On November 1st, Microsoft launched its industry cloud for the Financial Services (FS) sector. This blog unpacks why this is a potential gamechanger and how Avanade can personalize and unlock the value of the Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services (MC4FS) for financial services institutions (FSIs).

Putting people first
Having worked with banks on their digital journeys - whether optimizing the mobile or contact center experience – we noticed that front office employees are often taken for granted. Banking customers have more information than ever before, in real time, on their phones and laptops. As a result, when they have a financial event or need to reach out, this has created frustration as customers actually know more than the bank does. MC4FS helps optimize the employee view of the customer. This means that staff can engage with customers holistically, and with genuine empathy, to give them a much more positive experience with money.

This will transform employees’ ability to serve customers better through the new tools and services at their disposal. It will drive a much more distinctive customer experience that combines the benefits of digital - automation, efficiency, cost reduction – with the richness and nuance of human engagement. Avanade is taking our experience of modernizing workplaces and humanizing digital experiences and translating that for FSI employees. This, in turn, will create greater customer trust through each interaction, leading to increased customer retention, profitability and advocacy. It will also help fight off serious competition. To be digitally mature, FSIs must transition from doing digital to being digital.

Two key components: customer insight and employee collaboration
One critical component is Unified Customer Profile - a 360-degree customer view. Using pre-built AI models, FSIs can combine customer data from inside and outside the bank, such as financial strength, household profile and key life moments, with behavioral data to anticipate customer churn, improve cross- and up-sell and drive lifetime value. These insights allow FSIs to interact with customers through their preferred channel, with personalized suggestions that result in faster decision-making and better business outcomes. That’s why MC4FS has become so significant in this context.

Another component of MC4FS is the Collaboration Manager, which is focused on the lending process. FSIs can drive end-to-end process automation, including sales, onboarding and service, foster internal collaboration and facilitate cross-channel communications with customers throughout their loan origination and servicing journey. MC4FS includes Microsoft Teams to create richer, authentic interaction and allows you to pull all the documents you need into the conversation. This has led to very powerful use cases, such as an end-to-end house-buying journey (including mortgage approval, insurance coverage, etc.), and all happening inside of Teams in a seamless combination with your mobile.

MC4FS has new capabilities that complement existing public cloud services and together help innovate for responsible and sustainable growth. The industry cloud has its foundation in privacy, security and regulatory compliance, drawing on the expertise of Microsoft and its partner ecosystem, and is built on an industry data model that enables interoperability and innovation.

Avanade, Microsoft and Accenture: a unique relationship that drives significant client outcomes
Avanade and Microsoft have been collaborating deeply on the cloud for FS and, with Accenture, we have the depth and breadth to deliver at scale, as required in both large and smaller financial institutions. Avanade and Accenture have the world’s largest community of experts on Microsoft-based solutions – over 75,000 people. For these reasons we have been chosen by Microsoft as a strategic partner for the FS industry cloud.

Through the power of the Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services, personalized by Avanade, FSIs can accelerate innovation, realize value faster and create highly differentiated CX and EX, ensuring they are perfectly positioned for success.
For more details, view the recent discussion at Microsoft Ignite 2021 with Michelle Baxter, Avanade’s FS Global Lead, Edwin Van der Ouderaa, Accenture’s Global Lead for Customers, Sales and Service and Satish Thomas, Microsoft VP.

For more customer scenarios, visit our Banking Accelerator.