Comarch Technology Review is a publication created
by Comarch experts and specialists. It aims at assisting
our customers and partners in obtaining in-depth
information about market trends and developments,
and technological possibilities of addressing the most important issues.
1. Professor Janusz Filipiak – We Have to Stop Wasting Money
Brett King – Banking Visionary and His New Born
Handling a Life Insurance Underwriting Process
Personal Finance Management
GAMIFICATION
Are you ready to enter the game?
no 1/2013
www.comarch.com
Comarch Technology Review is a publication created
by Comarch experts and specialists. It aims at assisting
our customers and partners in obtaining in-depth
information about market trends and developments,
and technological possibilities of addressing the most
important issues.
Finance Edition
2. A comprehensive set of solutions for advisors
and clients designed specifically to support
banking and investment products.
ASSET WEALTH
MANAGEMENT
assetmanagement.comarch.com
3. Finance Edition
Professor Janusz Filipiak – We Have to Stop Wasting Money
Brett King – Banking Visionary and His New Born
Handling a Life Insurance Underwriting Process
Personal Finance Management
GAMIFICATION
Are you ready to enter the game?
no 1/2013
www.comarch.com
Comarch Technology Review is a publication created
by Comarch experts and specialists. It aims at assisting
our customers and partners in obtaining in-depth
information about market trends and developments,
and the technological possibilities of addressing
the most important issues.
Finance Edition
Sometimes it is called as a slate, maybe it’s because of its rectangular shape, rounded corners and its handy size… or maybe it’s because
the tablet has become as ubiquitous in our homes and offices as roofing.
The introduction of the tablet PC has revolutionized the market. The previous year has shown that the slate is more than a temporary fad
fanned by bloggers and forums. Although numerous versions of the tablet have been making debuts since the 60s without success, this
time it’s different. Today’s tablet is not just a gadget but a whole new way of accessing information and getting tasks done which is gradu-
ally becoming indispensible in business.
Today, IT companies are introducing more and more applications dedicated to mobile devices such as tablets. In this issue of Technology
Review we bring you Comarch’s solutions for banks, insurance companies, entrepreneurs and salespeople. They are designed to make busi-
ness and customer relations easier, fun and more secure, as you will find out from our experts’articles about mobile applications .
You can run a business without mobile devices, you can built a roof without slates, but why would you want to? New, more economizing and
simply better solutions are available, all you have to do is learn about them. We hope that this issue of Technology Review will be your guide.
Technology Review Team
Comarch TechnologyReview
ISSN 1734-4212
Editor-in-Chief: Anna Lik
Assistants: Antoni Sikora, Ines Dukat
Layout DTP: Adam Dąbrowski
Proofreader: Anna Lik
Publisher: Comarch SA
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Circulation: 1 500
Technology Review is a free publication
available by subscription. The articles
published here can be copied and
reproduced only with the knowledge
and consent of the editors. The names
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are trade marks and trade names of their
producers.
To subscribe to the electronic version
or download previous issues, please visit:
technologyreview.comarch.com
Comarch’s offices in Poland:
Krakow (HQ), Bielsko-Biala, Gdansk,
Gliwice, Katowice, Lodz, Lublin, Poznan,
Warsaw, Wroclaw
Worldwide Offices:
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Comarch Technology Review is a publication created by Comarch experts and specialists. It is created to assist our customers
and partners in obtaining in-depth information about market trends and developments, and the technological possibilities of
addressing the most important issues.
PREFACE 3
4. 34. Foursquare
– Let’s Play Geolocation
Foursquare in its ideal version, such as the
one in several cities in the US, is packed with
useful information – reliable and varied.
A checked-in user can submit a picture or
post a comment-opinion. Thanks to Four-
square, other users know, which restaurant
serves bad salads, which has poor customer
service, and which has no air-conditioning.
Antoni Sikora
36. Interactive Customer
Approach
Interactive interfaces offer a new way of
interaction with information and messages,
encouraged by their innovative form. They
trigger curiosity as well as desire to identify
with the information and take part in it.
Agnieszka Molęda
38. New Trends in Factoring
Software
Recent years have introduced many
changes in the factoring industry − the way
clients are served has changed as well as the
approach to risk management. Business pro-
cesses are constantly modified in response
to the growing need for optimizing the fac-
toring business. Finally, the invoice factoring
software has changed and the way vendors
run factoring software projects these days.
Krystian Suchodolski
41. Gamification in Business
– Brand New Motivation?
