Clients at the Centre of Financial Inclusion

The MasterCard Foundation champions for client centricity in all aspects of its work. The Financial Inclusion Symposium reflects this priority, bringing together key financial stakeholders to discuss pathways to financial inclusion with an emphasis on lifting client voices. So ahead of this year’s Symposium, we asked participants to reflect on their perception of client centricity in the financial sector.

Here are the top three insights based on participants’ responses:

1. More than 80 percent of surveyed organizations are shifting to become client centric.

The Pre-Symposium Survey indicates that the financial sector is at a critical juncture: the vast majority of financial service providers (FSPs) are in the transformation process. But what does this process look like? How long will it take to get there? Do these organizations have the tools and resources required to become truly client-centric on a continuing basis?

Certainly, FSPs continue to face significant challenges with implementation, including the following:

• The concept of client centricity is not embraced by their corporate leadership,
• There is insufficient ability to collect and analyze data on client needs, and
• There is an inability to determine a business case for client centricity.

2. Almost 50 percent of respondents view leadership and culture as the most important element in a definition of client centricity.

Client centricity is understood as an organization culture rather than an end product. A truly client centric business takes the client into consideration in all aspects of the business, from organization culture to product development, risk management approaches to front-line staffing.

In other words, client centricity stipulates demand-driven, segment-specific products and service supported by transparent marketing practices, educated front-line staff, and approachable customer service.

3. Motivating leadership is essential for any organizational change towards client-centric business practices.

The pathways to client centricity are diverse and, at times, difficult to navigate. In asking stakeholders to reflect on what needs to be done to instil and strengthen client centricity in FSPs, a key theme emerged: motivating leadership.

Recognizing that client centricity is a culture, respondents emphasized the importance of senior management and Board of Director endorsement and advocacy. That is, client centricity cannot be implemented at the front-lines until senior management has adopted it as part of the core business objectives and practices.

The first step? Our respondents said “hit the field!” The more senior management and board members are able to engage directly with clients, the more they will be able to align business objectives and practices with client needs.

The Symposium is an important opportunity to further discuss the pathways to client centricity. That’s what we’re looking forward to doing. You can follow the various sessions on Twitter at #SoFI2015 or in the end-of-day blog posts on this site.

Statistics from the SmartCard Foundation website here.