Many of today’s financial services websites seem increasingly outdated. Why? More and more people are using the web as their primary banking channel and firms like Amazon, Apple, and Google are raising the bar on what customers — especially the younger generation — expect from their banks.

Despite the fact that the online channel is more than a decade old, most retail financial services companies have yet to make full use of its potential. Many banks still don’t make it easy for customers to achieve their goals online, they struggle to provide compelling cross-channel experiences, fail to tailor content and functionality to individual needs, and don’t enable customers sufficiently to take action by themselves.

We believe that a new generation of digital financial services is required — one that provides a fundamentally improved digital experience. To be successful, these next-generation digital financial services should be SUPER — simple, ubiquitous, personal, empowering, and reassuring.

This framework presents Forrester's vision of the of future of digital financial services and describes the technologies, processes, and organizational aspects that will enable it. It also provides examples of leading financial services firms that provide next-generation experiences today.

A key enabler of the Next-Generation is Agile Commerce which means optimizing people, processes, and technology to serve today's empowered, ever-connected customers across a rapidly evolving set of customer touchpoints.

Financial services eBusiness executives can use SUPER as a checklist for their technology investment roadmap.

The full report is available to Forrester clients here.

Alexander