Effectiveness of incentive programs, project
management as well as call-centre and sales
force activities can be enhanced by incorpo-
rating mechanisms used in computer and
video games. People have always exhibited
the need for competition and cooperation:
sooner or later a leader emerges within any
group, while other members focus on devel-
oping their skills and gaining new attributes.
That is why the human brain reacts posi-
tively to game-based tasks.
Agnieszka Molęda
20. Comarch Smart Finance
– Re-think Your Banking
These days customers make product
choices in a very smart way - they prefer
instantly available quality products of high
performance at reasonable price.
Anna Płowiec-Wandas
23. Comarch eForms
– Quick Friendly
The Comarch eForms system is designed
for building forms, web applications and
enterprise portals. With its intuitive user
interface and numerous available features
it fully automates the processes of registra-
tion, complaints, logistics and others that
require interaction between a customer and
a company.
Tomasz Korczakowski
25. A Modern Mobile Approach
to Investment Account
Management
Brokerage houses introduce mobile access
to accounts not only for the active investors
but also for those who place orders occa-
sionally.
Milan Popovic
27. Comarch for Delta Lloyd Life
– Business Case
Comarch announced that Delta Lloyd Life,
a Belgian pension insurance expert and
active player in the corporate and retail life
insurance market, chose Comarch solutions
to support the company in refining the
medical acceptance process.
Wojciech Pawlus
28. Comarch Personal Finance
Management
– Get Closer to Your Customers
The Comarch Personal Finance Manage-
ment innovation lies in simplicity. The cus-
tomers can relax and relies on the system,
which automatically reminds them about
deadlines, payments and other important
dates. Comarch Personal Finance Manage-
ment is not only a tool to make saving and
managing money more effective – it is
a customer guide while planning the bud-
get, which takes the initiative and requires
minimum effort.
Anna Płowiec-Wandas
30. Handling a Life Insurance
Underwriting Process
Comarch Underwriting is a solution that
comprehensively supports all stages of
the underwriting process – starting with
a submission of the insurance application,
through management of questionnaires
and medical records, ending with decision-
making and acceptance. The system sup-
ports the underwriter in all kinds of deci-
sions, e.g. on granting standard insurance
conditions, adding loadings, or rejecting an
application.
Natalia Maszota
In Focus
TABLE OF CONTENTS4
Trends StrategiesSolutions Case Studies
8. Gamification − the New Black
The introduction of internet and online
games allowed millions of gamers to com-
pete and fight for top ranking spots. The
points and rankings became the way to
increase their social value and gain admira-
tion. Maintaining good scores and watching
statuses became an everyday activity. Now,
when Generation Y – people in their late 20s
and early 30s took over the steering wheel in
business, they still need this easy and quick
comparison method – they need a game.
Marcin Kwilosz
11. Brett King – Banking Visionary
and His New Born
For those who observe banking trends with
scrutiny, Brett King’s name definitely rings
a bell. However, if you do not recognize him,
let me introduce you to Brett King – a per-
son who first came up with the idea of Bank
2.0, the author of the book with the same
tittle and the advisor of the largest US and
worldwide financial institutions.
Antoni Sikora
14. Mobile Bank 2.0
The smartphone becomes a personal assis-
tant, whose role is to help in daily activities.
Until recently, the customer contact with the
bank was limited to visiting branches or log-
ging in to the bank website. Smartphones
have changed that model, allowing the
bank to implicitly take part in the customer
everyday activities. The banking applica-
tion may itself initiate contact with the user,
depending on the defined conditions, such
as a change in the account balance, trans-
actions performed via other channels (e.g.,
credit card), or a change of the user location.
Łukasz Luzar
17. Professor Janusz Filipiak – We
Have to Stop Wasting Money
Innovative research is funded by govern-
ment agencies. A colossal part of the money
allocated is wasted. Despite of spending
billions on research and development, the
EU institutions do not have any devices or
technological solutions to boast about. Simi-
larly, in Poland, Polish Agency for Enterprise
Development and other government agen-
cies give away hundreds of millions of Polish
zloty with no effect.
Forbes 11/2012 (Polish edition)
5. Comarch will deploy internet and mobile applications for tablets and smartphones, which combine functionalities of online banking and personal finance in one
powerful solution.
