Page 29 - Banking Outlook 2014 - An Industry at a Pivot Point

Banking Outlook 2014: An Industry at a Pivot Point | 27

Looking at matters from a glass-half-full perspective, when it comes to reputation,
the financial services industry has quite a bit of upside potential. According to the
2013 Edelman Global Trust Barometer, banks and financial institutions are still the
least trusted players in the global economy. That presents a challenge to banks that
22
want to grow their revenues by connecting with customers, given that their business
depends at its very foundation on the customer’s trust—trust that they will get their
money back, trust that they will not be swindled or overcharged, trust that their
financial institutions will not be hobbled by fraud or poorly managed risks. It’s also a
challenge given that this reputational shortfall comes at a time when there are so many
potential nonbank competitors looming on the horizon, from small and large retailers to
tech companies, crowd sourcing vendors and social media sites, and when technology
is making it ever easier for customers to switch providers.
The KPMG name, logo and “cutting through complexity” are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International. NDPPS 227982
Rebuild Reputation
firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
© 2014 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member

So this, too, is another reason banks need to move in a new direction, to rethink their culture and the way
they reach out to current and prospective customers, and to bear down even harder on risk controls so they
can avoid the sort of headline developments that have drawn the public’s attention and ire over the past
several years.
Doing that will require understanding how those headline events happened in the first place, and putting
in place processes and procedures to prevent them from happening again. It will require communicating
the bank’s strategy for treating customers and clients fairly and respectfully, and then communicating that
message again—and again and again—via traditional and social media. It also may require spending more on
developing value-added products and services that delight clients and make them want to reward their bank
with repeat business.

22 http://www.edelman.com/insights/intellectual-property/trust-2013/about-trust/ and http://www.edelman.com/trust-down-
loads/press-release/