There is still time and more than necessary for Swiss establishments to put themselves in battle order to face new digital challenges, according to the Columbus study.
Colombus Consulting publishes the 4e edition of its study on the digitalization of customer relations of Swiss private banks, carried out with a panel of nearly thirty major players in the sector. The study notes that the explosion of AI is leading to increasingly rapid developments. It is still time and more than necessary for private banks to put themselves in battle order to face the new digital challenges that it brings.
A 2024 ranking that is generally unchanged with a Top 5 that stands out from the rest of the panel
The quartet of Vontobel, Julius Baer, Lombard Odier and Pictet dominates the ranking again this year. The significant traffic on their websites allows them to benefit from a “snowball” effect on all the dimensions studied and to generate natural or paid traffic which redirects customers to their digital platforms (web, mobile, social networks …). The notable arrival of Alpian in 2023 at the top of the ranking is confirmed this year, demonstrating the innovative character of the bank.
Beyond the changes in the ranking, the growth in web traffic is positive for the entire panel (+10% with nearly 590 million monthly visitors) and the performance of the various e-banking platforms has considerably improved. This results in particular in stronger engagement from the audience (+17%).
But the banks studied still have a way to go in terms of digitalization, particularly in mastering digital marketing or managing mobile applications for which developments remain limited.
Lombard Odier and Vontobel, however, stand out by offering a regularly updated and highly rated application, and new entrants such as Alpian by offering modern features such as in-app video calling.
Social networks: a new era has begun, dominated by LinkedIn
While the number of subscribers was stable in 2023, the study notes growth of 32% on social networks this year. The slowdown observed on Facebook (+9%) is largely made up for by LinkedIn (+42%, thus reaching 77% of the total social network audience) followed by Youtube and Instagram (+20% and +17%). X (formerly Twitter), however, no longer seems to attract crowds (+0.2%). In 2024, the appearance of video content presenting banks’ beliefs in terms of market vision and investment will attract a new audience to these media. Overall, the themes most covered in content remained CSR and ESG.
The study also highlights communication efforts on other themes such as sport or the charitable commitments of stakeholders. This type of information, although attracting a new audience, generates very little engagement and does not promote exchange with their communities.
“The quest for interaction with the community is set to intensify and will require banks to focus on developing new types of digital content such as webcasts or white papers. The latter must, however, be based on a strategic positioning that is sufficiently clear and differentiated to be publicly shared.” explains Brewen Latimier, manager at Colombus.
Responsible digital technology: a relative delay?
In recent years, private banks have taken up ESG criteria, with sustainable development becoming a strong dimension of banking products and particularly funds.
“We have integrated the notion of responsible digital technology into our study, and clearly observe that private banks have underinvested in this area while neo-banks are more attentive to it” adds Jean Meneveau, Associate Director of Colombus Consulting.
Banks finally ready to make their tools available to customers
“The arrival of new digital banks has definitively changed the way we “consume” banking. Customers today are demanding digital tools throughout their banking journey,” explains Jean Meneveau. This includes digital services for reporting, placing orders, as well as interactions with the manager.
Publishers of digital solutions have understood this well and now offer B2B2C tools which allow banks to use them for their own accounts and make them available to their customers (online KYC, electronic signature, portfolio simulation and impact analysis , placing orders).
New technologies and private banks: towards more precise and personalized recommendations
Augmented advisors in private banking benefit greatly from new technologies, which are revolutionizing the way they interact with their clients and manage their portfolios. Thanks to tools such as PMS, CRM, e-banking and generative artificial intelligence, they can produce and offer more precise and personalized recommendations. These technologies offer better customer knowledge (e.g.: AirWealth by Avaloq), improved banking services, particularly in terms of simulations and portfolio management (e.g.: Swissquant), as well as increased speed and quality of internal responses. and to customers. However, the adoption of these new technologies faces certain difficulties such as the sharing of customer data with third-party tools, respect for banking secrecy and change management within financial institutions.
Private Banks and AI: towards a new era of efficiency and compliance
Over the past year, many banks have launched AI initiatives with varying degrees of real impact on their operational functioning. Pictet has moved ahead of its competitors with the launch of One.chat, a solution developed with the Zurich startup Unique to optimize productivity, or the launch of a fund boosted by AI to generate outperformance. These use cases show that players have turned to AI for their internal uses. For the moment, initiatives involving customer data are non-existent, demonstrating, if it were still necessary, that the concern of Swiss private banks remains confidentiality.
Digital Index: The overall digital performance of the sector
Here we present the overall ranking from the Colombus Consulting Digital Index, measuring the 360° digital performance of private banks according to 50 indicators (web, mobile, marketing and social). The results show very different situations between the actors.
Methodology
Study built on a panel of nearly thirty major players in the private banking sector, based on measurements carried out in the first quarter of 2024.
We offer a digital index to measure the 360° digital presence and performance of operators based on 50 indicators:
- Website: audience, performance (bounce, visit time and loading), customer experience (design, content and functions), responsible digital (EcoIndex).
- Mobile apps: updating, comments and ratings, NPS (Net Promoter Score), referencing in stores.
- Digital Marketing: referencing, display, email, social networks, partners.
- Social networks: LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube, X, Instagram.