The project for UniCredit Group is going to be the largest deployment of Comarch Smart
Finance, a solution helping bank customers to save and invest money while keeping their
focus on personal financial goals. Comarch Smart Finance analyzes customer financial behav-
iors and predicts their monthly cash flow. Owing to such data, personal preferences can be
recognized and the bank offer customized individually. Without unwelcome sales pitches,
the customers can receive highly personalized product offers.
The deployment of Comarch Smart Finance at UniCredit is a significant project because of the
innovation it introduces. Nowadays, multichannel access and personal finance management
are usually standard features of the online banking. Comarch Smart Finance goes further and
reshapes online banking by providing the bank with the possibility to precisely address the needs
of customers with relevant offers, explains Sławomir Gierek, Business Unit Director at Comarch.
ING Bank Slaski launched a mobile banking application for corporate customers – ING BusinessMobile for iOS and Android platforms is based on the Comarch Mobile
Banking solution.
The system is designed primarily for corporate customers as it offers convenient and quick
transaction authorization. In addition to the four-eye principle, it allows to create secure
transactions on the basis of pre-defined and templates orders. Owing to integration with
the ING BusinessOnLine internet banking system, a full synergy effect between solutions was
achieved, ensuring comfort for the customers using both applications.
Thanks to this solution, ING Bank Slaski customers are provided with the highest quality mobile
access to banking products. The application shall be appreciated by corporate financial execu-
tives as well as employees and owners of SME – signing salary packages or sending transfers to
contractors can now be done instantly without opening a laptop, says MaciejWilczek, Business
Solution Manager at Comarch.
Ourbankwasfirstonthemarkettooffersucha solutiontocorporateclients.Itisa veryimportant
partoftheINGBankSlaskimobileoffer,which,thankstocooperationwithComarch,alreadycov-
ers all customer segments: retail, SME and corporate banking,comments AdamWalendziewski,
Electronic Banking Product Department Manager at ING Bank Slaski.
The solution ensures a very high level of security, owing to an integrated MobileID token that
supportsthesystemduringinitialization,loginandtransactionsigning.Accesstovariousbanking
products and functions are guarded by an access right module adapted to the mobile channel.
Theapplicationisdesignedtoensuremaximumsafetyatmaximumcomfort.Forexample,thanks
toQRcodesgeneratedbyComarchMobileID,whichguaranteessecurityoftheentiremobilesolu-
tion, a simple screen scan allows to cryptographically link a specific device with the bank, says
Tomasz Sniezynski, IT Security Consulting Director at Comarch.
Alior Bank implemented the Comarch solution providing access to new channels of mobile banking for smartphones and tablets users it is a completely new qual-
ity of customer communication with the bank that takes advantage of all capabilities of modern mobile devices.
Comarch Smart Finance is an innovative mobile banking solution, which keeps up with
the latest trends in banking 2.0 and multichannel banking. Smartphones are no longer
just a mobile channel to access the bank account they begin to play the role of a per-
sonal financial assistant. The key to success is an intuitive and user-friendly interface that
encourages interaction with the bank, and the ability to easily expand the functionality
with the use of typical smartphone features such as user location and instant messages,
says Lukasz Luzar, mobile banking expert at Comarch, supporting the implementation of
Comarch Smart Finance in Alior Bank.
Not so long ago, mobile banking was associated with non-intuitive applications difficult
to install and used only in necessity. Smartphones and tablets re-defined the customer-
bank interaction with new features that PCs cannot provide. Together with Comarch, we
have created a mobile financial management system thinking about our customer com-
fort. The application offers friendly graphics, an intuitive interface and broad function-
ality, which will be developed further in the near future. Access to all operations is much
easier, no matter if the customer uses a tablet or a smartphone, says Krzysztof Suchan,
project manager at Alior Bank.
Comarch Internet Mobile Applications in UniCredit Italy
Comarch New Mobile Solution at ING Bank Slaski
Comarch and Alior Bank Present a New Quality of Mobile Banking!
NEWS 5
Comarch is once again featured in a report by Gartner – the world leading information technology research and advisory company. Comarch was classified among
13 major insurance sales compensation incentive tool vendors worldwide.
The MarketScope for Insurance Incentive Compensation Management report published on
December 20th 2012 includes a description of the Comarch Commission Incentive solution.
The increasing demand for sales result information is a growing challenge for today sales net-
works. Both sales managers and intermediaries are interested in fast up-to-date efficiency data.
