Wealth management straggles on digital


Wealth management firms worldwide continue to lag when it comes to making it easier for customers to open accounts digitally, according to Avoka.
The 2017 Avoka ‘State of Digital Sales in Banking’ annual report showed only 41 per cent of digital accounts could be opened online while only 24 per cent of products were available for application on mobile devices.
The research showed Australia was ahead of its global counterparts, with 38 per cent of products available for application on mobile devices, while it was seven per cent in North America and 24 per cent in Europe.
“The best banks have combined the personal touch of a wealth advisor with the convenience of digital,” the research paper said.
Avoka also said relying on paper sign-up processes for wealth management was not feasible for the long-term as a growth strategy.
“The best banks have combined the personal touch of a wealth advisor with the convenience of digital,” the paper said.
“Since wealth products are important for high-value customers, and there is increased digital competition from non-bank wealth management options, beefing up the availability of wealth account openings would seem to be a priority.”
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