Digitization is dramatically changing the financial services landscape. Digital delivery channels and other technology-enabled tools drive down operational costs and increase customer engagement, making going down-market to low-income customers a viable and attractive business opportunity for mainstream financial institutions.

Pre-Purchase: In this phase, customers evaluate their options before selecting a product or service that best suits their needs. Mainstream financial service providers compete for potential customers by building brand awareness and promoting their offerings with targeted digital, mobile and social media marketing campaigns. Providers must take care to address historical mistrust of financial institutions and give potential clients the information they need to feel empowered to make the right choice for their financial lives.

Onboarding: During onboarding, providers work to verify customer credentials and eligibility, which traditionally has involved a lot of paperwork and other manual processes. Advances in digitizing national identification systems have made it easier for providers to complete knowyour-customer, and many other onboarding processes, allowing for their remote completion by customers.

Continuing Use: In this final phase providers aim to build lasting relationships with customers by increasing product usage and engagement, up-selling and cross-selling additional products and services, and responding to customer inquiries or complaints. Providers leverage digitization to have regular and direct contact with and to gain greater insight on customers. The digital footprints customers leave behind help inform bank outreach efforts and product offerings.