New research jointly conducted by McKinsey and The European Financial Marketing Association shows that leading European banks are increasingly providing a sophisticated choice of electronic and face-to-face distribution channels and that their customers want more.
The Europe-wide joint study—which is comprised of interviews with 3,000 consumers, an online survey of more than 150 banks, and in-depth discussions with leading European executives—reveals a complex, fast-moving retail banking sector in the throes of deep-rooted change with some players already well down the "multichannel" route and others just starting.
"This research shows that both banks and their customers expect face-to-face channels to focus predominantly on sales and advice in the future, while transactions will be handled almost exclusively via electronic means," says Radboud Vlaar, a Partner, at McKinsey.
"The big question is not if this happens, but when. The pace of the transformation, already well under way in some territories, will vary regionally and will depend on the ability of banks to remove the barriers that make customers reluctant to change, as well as the speed with which clients fully embrace online alternatives."
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