Cognizant Reports

Digital Transformation of
U.S. Private Banking
The unrelenting digitization of business, amid continuous regulatory
change and soaring operational costs, is materially impacting
U.S. private banks, requiring them to rethink their business models
and accelerate their push to meet the ever-rising expectations of
digitally savvy high-net-worth clients.

cognizant reports | november 2014

Executive Summary
Even as they struggle to generate new wealth in
a mature market amid ever-growing regulations,
U.S. wealth managers face a wave of digitization that will completely transform the way they
interact with the wealthy, and especially the
young wealthy. Across age groups, wealthy
Americans are tech-savvy, digitally connected
and accustomed to unprecedented levels of
personalized engagement with Web commerce
leaders. Digital technologies have enabled
consumers to access information, interact and
collaborate with peers and conduct transactions
on an anytime/anywhere basis through mobile
smart devices. As these experiences become
embedded in their daily lives, wealthy investors expect a similar experience in the wealth
management area. Specifically, they want more
tools that help them make investment decisions
and provide flexible ways to interact with their
financial services advisors.
For private banks, however, the implications
of digitization go beyond meeting customer
demands. The SMAC StackTM (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) can transform private banking
business models by enabling an integrated and
cohesive enterprise architecture that powers new
business capabilities beyond what is delivered by
the existing assortment of disconnected digital
technologies. A successful transition to process
digitization will create efficiencies by automating back- and middle-office tasks. It will also provide an analytical boost that helps banks better
understand their customers changing needs and
proactively create offerings and services. For
advisors, a robust enterprise architecture will
provide them with easier access to client data,
allowing them to deliver high-value advice.
Customer centricity has always been the essence
of private banking. Now, banks need to extend
customer centricity with the power of digital
technologies. Banks can better understand their
clients digital journeys by collecting and analyzing the data generated by their digital behaviors and online activities, which we call a Code
Halo 1 (the digital information that accumulates
around people, organizations and devices). By
getting to know customers by analyzing their
Code Halos, banks can begin offering more
personalized products and services that meet and
anticipate customer needs. Doing so will mitigate
the risk of losing mindshare and market share,
create operational efficiencies, drive product

cognizant reports

innovation, improve customer acquisition and

retention, and enhance regulatory compliance.
We believe the key imperatives for private banks
to succeed in the digital age are:

Create a holistic digital-first banking strategy.

In addition to a long-term strategy that defines

the digital blueprint, develop tactical plans
that deliver quick wins.

Understand

their digital maturity and readiness before embarking on transformational

change.

Create

tools to empower both clients and

advisors.

Build a business model that enables flexible

and adaptable pricing and product strategies.

Drive

change in a way that addresses the

concerns of everyone impacted by digitization.

Forces Driving the Need for

Digitization in Private Banking
Customer Adoption of Digital
Wealthy U.S. investors have always been ahead
of private banks on the technology adoption
curve. With digital technologies, however, the gap
is huge and growing. The reason: Consumerfacing technologies mobiles, tablets and related
services have evolved so rapidly and gone mainstream so quickly that private banks have had to
scurry to catch up.
The importance of digital technologies to wealthy
U.S. investors is set to accelerate (see Figure 1,
next page). In a recent study, over 80% of Gen X
and Y millionaires and 25% of baby boomers said
they like trying new technologies.2 The former
want apps that reduce reliance on face-to-face
meetings with advisors. They are self-driven and
feel knowledgeable about investing; unlike boomers, they look for validation, not delegation, of
their investment decisions to advisors.3 For the
mass affluent in the U.S., social media is a driver
of action (see Figure 2, next page).
For wealth managers, the larger trend is clear:
Investors want private banks to use technology
that empowers them with wealth management
tools and provides advice anytime, anywhere.

Digital Technology Has Helped the Wealthy Grow

To what extent do you believe your engagement with the Internet or digital technology has contributed to
your current success, and how far will it contribute to your success in five years?
Total

Worth:
<$500,000

Worth:
$500,000$2m

Worth:
$2m$4m

Worth:
+$4m

Today

56%

49%

53%

62%

76%

Future

77%

71%

73%

85%

92%

Note: Percent of respondents indicating high contribution of digital engagement to success.

