Dark chocolate and red wine were made for each other. Dark chocolates tend to be bitter and have a robust level of tannins, which is why it pairs so well with red wine. Do you know what else is a perfect pairing? Increasing banking revenue while also providing engaging cardholder experiences. Is the analogy a stretch? Maybe, but banks can and will increase revenue when they provide superior cardholder experiences. Hear me out.

Today’s consumers have become accustomed to more convenient ways to go about their daily business – meal delivery, digitally signing on a loan, etc. Consumers are looking for compelling and frictionless payment experiences, ones that give them flexibility, convenience and options to choose from depending on circumstances. In fact, according to respondents of a survey called The Great Payments Disruption Entrust conducted earlier this year, 88% of them said they prefer to do their banking online and 61% prefer to open bank accounts digitally. This isn’t to say that physical cards or branches are a thing of the past, but rather points to consumers wanting the flexibility to choose how and where they interact with their bank and how they make payments. According to a Capgemnini World Payments report, 66% of consumers expect availability of options in alternate payments. Banks that can offer these omnichannel experiences will experience increased cardholder engagement and ultimately revenue.

How can banks increase cardholder engagement? With unified card issuance, a unified payment portfolio and new digital experiences

Offer a unified issuance and card portfolio to new prospects, and delight your existing cardholders with new digital card offerings. Digital card issuance is the perfect complement to a robust physical card program, delivering the best of both worlds and gives the cardholder what they want – choice. They can opt for their preferred payment method, and for what is more convenient in a variety of situations. Also, a seamless digital card and payment experience means fewer, but more relevant, touchpoints for the consumer, therefore reducing friction. Read more about the advantages of a unified card offering as it relates to customer acquisition here.

Examining the impact of best-in-class digital card solutions on the cardholder experience

When a bank adds digital cards to their payments offerings, they streamline the consumer path to purchase with payment flexibility leading to higher rates of satisfaction and higher revenue. Think about it – as a bank, you can now:

  • Instantly and securely deliver digital cards that are fully activated
  • Provide push provisioning into well-known digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more
  • Provide the cardholder the ability to manage their card on their own right within the branded banking app: view card details, make payments digitally, change their PIN, tokenize and push the card to e-commerce merchants and use extensive card control features like card block/unblock, alerts or threshold settings.

In addition to the benefits listed above, digital card solutions come with invisible security features and frictionless access. With tokenization capabilities, the bank can secure and enable the entire digital payments ecosystem to reduce payment fraud risk.

A strong digital banking and payment experience brings more revenue

Offering seamless digital and physical payment experiences that are complimentary allows you to provide cardholders the flexibility they need as they move through life. Once they see how easy and convenient you make the payments and banking process, your brand will become top of their wallet. Not only that, but card activation rates will increase, as will card transactions volume. In fact, digital cards are immediately activated, and therefore have a higher likelihood to be used on the first day they are issued compared to physical cards.

Digital cards should support your strategy and can be implemented the way that works best for your business, whether that’s as a full solution that compliments your physical card offerings, or for specific use cases only. In either case, the Entrust unified payment approach makes differentiation from the competition easy. While some of your competitors may only offer just physical or just digital cards, we recommend offering what fits your cardholders’ needs best. And, when you offer an engaging cardholder experience, increased revenue follows. See, I told you they go together…just like dark chocolate and red wine. Bon appétit!

Bring all the value-added digital cards features directly into your mobile banking application, with the Entrust Digital Card Solution. Learn more: https://www.entrust.com/solutions/financial-issuance-card-solutions.

Curious what the digital experience looks like for cardholders? Check out our interactive demo.