. Full- and self-service are now under one umbrella in a device-agnostic model, creating simplicity for the financial institution and consistency for the user.

When these benefits are coupled with Alogent’s Capture Once Technology–capabilities that address today’s needs and tomorrow’s innovations—the need for batch processing is eliminated, as well as the requirement to exchange files between applications.

Additionally, by enabling all channels to access one database and one reporting dashboard, Unify delivers a clear view into all points of presentment, as well as the status of the items downstream in a single view.

At the same time, and with only one environment to maintain, the financial institution sees reduced infrastructure and maintenance costs with a unified user experience, and gains a centralized framework that is easy to manage and configure with a faster time to market for new products and services.

Unify is scalable to support the needs of the smallest community banks and credit unions, as well as the largest Tier 1 institutions. The product can also address the unique considerations of international banks, making it flexible to meet the user experience demands of those in the U.S. and abroad–regardless of whether consumers bank on their phone or tablet, at a branch or ATM, or on a computer from their home.