Source: "The Digital World of the Super-Wealthy," Scorpio Partnership

Figure 1

Advisors Need Digital to Build Trust

Empowered customers need equally empowered advisors. When advisors are equipped with
smart devices loaded with useful apps that
provide real-time access to client information, they can be more productive and provide
the most relevant offers and advice based on
the clients risk profile. Social media is an effective tool for improving client communications
and understanding their sentiment and behavior
patterns.
The need to go digital is accentuated by client
demand for transparency on pricing and product
bundling/unbundling. For investors, past performance is just one factor used to assess advisor

Social Media Usage Leads to Action

Among the mass affluent who use social for
both discovery and consideration, nearly two
in three are driven to action as a
result of what they learn.

Discovery
Consideration
Use social to
Use social to
stay up-to-date
seek advice or
Both
on financial
gather info to
trends or
make a financial
companies
decision

21%

63%

32%

Respondents Driven to Action

Open/close account or purchase product

Source: Influencing the Mass Affluent: Building

Relationships on Social Media, LinkedIn &
Cogent Research
Figure 2

cognizant reports

confidence. They want to see their advisors focus

on generating wealth, accompanied by strong risk
management and wealth protection frameworks.
Pressure to Boost Revenue and Contain Costs
U.S. private banks are increasingly under ressure
to generate higher returns, even as costs continue to increase (see Figure 3, next page). Over
the past few years, rising costs have only been
marginally lower than revenue growth.4 High
advisor compensation and growing compliance
and risk management costs are major factors
that are likely to increase unless they are proactively addressed. Private banks, therefore, must
build capabilities that will allow them to do more
with less. The steps to get there include greater
process automation, cost-cutting, better use of
enterprise data to improve advisor productivity,
and the ability to provide differentiated advice
that boosts client retention (see Figure 4, next
page).
Many private banks had added some level of
automation to customer-facing processes, but
systems are still vulnerable to errors caused by
manual intervention. Along with ever-present
demand for transparency, client data security and
compliance reporting requires banks to access
data on both a regular and ad hoc basis, private
banks also need real-time access to data and the
ability to capture, analyze and visualize this data
for business purposes, such as CRM, trading and
portfolio management. Real-time access to data
is also necessary for monitoring various metrics
related to internal processes. This data needs
to be high-quality and highly relevant. Banks,
therefore, must create advanced analytical
capabilities that can help them glean insights
from continuously growing data. Banks operating

Wealth Managers Costs Continue to Increase

Other central
functions (including
restructuring)

Human
resources

Operations
& IT

2%

4%

1%

17%

0
4%

13%

57%

Communications
& marketing

Accounting,
finance
& control

20

Sales and frontrelated services

Asset &
product
management

Change in total costs,

20102013 (%)

40

Legal, compliance & risk

management

Since 2010, wealth managers costs have increased in nearly every function.

-20
2%

Share of total cost in 2013

Sources: BCG Wealth-Manager Performance Databases, 2011-2014;

Global Wealth 2014, Boston Consulting Group
Figure 3

in multiple geographies will need systems that

can manage cross-border data related to clients
and regulations.
Banks need to aim for seamless digital processes
with minimal manual intervention in their back
offices. In the front office, where human interaction matters more, high touch should be
augmented with digital offerings that can enhance
advice quality and advisor productivity, leading to reduced costs and an improved customer
experience.
Regulations
Private banks are besieged by regulations all over
the globe, and the resulting data requirements
are overwhelming their existing systems. Banks
also need to create a holistic and real-time view
of their risk management efforts. In such a sce-

nario, automated regulatory reporting processes

can ease the pressure on bank resources.
Private Banks Technology Gap
For most private banks, the job of catching up
with digital technology advancements seems
to have just begun. Figure 5 (next page) offers
a perspective of where private banks stand
relative to digital technology adoption to improve
the customer experience. Recent surveys add
additional insights into the current state of affairs:

