Businesses in the banking and financial sector are exploring opportunities to deliver customized banking services in the virtual world to enhance the customer experience.
Research published by Accenture titled “Banking in the metaverse: The next frontier” suggests that nearly 47% of bankers think that their clients will use augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) as a channel to accomplish their transactions by 2030. Various banks have embarked on the journey and embraced Metaverse in their tech stack to deliver their services in the comfort space of the clients.
Banks can develop virtual lounges on this Blockchain-based technology. The opportunities that Metaverse has opened for businesses are endless; they can now buy non-fungible tokens (NFT), virtual real estate, and even open a virtual banking lounge.
Metaverse Business Opportunity for Banks
According to a recent research report by Goldman Sachs, Metaverse can reach USD 800 billion in addressable markets while opening multiple revenue opportunities in various industries, including technology, retail, education, and entertainment. The Metaverse ecosystem is revolutionizing the internet evolution. This technology is a perfect blend of all the concepts and applications of Blockchain, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine learning (ML). Embracing these tools in the Fintech stack will enable the banks to deliver an immersive customer experience. Industry veterans expect more banking and financial services brands to jump on the bandwagon and embrace the Metaverse economy in the future. The banking sector is one of the most lucrative industries that can make the most of the increasing need for digitally native currency.
Moreover, users also demand to have a digital identity in the Metaverse. Banks are exploring opportunities to leverage AR/VR and other technologies to revolutionize connecting with clients and employees. Leveraging Metaverse enables banks to deliver financial advice and develop customer relationships. This digital asset can revolutionize how businesses, customers, and employees interact, overcoming all the limitations of app alerts or text messages.
● Reducing Technology Prices
Most hardware manufacturers are producing at a scale and aiming to reduce the prices to make it accessible to more people. Augmented reality and Virtual Reality equipment are exploring opportunities to reduce production costs. As there will be a surge in AR and VR equipment adoption because of the decreasing costs, Metaverse banks do not look like a far-fetched reality.
● Availability of More Skilled Talent and Aware Customer Base
One of the significant challenges of majority banks today is that borders restrict them—traditional banks open branches where they plan to offer their services. Embracing Metaverse in the Fintech stack will open multiple opportunities to reach more customers and acquire them. Moreover, the customers also demand banking at their fingertips with top-notch customer service. As a result of these factors, Metaverse banking will be one of the top embraced trends in the BFSI sector.
Risks of the Metaverse for Banks
Metaverse exposes banks to various reputational and legal risks like any other technology. Until now, many banks cannot identify the potential risks that implementing this technology might raise. Trust is one of the significant challenges the banks might face when adopting these new technologies, and their users might also lack trust. To overcome this issue, the banks must ensure the Metaverse ecosystem is developed responsibly and securely. The regulatory bodies around the work are worried about the privacy, fairness concerns, and human impact of leveraging these digital platforms.
Banks that want to embark on the journey to embrace Metaverse must start looking at the compliance laws set by the governing bodies. Banking in metaverse Benefits.
Revolutionizing Current Customer Experience (CX) and Employee Experiences (EX)
Banks and other financial institutions that leverage Metaverse can offer various opportunities for their users and employees, right from enabling them to execute their payment transactions in a virtual world to reimagining interactions with employees in a 3D world. Metaverse is here to reimagine the ways humans interact with each other. Integrating Metaverse on the Fintech stack will enable businesses to deliver 3D customer and employee experience.
Virtual Banking
Users of the banks will be able to check balances, pay invoices, transfer funds, transact, and interact by leveraging AR / VR channels.
Employee Experiences
Offering immersive learning experiences, onboarding processes, and customer interaction environments will help to deliver an enhanced EX.
Improve Customer Engagement Environments
Embracing Metaverse helps banks reinvent how they interact with clients and offer customized banking advice. This technology enables banking employees to deliver empathetic service to build trust. The clients can interact with their avatars sitting in their comfort spaces.
Customized Client Interaction
Integration Metaverse of the FinTech stack will help businesses to offer personalized financial suggestions like annual portfolio evaluations, financial planning tutorials, and products like mortgages and other financial services through AR/VR.
Enhanced Marketing and Improved Brand Image
Consumers today also expect a digital customer experience virtualizing the customer journey to improve the brand image and get a competitive edge. Metaverse will offer banks multiple new marketing opportunities that they can leverage to increase their marketing reach.
Also Read: Top FinTech App Security Solutions in 2023
Offer New Products and Services
The evolution of Blockchain, Web 3.0, and Metaverse has opened new doors for banks to invent new products and services. This technology will enable banks to streamline digital payments by offering secure wallet features and payment rails for metaverse economies with new products, services, and economies. Digital assets are another product or service that banks can create for their clients to invest their finances in. Businesses or users can buy NFTs and virtual real estate to diversify their investments into digital assets. Banks can create virtual banking launches using digital twin technology to reduce the operational costs of all their branches.
Metaverse will be the future of banking. The majority of the big banks around the globe already have Metaverse Banking Lounges open to serve their clients.