Comarch Commission Incentive provides an information portal for sales staff, managers and
intermediaries. It is based on the calculation engine supported by an easy to use algorithm con-
figuration tool for commission, points goals calculations. Algorithms can be created and modi-
fied by users that can use numerous mathematical, logical and business functions available in
the solution. Moreover, the solution can also be used for calculation of compensation reserves
accruals and provides sub-ledger for financial settlements with sales networks, explains Maciej
Slosarczyk, Consulting Director at Comarch.
Comarch Commission Incentive Featured by Gartner
6. News6 NEWS
Comarch announced that Delta Lloyd Life, a Belgian pension insurance expert and active player in the corporate and retail life insurance market chose the Comarch
Underwriting and Comarch Insurance Claims solutions to support the company in refining the medical acceptance process.
Delta Lloyd Life decided to cooperate with Comarch mostly because of the process-orienta-
tion of the solutions and their ability to offer a global view of the customer.
Cooperation with Comarch will allow us to optimize the underwriting process, which will result
in more effective and accurate underwriting decision making. The main goal of the project is
to improve the customer outcomes, service and overall satisfaction levels throughout all lines
of business – pension, group and retail insurance, says Anne Romagnoli, Chief IT Officer at
Delta Lloyd Life.
The cutting-edge technology based on SOA principles applied in Comarch Underwriting and
Comarch Insurance Claims enables the solution to fit into the existing IT environment at Delta
Lloyd Life as the best-of-breed component in the medical acceptance area, underlines Anne
Romagnoli, Chief IT Officer at Delta Lloyd Life.
We are confident that our market-proven solutions will allow Delta Lloyd Life to meet its business
objectives. It is a common goal for both sides as we see ourselves as long term partners for our
customers.TheprojectwithDeltaLloydLifeisanimportantsteptostrengthenComarch’sposition
in Benelux – the region that lies in our strategic interests’, adds Wojciech Pawlus, Sales Director
for Benelux Region, Comarch.
TheComarchapplicationoffersnotonlyrichfunctionalityintermsofunderwritingandclaimspro-
cesses.Oursolutionsarebasedona commontechnologyframeworkwhichincorporatestheComarch
BusinessProcessManagementtool.TheBPMcomponentallowsforflexibleconfigurationofthepro-
cesstobestreflectthecustomeroperations.Moreover,ComarchBPMenablesmanagerstomonitor
the user work and their efficiency as well as providing the MI reporting, which allows for spotting
bottlenecks and process optimization, explains Ewa Jasiecka, Managing Director, Comarch UK.
Comarch for Delta Lloyd Life
The video footage about Comarch Smart Finance was recorded for one of the most important conferences in the UK banking – BBA Annual Meeting.The event orga-
nizer – British Bankers’Association brings together the largest banks in the UK. This year’s event, which took place on October 17th in London, welcomed decision
makers of major European banks.
The recording entitled Comarch Smart Finance – Finance for the Future presents an innova-
tive electronic banking solution dedicated to laptop, tablet and smartphone users.The solu-
tion facilitates the household budget management, presenting forecasts of revenues and
expenses, as well as acting as an investment advisor.
‘Comarch Smart Finance is a new product, but it already attracts the interest of our cli-
ents. It does not offer the accounting approach – it presents data in a user-friendly way
with no use of complicated financial terms, says Anna Plowiec-Wandas, Business Solution
Manager at Comarch. ‘Our solution represents nothing more than the next step in bank-
ing evolution. Banks that implement our solution are able to offer their customers lots of
new and attractive features, including personal finance management. The system calcu-
lates the amount of money the user has in fact, shows whether they have enough money
until the next payday, presents and forecasts expenses, and suggest ways of saving and
investments. Comarch Smart Finance acts as a financial advisor – on the basis of forecasts
it shows the user how to manage their money. In other words, the user is provided with
a personal advisor that helps optimize spending and increase savings. Customers of any
financial institution expect simplicity and intuitiveness of the banking application. They
want friendly services and products they can understand. They want access to be easy and
intuitive. We provide everything in one comprehensive solution – Comarch Smart Finance.
We have created a mobile financial management system designed for user comfort. Our
solution offers a friendly graphics, intuitive interface and broad functionality. Access to all
operations is easy no matter if the bank customer uses a laptop, tablet or smartphone’,
underlines Anna Plowiec-Wandas.
Comarch Smart Finance − Finance for the Future is available on ourYouTube channel: Comarch-
Finance.
Comarch Smart Finance Video for British Bankers’Association
Comarch is teaming up with SIX Financial Information to provide clients with comprehensive and high quality reference and market data.
