A new program from Efma and Accenture seeks case studies of groundbreaking innovations in banking.
Efma, an association whose membership includes nearly one-third of the world’s large retail banks, and Accenture have jointly launched a global program to identify and award banks for leading-edge customer innovations. Submissions are due by August 25, 2013 and are being accepted.
The newly-launched “Efma-Accenture Distribution & Marketing Innovation Program” seeks technology and operational innovations in customer-facing areas of retail banks — such as branch, online, and mobile banking — and in technology-areas such as customer-analytics and big data.
The program solicits case studies of groundbreaking customer innovations by retail banks globally within six categories:
- Digital and Mobile Excellence
- Physical Distribution,
- Multichannel Customer-Experience Management
- Customer Analytics and Big Data
- Sales Effectiveness
- Responsible Business
Submissions will be reviewed and judged by the Efma Innovation Awards Committee, which will identify a short list of nominees for each category. Efma members, which include 3,300 retail financial services companies in more than 130 countries, will vote for the ultimate winners in each category.
Winners will be recognized at an award-ceremony in Paris October 16, 2013, which will include presentations on the winning case studies. Additional awards will be granted to recognize the “Global Bank Innovator” and “Most Disruptive Idea.”
“In today’s challenging market, the key to success for retail financial services institutions is in building a culture of innovation and exploring ways to create a superior customer experience,” said Patrick Desmarès, Secretary General of Efma. “This program elevates the world’s retail banking innovators based on the critical and expert views of banking executives who are face-to-face with the industry’s biggest challenges.”
“Today, innovations in new technology, skills and processes are levers that matter more than ever as digital banks emerge,” Desmarès added.
“The high level and global scope of this peer review and analysis of innovations is an innovation in itself for the industry,” said Piercarlo Gera, global managing director of Accenture Distribution and Marketing Services. “We have co-founded this program as a means of promoting best practices in customer management with the goal of identify new frontiers for improving profitability and the long term health of the banking industry.”
“We are launching this joint initiative as Accenture increasingly focuses on the emergence of the ‘digital bank,’ which we believe will give shape to a new era in global banking,” said Juan Pedro Moreno, global managing director of Accenture’s banking practice.