MyPrivateBanking analyzed 30 global wealth

managers and found that only seven manage
a Facebook page, while 14 provide wealth management Twitter streams.5

MyPrivateBanking also found that wealth management Web sites fall short on social media

Costs, Regulations and Clients Are Influencing IT Spend

Please rank the following business drivers based on their importance in setting IT priorities for 2013 in the
full-service wealth management organization or the private bank.
Leading business
driver of 2013
technology budgets

Reducing costs
Meeting regulatory requirements
Attracting new clients

Second most
important driver of
technology budgets

Retaining/attracting advisors
Retaining clients

Base: Nine private banks; respondents were allowed to select more than one response.
Source: Aite Group, 2013
Figure 4

cognizant reports

Private Banks Adoption of Digital

Technologies
Proportion of institutions that currently offer
clients digital channels for communication
purposes/access to portfolio information,
vs. in three years time.
100%
75%
50%
25%
0%
2013 2016

2013 2016

2013 2016

Through a dedicated Web site

Through a dedicated smartphone/tablet/
PC application
Through social media

Technology and Operations Trends In the Wealth

Management Industry 2013, WealthBriefing
Figure 5

integration and transparency in areas such as

communicating portfolio performance, assets
under management and advisor remuneration.6

According to the Boston Consultancy Group,7

40% to 60% of high net worth (HNW) investors want to video-chat with their advisors, but
only 20% of advisors offer that capability.

Whereas 60% of clients want investment

recommendations and portfolio analysis
delivered online on both Web and mobile
applications, only half of wealth management
firms offer such a service.8

Legacy Systems and Mindsets

One crucial factor that hampers private banks
ability to meet clients digital expectations is
legacy systems. Wealth management firms
have taken a stop-gap approach, adopting new
technologies rather than undertaking a complete
replacement. This has led to the creation of complex, fragmented and hard-to-manage systems
that come with long-term implications in the
form of high operational costs and inefficiency.
Only 9% of wealth managers even consider digital channels as a top corporate priority, a clear
indication of how much digital technology is
underestimated.9
Such low interest has a direct impact on advisor
productivity. At a time when organizations across

cognizant reports

industries are looking for ways to use big data and

analytics to glean insights about customers, products and processes, private banks lag behind when
it comes to harnessing data for actionable business
analytics and decision-making. According to the
CEB,10 only 36% of advisors trust their firms
ability to do this.
In direct contrast, digital natives (technologydriven, non-bank wealth management firms) are
striking the right chords with their tech-savvy
customers by interacting through digital channels. In doing so, they are able to operate at
lower costs and pass on the benefits to their clients. At one such startup, the New York-based
financial advisory firm Betterment, almost 60%
of the 40,000 customers reportedly use its app
while accessing the Web site almost exclusively
on their mobile phones.11
It is not surprising, then, that wealth management
firms are scrambling to meet the digital needs of
their tech-savvy clients.12

The Promise of Digital

What Private Banks Can Expect from
Digital Transformation
It may have been inconceivable just a few years
ago, but the SMAC Stack is making it possible to
perform investment transactions entirely through
digital channels. For example, clients at more
progressive firms will soon receive daily updates
on portfolio performance through a mobile app.
They will be able to track the banks social media
posts for further updates and ultimately videoconference with their advisors for making a buysell decision.
Citi Private Bank, for example, recently began
providing data-driven research features, such
as what-if scenarios, portfolio views and performance analysis tools in its iPad app. Citi and
Merrill Lynch are also testing video chat features
in their apps.13 Such services would be supported
by an enterprise architecture that integrates
various digital and personal touchpoints, such
as smartphones and tablets, to enable seamless
sharing of data and analytics. This will provide
necessary insights into client needs and desires
to the advisor on a real-time basis.
Cloud computing and big data will be at the heart
of this enterprise architecture. Tracking customer