SIX Financial Information, a premium provider of global financial information, is partnering
with Comarch, a leading Central Eastern European (CEE) vendor of IT solutions to investment
companies.This new partnership enables clients in the CEE region to benefit from best-in-class
data usage models.The resulting comprehensive coverage ensures the financial information
needs of all stakeholders are met efficiently and with ease of use supporting investment pro-
cesses, fund administration, as well as investment advisory and reporting.
Comarch supports dozens of investment companies, which find access to market data
critical for continuity of operations, risk management and reporting obligations. Addi-
tionally, depending on the business area, customers need both real-time data and static
information available at the end of the day. These data relate to different asset classes
and include numerous types of information and markets. SIX Financial Information meets
abovementioned requirements by providing data in a normalized stream, underlines Grze-
gorz Prosowicz, Business Development Manager at Comarch responsible for Capital Markets.
We are keen to further develop this strategic relationship with Comarch – a company with
vast experience in the CEE region. With our initiative in Germany, Austria, Poland and the
growing CEE financial markets, we can provide client-oriented service by combining a
local presence with global reach. This cooperation enables us to strengthen and expand
our market share in this region and reach a growing number of clients, says Michael Frank,
Managing Director of SIX Financial Information Deutschland.
SIX Financial Information is a leading global provider of data services and solutions for finan-
cial and insurance firms, corporations and the media. Aggregated in real-time from over 1,500
worldwide sources, SIX’s financial information is comprised of corporate actions, pricing, ref-
erence and market data for over 11 million instruments and is unique in terms of information
depth, breadth and structure. With offices in 23 countries, SIX combines the advantages of
local expertise with global reach to offer comprehensive data services for investment advi-
sory, portfolio management, financial analysis and securities administration professionals.
Financial Information is one of four business areas of SIX which offers global premium
services in securities trading, clearing and settlement, payment transactions, and finan-
cial information.
Comarch and SIX Financial Information Announce Cooperation
7. NEWS 7
Comarch is featured in the Celent report: Client ReportingTools Update 2012: An Overview of the European Market among 13 major client reporting tool vendors in Europe.
The solution described in the Celent report is Comarch Client Reporting Communication.
The tool allows for generating reports of the highest complexity, including the value, profit-
ability and risk of client pension-investment products based on investment funds, equities and
other financial instruments. It combines the following processes: managing a large database,
report distribution and publication according to the policy of a given financial institution.
The solution covers:
»» generating reports: predefined or constructed by the user, based on components linked
with the analyses of the investment portfolio presenting its effectiveness and risks, as
well as the structure and dynamic with regards to chosen benchmarks with additional
comments and explanations made by analysts and managers
»» various methods of report distribution: including via web-portal available to clients and
mobile devices
»» a database dedicated to reporting on the investment portfolio, supported by the best
practices as well as business intelligence solutions
»» integration of market, transactional and portfolio data as well as operations carried out
on investment fund registers.
Comarch solutions were already mentioned in earlier Celent reports: Comarch Nonlife Insur-
ance was presented in the Policy Administration The System for General Insurers in Europe
2011 report, Comarch Life Insurance was featured in the EMEA Policy Administration The
System 2011: Life and Pension ABCD Vendor View report, and Comarch Insurance Claims in
Claims Systems Vendors: European General Insurance 2012.
ING Bank Slaski has expanded its INGWeb Service with the possibility of sending transfers.The service is an implementation of the Comarch Host to Host Banking solu-
tion, which provides the bank clients with much faster and more efficient information exchange between their ERP /financial-accounting systems and the bank systems.
Comarch Host to Host Banking allows to download bank statements several times a day and
enter them automatically into the ERP system.That speeds up communication between the
bank and the client.The solution significantly simplifies the process of sending orders by the
ING Bank clients. Payment orders are signed in the ERP system (single authorization point)
and transferred directly from the ERP system to the main banking system without any inter-
mediary. Such a solution improves security, speed and comfort of the transaction execution.
The solution is based on the following standards:
»» ISO20022 - a common platform for messaging system in the standard XML syntax devel-
oped by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for the financial sector
»» Recommendation of Polish Banks Association of March 29th 2011 on adoption of the
standard financial data exchange between the client and the bank, and the bank and
the client on the Polish market
»» Comarch recommendations in areas not defined in the above regulations.
