New Cornerstone Advisors Offering Aims to Help Financial Institutions Improve Digital Servicing in Response to COVID-19 Delivery Shift

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Apr 30, 2020, 08:02 ET

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Management consulting firm Cornerstone Advisors today launched a new offering designed to help mid-size banks and credit unions revitalize their sales and marketing growth in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

"We were concerned when research we conducted prior to the pandemic revealed that only 2% of deposit accounts were being opened online at mid-size financial institutions," said Scott Sommer, chief executive officer at Cornerstone Advisors. "With up to 98% of their sales coming from traditional branches, banks and credit unions need to accelerate building digital sales, origination and engagement capabilities or risk a tremendous competitive fallout."

Cornerstone's Smarter Bank Virtual Sales and Service offering was developed as a fast-track method for mid-size financial institutions to quickly improve their virtual sales and service capabilities as customer behavior is certain to change after the current "stay-at-home" environment.

"Every day, mid-size financial institutions are losing revenue, and the risk of retaining customers is increasing," Sommer said. "Backed by our best practices, proprietary research and peer performance metrics, Cornerstone can help clients rapidly select and implement new digital solutions focused on capturing new business and originating growth in a manner more like fintechs than traditional financial institutions."

Acknowledging that there is no single "right answer" for how delivery should be configured, Cornerstone can work with institutions to address key gaps in virtual sales and customer experience to get revenue growth back on track in 45 to 60 days. Benefits of the offering include faster online lending and account origination, higher completion and funding rates, reduced fraud, increased deposit retention, lower-cost vendor contracts, and solution provider partnerships that can support future growth.

"Time is of the essence, and in this period of heightened uncertainty, Cornerstone is all about helping institutions swiftly build a Smarter Bank virtual sales and service experience for their customers," Sommer said. "Executives need to change the way their banks and credit unions sell and deliver services right now, and they need a detailed game plan to make this pivot with digital technology, analytics and new approaches to marketing."

Founded in 2002, Cornerstone Advisors (www.crnrstone.com) delivers consulting services, industry insights and executive forums focused on helping mid-size banks and credit unions improve profitability and elevate performance. Cornerstone assists financial institutions in developing more meaningful business strategies, negotiate better vendor contracts, make smarter technology decisions, and strategically re-engineer critical processes.

For more information, contact:

Scott Sommer
Chief Executive Officer
Cornerstone Advisors
480-423-2030
www.crnrstone.com
[email protected]

SOURCE Cornerstone Advisors