Review of the 6th afb Market and Innovation Event 2019

Munich, June 13, 2019 - "Digital Customer Onboarding - New Processes for Customer Acquisition and Customer Orientation" was the main theme of this year's afb Market and Innovation Event, which took place for the sixth time on May 28, 2019. In four presentations and six interactive mastermind sessions, participants learned how they can implement the digital transformation of application and service processes in the interests of their customers.

What was proclaimed in advance by industry experts was confirmed: The topic of "digital customer onboarding" will significantly determine the success of financial service providers, manufacturers, retailers and service providers in the coming years. It turned out that financial service providers need to react to the changes brought about by new competitors, especially GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple). It is now of central importance to develop their own platforms, such as B2B portals or niche portals, as long as these niches are not yet occupied by global competitors. Excellent digital onboarding is the most important prerequisite for this.

Historic opportunity for excellent customer orientation

Edgar K. Geffroy gave the opening speech in front of 120 experts. The well-known thought leader in the field of customer orientation gave an insight into its development over the decades. The audience learned that at the beginning of the 1980s, only 6% of companies stated that they thought and acted in a customer-oriented manner, whereas by the end of the 1990s this figure had risen to 72%. Nevertheless, even global players have only recently begun to address the issue. Germany, as a "production and engineering" traditionalist, is classified as a developing country in international comparison when it comes to customer orientation. With his message "The land of milk and honey has burned down", Geffroy has been trying to shake up companies for years and call for action. He also points to the historic opportunity to reform customer orientation in terms of customer onboarding in this country.

Financial service providers must respond to the omnipresent threat posed by the Big Four techs

This historic opportunity was also at the heart of the presentation by Philipp Oberleitner (Sales Manager, afb Application Services AG) and Enrico Moritz (Manager Business Development, afb Application Services AG). In their presentation, they used a big picture to illustrate the six key forces that have a decisive influence on digital onboarding for financial service providers. The threat from GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) is still omnipresent, according to Oberleitner and Moritz, and it will not be long before these companies also profoundly change the lending business.

Digital onboarding is more than IT

In his keynote speech, Kris Grgurevic (CEO of niiio finance group AG, a solution partner for banks and financial service providers in the transformation of business models) explained why the onboarding process is crucial for the success of new services. He also presented a robo-advisor and reported on cooperation with identification service providers, asset managers and custodian banks. His key message was that a digital onboarding process cannot be reduced to an "IT system", as this is an "outward journey to the inside", so that an idea of the result and the marketing approach should prevail. This is because the end customer onboarding process in particular requires the work steps to be completed seamlessly and in accordance with regulations.

Digital onboarding only works if the team works

Martin Pluschke also followed this approach and applied it to the insurance industry. In his presentation, he explained why digital customer onboarding is not a "one fits all" solution for the insurance industry. His recommendation: "Be brave, just go for it and don't always work everything out down to the smallest detail at a strategic level". Companies should trust their team, then they would realize how much potential there is in their very young employees.

In the six interactive sessions, the theses were then the subject of lively discussion and in-depth contributions. "The 6th afb Market and Innovation Event provided decision-makers with a comprehensive overview of the topic of 'Digital Customer Onboarding' in one compact day and examined it from a wide variety of perspectives. The lively participation and exchange among the participants showed that the topic is of current relevance for the financial services industry", says Philipp Oberleitner, Manager Sales at afb Application Services AG.