interactions across touchpoints will enable banks

to create a unique profile for each client, based on
the client's Code Halo, which will enable further
personalization.
Key benefits that private banks can target through
digitization are manifold.
Improved Operational Efficiencies and
Productivity
Advisor productivity and revenue generation
can be vastly improved if advisors have access
to a data management system that provides a
consolidated view of client data across silos. In
this scenario, the front office would have access
to a visual depiction of the clients relationship with the firm, allowing it to provide higher
quality, more informed service. Big data
analytics also help process analyst queries faster
and allow advisors to deliver a high-quality client
experience and high-value advice while minimizing the loss of productive hours in data retrieval
and presentation. Greater automation in the
front- and back-offices can also reduce manual
error, thus enabling a higher rate of straightthrough processing (STP).
Higher Quality Advice
To provide anytime/anywhere advice that is also
top-notch, banks need to be aware of client preferences and behavior patterns in order to predict
their requirements and tailor advice accordingly.
They need to be able to:
Gather and analyze more types of client
information.
Enable easy access to front- and back-office
data.
Share data with clients seamlessly across
various channels.
By analyzing large data sets about customer
profiles and their investment choices, banks can
create a pool for high-quality advice that can be
made readily available to new clients with matching preferences. Morgan Stanley, for example,
moved from traditional grid computing to big data
analytics, which allows the company to match
clients financial objectives with investment
insights that can improve investment decisions.14

cognizant reports

Customer Experience and Loyalty

Digital channels allow banks to provide selfservice applications and planning tools that can
empower clients and improve client satisfaction.
The mobile channel can be used to provide timely
portfolio performance alerts and introduce
clients to new features and services through
short online tours. Private banks can also use
social networks to connect clients with advisors.
Ameriprise Financial, for example, allows clients
to choose an advisor they may know through
their social network connections.15
Reduced Risk
Big data tools enable analysis of large data sets
from information systems and processes, and
monitoring of client activity. Such tools can identify suspicious patterns and proactively reduce
operational risk. Similarly, getting to know customers and counterparties better through analysis of
data sets relating to their activities will improve
management of reputational risk. A real-time view
of risk management metrics allows banks to monitor and remain compliant with regulatory requirements.
Improved Compliance and Monitoring
The sheer magnitude of global regulatory requirements is forcing banks to improve their understanding of cross-border transactions, tax transparency
and sales practices. The right digital systems can
provide a real-time view of risk exposure, which
will ensure compliance and enable banks to use
the data for business purposes. Banks can provide
advisors and clients with access to this information
based on their desired transaction. This also allows
firms to actively monitor and prevent regulatory
violations that may occur during daily trading,
portfolio construction and monitoring.

Winning in the Digital Era

Business Models and Strategic Considerations
The journey to end-to-end digitization will be
long, both in time and scope. Digitization is
all about creating more integrated business
processes that enable collaboration between
employees and allow faster and more efficient
servicing of client requirements. Private banks
will need to refine their operating infrastructure
to become scalable and responsive to changing
profit margins over time.

Creating a holistic digital transformation roadmap

that can adapt to changing customer demands is
the first step in this direction. Key considerations
include:

Digital banking requires a new business and

service model, not just a combination of features or applications. This mindset is critical
to adopting the right strategy and roadmap.
Private banks can embark on the digital
journey along two paths, both with welldefined objectives:
A long-term strategy that aims to define
the digital blueprint.
Tactical plans that deliver short-term wins,
address client and internal demands, and
help the firm establish its digital presence.

Clearly define the digital blueprint that will

enable future business models, client interactions and engagement, product strategy
and operating model.

Take a client-centric view and link the

digital blueprint to specific measurable
goals. Given the rapid change in business, the
blueprint needs to be flexible and adaptable.

Develop a product strategy and pricing that

best meets the needs of each client segment.

Understand the current maturity of the

organization and evaluate its readiness
prior to embarking on a digital transformation.

