Banks can reduce their costs by giving customers more
tools to manage their money, says analyst Gartner.
Adding features and tools to online banking, cash machines and
contact centres could help banks to reduce their operational costs
and losses from bad debts,
said the
analyst.
"With banks coming under increasing pressure to deliver a range
of short-term cost savings, the ways they interact with their
customers will become increasingly important in managing costs
downwards," said Gartner analyst Alistair Newton.
He called for banks to introduce more self-service options for
customers.
According to Newton, the areas that banks should be looking at
include wider access to electronic debt counselling, support for
cashflow and money management websites and third-party tools,
account consolidation, and the provision of cost-saving data.
Gartner also advised banks to step up their efforts to encourage
customers to bank online.
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