St.Galler Kantonalbank: Digital investment proposals enhance the client experience

Giving investment clients more independence, thus boosting client retention: with FinfoxAdvice, St.Galler Kantonalbank is embracing modern technology to provide hybrid investment advice.

The challenge: Changed client expectations of contemporary wealth management

Digitalisation has blurred the lines between the online and offline worlds. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this effect even more. This in turn is driving up the requirements placed on digital use of banking services: clients want to be well catered for and be able to do their banking via various channels.

St.Galler Kantonalbank systematically geared its strategy towards the digital transformation years ago. New digital tools such as #HäschCash, Wiitblick and OpenWealth API are constantly being integrated into the range of services. When it expanded its digital offering in the investment business , St.Galler Kantonalbank was keen to find answers to the questions of how a universal performance commitment and active engagement with investment clients could be delivered digitally.

The solution: A digital investment tool

At the start of the project, there was a clear aim: to make the advisory options more attractive to clients with a CONSULT plus or CONSULT top investment package. To achieve this, it was essential to streamline the delivery process for individual investment proposals from client advisors and additionally to assist the advisors in their digital client interaction by means of campaigns.

The bank did not have to look far to find the ideal tool: St.Galler Kantonalbank has been using Finfox in its investment business for years. The software from ECOFIN has a modular design and can be used as an omnichannel solution in various set-ups and advisory scenarios. FinfoxPro is used in the client advisors’ workplace, while FinfoxTouch is used as an advisory tool in client meetings. The next step was therefore to expand the established collaboration and start using FinfoxAdvice for hybrid investment advice.

FinfoxAdvice allows to send digital investment proposals straight to clients’ smartphones, thus enhancing the client experience. Investment proposals can be provided via the SGKB app in two different ways: client advisors can prepare them by themselves and send them to their clients via the new channel. Alternatively, the campaign function can be used for centralised delivery of proposals to a specifically selected client group. The software ensures that regulatory requirements are always adhered to.

Whichever method is selected, the investment proposal is personally tailored to the clients by including the name and address of the relevant client advisor in the digital user interface. Furthermore, contact can be made by e-mail or phone directly via the app.

Further advantages of FinfoxAdvice

• To ensure a familiar client journey, the flexible web components have been used to adapt the design to the UX/UI specifications of the SGKB app.
• Full omnichannel capability means that FinfoxPro, FinfoxTouch and FinfoxAdvice are connected and deliver seamless consistency of data and information across all channels.
• Hybrid investment advice is supplemented by a flexible status and notification concept. This gives investment advisors a constant overview of all client activities.

The result: Enhanced client satisfaction and increased digital engagement

Thanks to the new digital “investment proposals” feature in the SGKB app, investment clients of St.Galler Kantonalbank obtain information and make investment decisions directly on their smartphone at any time, anywhere.

“With FinfoxAdvice, we can now successfully implement our approach as a hybrid bank in the investment business, too. Thanks to the integrated application, our clients receive investment tips directly on their smartphone anytime, wherever they are, enabling us to enhance the client experience significantly.”

Tea Schmid
Head of Advisory Processes and Systems,
St.Galler Kantonalbank

Portrait of St.Galler Kantonalbank

As a universal bank with regional roots, St.Galler Kantonalbank has been providing financial advice and support for retail and business clients for over 150 years. Since partial privatisation in 2001, the bank’s business strategy has been based on the twin pillars of lending and investment business. St.Galler Kantonalbank focuses on the core markets of eastern Switzerland, other German-speaking parts of Switzerland, and Germany. Under the slogan “Physical today. Digital tomorrow.”, the bank’s digital offering is continuously being expanded and enhanced so that clients can also use St.Galler Kantonalbank’s products and services on the move or at home to suit their needs.