Create a Distinctive Advisory Service

To create a differentiated advisory service in
the emerging digital age, private banks will have
to revamp their existing operating models to
incorporate relevant self-service tools that also
provide the banks view of a particular asset.
These digital interactions with clients can supplement face-to-face interactions between advisors
and clients.
Private banks have access to a treasure trove of
personal information about their clients that is
unique to the firm. By deploying advanced analytics, banks can leverage this information to create
tailored solutions and derive client insights that
enable a truly differentiated experience.

cognizant reports

Moreover, the data related to a clients digital

interactions can help the bank create a unique
profile for each client, based on their Code Halos,
and differentiate its service to compete on code.
Banking and financial services firms are uniquely
positioned to profit from such information and
deepen customer relationships.16
Key focus areas in this regard include:

Understanding client digital touchpoints to

increase their usage and enhance offerings.

Creating a consistent user experience across

digital touchpoints.

Creating rich and intuitive interfaces to

empower self-directed customers.

Centering the client experience on targeted

client preferences.

Manage Organizational Change to Embrace

Digitization
As banks transition to a digital future, they must
reassess key roles and responsibilities across
departments and employees. It is critical that
leaders share their vision with functional heads
and their team from the outset and offer a vision
on how various roles will play out over time.
As such, they need to open channels of communication to address the concerns of the various
departments and teams.
This step needs to be followed up with initiatives
to train users on the technology they will be using.
Advisors, for example, will need to learn not only
about how digital technologies work on the backend but also how they can use the additional time
they will get as a result of automation.
Integrated Infrastructure
Private banks will need an integrated IT
infrastructure supported by cloud technologies to enable seamless retrieval, storage and
distribution of data. The cloud can also serve
as a flexible integration layer, accommodating
off- and on-premises applications that need to be
integrated into the digital architecture, as well as
digital app delivery. Precise information is crucial
for creating tailored interactions. Analytics can
be deployed to enable multi-dimensional analysis by geography, customer type, product, traffic
source, channel and campaign.

Learn from Digital Leaders in Other Industries

Private banks can learn a lot about personalization
from industry leaders in the retail e-commerce
segment. Amazon, for example, introduced the
One Click Buy feature that allows it to provide
anticipatory shipping of a product that it pre-

dicts a customer might buy in the future.17 Private

banks can benefit from this level of understanding, which can only be achieved by deploying
big data analytics that enable markets of one
that meet and anticipate individual HNW clients
needs, wants and desires.

Footnotes
1

For more on Code Halos, read Code Rules: A Playbook for Managing at the Crossroads, Cognizant
Technology Solutions, June 2013, http://www.cognizant.com/Futureofwork/Documents/code-rules.pdf,
and the book, Code Halos: How the Digital Lives of People, Things, and Organizations are Changing the Rules
of Business, by Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig and Ben Pring, published by John Wiley & Sons, April 2014,
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118862074.html.
Pierre Bouquieaux, Leveraging Technology to Capitalize on the Transfer of Wealth to
Generations X & Y, Temenos, February 2014,
https://www.temenos.com/en-us/market-insight/private-wealth-insight/future-of-bankingwhite-paper/.

2013 Millionaire Outlook Executive Summary: Gen X/Y Millionaires Not Sitting Idle,
Fidelity Investments, 2013,
https://fiws.fidelity.com/app/literature/log?literatureURL=9584382.pdf.

Brent Beardsley, Jorge Becerra, Federico Burgoni, Bruce Holley, Daniel Kessler, Federico Muxi,
Matthias Naumann, Tjun Tang and Anna Zakrzewski, Global Wealth 2014: Riding a Wave of Growth,
BCG Perspectives, Boston Consulting Group, June 9, 2014,
https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/financial_institutions_business_unit_
strategy_global_wealth_2014_riding_wave_growth/.

New Report: Standstill in Wealth Managers Social Media Activities, MyPrivateBanking, Nov. 29, 2013,
http://www.myprivatebanking.com/article/report-social-media-for-wealth-management-2013.

Wealth Managers Websites Getting Better - Top 3: ABN AMRO, Barclays and Coutts,
MyPrivateBanking, Nov. 8, 2013,
http://www.myprivatebanking.com/article/report-websites-for-wealth-management-2013.

