Customer interview – Nordea on consumer engagement
Tink and Nordea have worked closely since 2020, focusing on helping to transform their mobile banking app and improve how their customers manage their money using open banking technology. Consumer engagement remains a key focus for the company, so we spoke to Product Manager Sami Mikkonen to find out more about why building intuitive financial apps is so important.
Since 2020, Tink and Nordea have collaborated to transform Nordea's mobile banking app using open banking technology, focusing on consumer engagement and financial management.
Nordea's Product Manager, Sami Mikkonen, emphasised the importance of digitalisation in driving business decisions. The rise of super apps is seen as an opportunity to provide a holistic view of finances and support customers' financial wellbeing.
Nordea aims to enhance financial literacy and provide hyper-personalized financial services using AI. The bank is also exploring virtual assistance and hands-free money management as future advancements.
Tink: Smartphones provide quick access to the variety of apps on offer – meaning that people can do many things in the palm of their hand using super apps. How does digitalisation drive business decisions for an established bank like Nordea? Do you see the rise of digitisation/super apps as a threat or opportunity for retail banks?
SM: “Financial wellbeing is a trending topic in the industry. We know that many people are struggling, and we believe that as banks, we are responsible for helping and assisting them in the best way we can. ‘Super apps’ provide a holistic view of finances, which can be crucial for our customers. For us, mobile is by far the most popular channel for money management – it has been for several years and it’s still growing fast.
“We also want to provide financial literacy to our customers in a motivational way, supporting them on their financial journey. Our goal is to meet customers' needs and be there for them with as full a picture as possible. This focus has meant that our customer satisfaction has grown significantly, meaning it is an area that we will continue to significantly invest in.”
Tink: How important is it to acquire younger customers (those born 1997-2012 e.g. Gen Z)? What challenges do you face in acquiring younger customers?
SM: “This is something that we have started to turn more of our focus towards. One challenge in this area is to understand the family dynamics when trying to provide a more holistic picture for families. When we spoke to some banks in the UK, we heard that many still have their focus only on one person in the group – the end user only, and this can harm their products.”
Tink: Thinking about getting the edge against competitors, what actions are you taking?
SM: “We are one of the top digital banks in the Nordics, however we can always do more. At the moment the three words driving much of our focus are knowledge, motivation, and opportunities.
“We want customers to understand their finances, motivating them throughout the journey by showing them how to increase wealth and start pension savings, all the while creating actions that can be easily understood. We want to understand holistic financial health and provide the best service to our clients. We aim to ensure that customers get the advice and services they need, and that their expectations are met. Financial literacy and skills are also elements that we would like to build in our digital channels.”
Tink: Having successfully implemented digital financial management tools, what benefits have you experienced so far? Are there any new services that you’re planning to provide to retail consumers?
SM: “We have successfully delivered what you might call a ‘classic’ PFM (Personal Finance Management) solution with tools like spending patterns. But this is just the beginning of the journey. Now our aim is to take this to the next level and help our customers understand the financial opportunities by providing financial literacy and skills via our app, making sure to build actionable and hyper-personalised elements. All the while it’s crucial to keep safety top of mind, so fraud prevention is also top of our agenda.”
Tink: Looking to the future, what are some technological advancements that you think will be important to consumer engagement in the next 3-5 years?
SM: “AI (Artificial Intelligence) is obviously the biggest buzzword right now. How to apply AI is the trick. Combining data with AI to have actionable triggers will be crucial. I also think that financial services will be hyper-personalised, with AI being one of the main data providers for this. Financial literacy will be on the top of the agenda for consumer engagement. Virtual assistance and hands-free money assistance are interesting areas that we are also exploring.”
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Tink was delighted to see that Nordea recently won several Global Finance Magazine awards, read more here.
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