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F2F Contact Key in Building Customer Relationships- IDC Financial Insights Study

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A new IDC Financial Insights study, Branch Transformation in a Digital World, highlights that bank branches can elicit more customer retention and more cross-selling than any other method as the time to talk to customers remains the best way of understanding how to serve them better.

The study highlights some of the key drivers for branch banking:

Branch satisfaction remains high. Satisfaction with branches is generally high, and even customers who generally avoid their local branch appreciate its presence.

Transformation can entrench branches’ popularity by making sure that each customer visit is fulfilling, that customers are presented with relevant offers, and that their complaints or queries are seen to.

Face-to-face contact is key to building customer relationships. Modern data analytics can predict what products might best suit which customer but not to the level of a face-to-face meeting.

This means that branches can elicit more customer retention and more cross-selling than any other method.

Banks must protect their investments. For banks with existing, unwieldy branch networks, shutting down large numbers of branches is not realistic.

Branches are often on long-term leases, and the sunk costs in terms of previous investments are too high.

So the decline in visits must be mitigated by making the branch experience as smooth as possible, while maximizing revenue opportunities and minimizing cost.

Modern technology makes branches more affordable. A transformed branch can occupy a smaller area, employ fewer staff, and be better geared toward revenue generation — staff, equipped with the right tools, can focus on sales rather than transaction processing.

By investing in branch transformation and modern technology, a bank can therefore put its branch network on a sustainable financial footing.

“The falling overall branch number in Europe masks a brighter reality,” said Lawrence Freeborn, senior research analyst, IDC Financial Insights. “Looking at the U.K., around a fifth to a quarter of branches have been refurbished in the past couple of years, indicating that banks are investing in their shrinking stock, and continue to appreciate the importance of the branch. Taking an annual refurbishment rate across the industry of around 10%, and combining this with the recent leaps in technology available to banks and their customers alike, it can be deduced that the average European branch in 2025 will look entirely different from the one in 2015.”

“Financial institutions have done a great job reducing the cost of routing transactions by migrating them to self-service channels over the past decade,” said Andrei Charniauski, head of Europe, IDC Financial Insights. “However, they have not been able to bring the same degree of automation to the most value-adding part of branch banking — sales and customer relationships. As branch networks undergo refurbishment, it is imperative to make the most of innovative IT solutions to elevate the performance metrics of sales personnel.”

IDC Financial Insights assists financial service businesses and IT leaders, as well as the suppliers that serve them, in making more effective technology decisions by providing accurate, timely, and insightful fact-based research and consulting services.


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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E-Business

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

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Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

 

China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.

The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.

“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.

It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.

Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.

Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.

Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.

A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.

“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.

Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.

Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.

It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.

Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.

 

 

 


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NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

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National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.

NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.

NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”

The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.


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NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

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National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with the Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), has convened a one-day workshop in Abuja to advance dialogue on the draft Online Harm Protection (OHP) Bill to confront harmful online content.

NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

The bill, a rights-based, locally rooted, and multi-stakeholder initiative, is aimed at addressing the challenges of the digital age.

The event, which held yesterday, brought together government officials, civil society, academics, digital platforms, and legal experts to shape a policy framework designed to combat online ills such as cyberbullying, disinformation, hate speech, digital exploitation, and gender-based violence, while safeguarding democratic freedoms and digital inclusion.

In his keynote remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director general, NITDA urged a paradigm shift in the way society engages with digital technologies.

“For almost two decades, we have viewed digital technology through a consumer lens. But these technologies are not just products and services. They are transforming how we live, work, and interact. They shape our politics, our society, and our democracy,” he said.

Warning against unaccountable digital power in the hands of private corporations, the DG likened the digital journey to the tale of Alice in Wonderland, where initial fascination with innovation has given way to deeper concerns about privacy, autonomy, and manipulation by big tech platforms.

“We thought we were using Google, but now we realise Google is using us. Social media, once a tool of expression, has become a tool of surveillance and influence,” Inuwa noted.

He, therefore, emphasised the urgency of developing a democratic and accountable framework.  He explained that following the 2021 Twitter ban, NITDA facilitated dialogue between the government and platform operators, leading to a Code of Practice that stressed Nigeria’s sovereignty and legal standards.

According to him, the same process birthed the multi-stakeholder steering committee and the OHP White Paper in December 2024, laying the foundation for the current legislative push.

Earlier in her opening remarks,  Victoria Manya, co-founder, API, observed the moral and civic necessity of the bill.

Her words: “The internet did not break society, it merely revealed its unfiltered version. Every day, Nigerians are exposed to harassment, disinformation, exploitation, and even algorithmic violence. The OHP Bill is not a war on the Internet. It is a peace offering to its users, a social contract for a digital future that is safe, inclusive, and democratic.

“We cannot answer the question of algorithmic power with unchecked state control. We must answer it with shared, rights-based governance. This bill must not be written for the people, but with them.”


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