Michael Leibel, Tech-savvy Investors Want Digital Solutions, but Firms Lag Behind, BCG, June 23, 2014,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/23/wealth-investment-tech-idUSL2N0P40PY20140623.

Ibid

The Financial Services Industry Reaches an Inflexion Point, Temenos Group and Deloitte, 2013,
https://www.temenos.com/en-us/market-insight/retail-insight/inflexion-point/.
How Client Data Can Transform Sales, CEB Financial Services, May 21, 2013,
http://www.executiveboard.com/blogs/how-client-data-can-transform-sales/.

10

Liz Moyer, A New Wave of Apps for Wealthy Investors, The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2014,
http://online.wsj.com/articles/a-new-wave-of-apps-for-wealthy-investors-1405110956.

11

Sharlene Goff, Scramble to Improve Mobile Apps as Private Banking Warms to Web,
Financial Times, June 9, 2014,
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ac5cc7d4-ea7b-11e3-8dde-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3C4vhiYu0.

12

cognizant reports

 Liz Moyer, A New Wave of Apps for Wealthy Investors, The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2014,
http://online.wsj.com/articles/a-new-wave-of-apps-for-wealthy-investors-1405110956.

13

Tom Groenfeldt, Morgan Stanley Takes On Big Data With Hadoop, Forbes, May 30, 2012,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomgroenfeldt/2012/05/30/morgan-stanley-takes-onbig-data-with-hadoop/.

14

How to Contact a Financial Advisor, Ameriprise,

http://www.ameriprise.com/financial-planning/financial-planning-guide/find-a-financial-advisor.asp.

15

Digital Banking: Enhancing Customer Experience; Generating Long-Term Loyalty,

Cognizant Technology Solutions, March 2014,
http://www.cognizant.com/InsightsWhitepapers/Digital-Banking-Enhancing-CustomerExperience-Generating-Long-Term-Loyalty.pdf.

16

Bernard Marr, Amazon: Using Big Data Analytics to Read Your Mind, Smart Data Collective,
Feb. 6, 2014,
http://smartdatacollective.com/bernardmarr/182796/amazon-using-big-data-analyticsread-your-mind.

17

Credits
Author and Analyst
Akhil Tandulwadikar, Senior Researcher, Cognizant Research Center

Subject Matter Experts

Ashwin Krishnan, Associate Director Projects, Banking & Financial Services, Cognizant Business Consulting
Dheeraj Toshniwal, Senior Manager Consulting, Banking & Financial Services, Cognizant Business Consulting

Design
Harleen Bhatia, Design Team Lead
Chiranjeevi Manthri, Designer

About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process
outsourcing services, dedicated to helping the world's leading companies build stronger businesses. Headquartered
in Teaneck, New Jersey (U.S.), Cognizant combines a passion for client satisfaction, technology innovation, deep
industry and business process expertise, and a global, collaborative workforce that embodies the future of work. With
over 75 development and delivery centers worldwide and approximately 199,700 employees as of September 30, 2014,
Cognizant is a member of the NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500, the Forbes Global 2000, and the Fortune 500 and is ranked
among the top performing and fastest growing companies in the world.
Visit us online at www.cognizant.com or follow us on Twitter: Cognizant.

World Headquarters

European Headquarters

India Operations Headquarters

500 Frank W. Burr Blvd.

Teaneck, NJ 07666 USA
Phone: +1 201 801 0233
Fax: +1 201 801 0243
Toll Free: +1 888 937 3277
Email: inquiry@cognizant.com

1 Kingdom Street
Paddington Central
London W2 6BD
Phone: +44 (0) 207 297 7600
Fax: +44 (0) 207 121 0102
Email: infouk@cognizant.com

#5/535, Old Mahabalipuram Road

Okkiyam Pettai, Thoraipakkam
Chennai, 600 096 India
Phone: +91 (0) 44 4209 6000
Fax: +91 (0) 44 4209 6060
Email: inquiryindia@cognizant.com

Copyright 2014, Cognizant. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission from Cognizant. The information contained herein is
subject to change without notice. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.