OneofthemainbenefitsofusingtheINGWebServiceistimesaving.Thetransmissionoffinancial
data is performed quicker as the processing is simplified through constant access to documents
and online data exchange. It can significantly increase the efficiency of accounting processes in
the companies of our customers, says Adam Walendziewski, responsible for electronic bank-
ing services for corporate clients at ING Bank Slaski.
It is worth mentioning that the use of the Comarch Host to Host Banking solution by the bank
clients does not entail any significant cost increase. The client employees continue working
in their ERP system and they use it to communicate with the bank.
In 2012 Erste Bank Ukraine launched internet-banking for retail customers developed by Comarch. Erste Bank Ukraine is the first bank in Ukraine implementing the
system of the leading Polish vendor.
The Erste Bank Ukraine internet-banking operates in the real time mode, which is the most
important feature of the system. Transactions within the bank are processed on the 24/7
basis, therefore money can be used at once both within ErsteWeb as well as for card pay-
ments. Transaction to other bank can be created anytime but the funds are transferred and
available only within the bank operational hours.
Moreover, Comarch internet-banking provides for communicational function through the
secure channel.Within the first release the internal mailbox system was implemented enabling
customers to immediately contact with the bank’s Infocentre employees, as well as messages
and sms system. Within the next release a range of other operations and additional options
will appear and the communicative options will be enhanced.
While choosing the internet-banking system, we studied the best European practices and were
looking for a vendor that offered a comfortable user-friendly solution adaptable to Ukrainian
market demands. Comarch system provides an opportunity to implement Erste Group’s best
experience, is well-integrated with the bank’s IT-infrastructure and contains a set of necessary
functions for creating new products that fully meet our customers requirements. Another impor-
tant reason to choose Comarch was the fact that the company had their office in Ukraine, com-
ments Andriy Begunov, Director of Process Organization and IT Implementation Division at
Erste Bank Ukraine.
The internet-banking implementation for Erste Bank Ukraine is the second project of that
kind for Comarch abroad and the first one in Ukraine. The project was a success mainly due
to similarity of Ukrainian and Polish markets and, as a result, minimal culture differences. Strong
support from the bank was another success factor for us. We worked as one team with common
goals in this project. The bank was open to our ideas, and did everything necessary to implement
the project in time. What is remarkable, all project processes and tools in Erste Bank Ukraine are
set in accordance to Western European banks. The IT-solutions are efficiently implemented in
companies with such corporate culture, says Damian Grela, Project Coordinator at Comarch.
Comarch Reporting Tools Featured in Celent Report
Comarch Host to Host Banking for ING Bank Slaski
Erste Bank Ukraine Implemented Comarch Internet Banking
8. News8 NEWS
The introduction of internet and online games allowed millions of gamers to compete and fight for top ranking
spots. The points and rankings became the way to increase their social value and gain admiration. Maintain-
ing good scores and watching statuses became an everyday activity. Now, when Generation Y – people in their
late 20s and early 30s took over the steering wheel in business, they still need this easy and quick comparison
method – they need a game.
Gamification
− the New Black
8 In Focus
9. NEWS 9
The basic idea of points and statuses
has been used in loyalty programs
for years
WE may not notice that, but we are surrounded
by games − not only our children play games
− more and more adults play games in their free time.
However, more interesting is the fact that games began
to enter our everyday life. The range of games in our lives
is very broad.
Our cars challenge us with eco-fuel indicators to drive more effi-
ciently − the reward is saving money on fuel. We use check-ins
via Foursquare or Facebook to gain some statuses. Stockholm
introduced a speed lottery − instead of ticketing speeding
drivers, the camera takes pictures of drivers who drive under
the speed limit. The law-abiding drivers participate in a lottery
and win prizes. Some companies use games to evaluate poten-
tial employees. US Military uses a video game called America’s
Army as a key recruiting tool. Scared? It is just the beginning…
Games become more and more popular and trendy so their
influence on our lives gradually increases. As Brian Burke says
in his Gartner report: Gamification Primer: Life Becomes a Game:
‘Gamification is an emerging business and societal trend with an
extraordinarily broad reach across innovation, marketing, train-
ing, employee performance, health and social change. Although
its impact remains uncertain, gamification’s potential to change
human behavior makes it a trend to watch’ (Brian Burke, Gamifi-
cation Primer: Life Becomes a Game, Gartner.com, 2011).
Other Gartner report: Innovation Insight: Gamification Adds Fun
and Innovation to Inspire Engagement predicts‘60% of midsize-
to-large organizations deploying at least one gamified applica-
tion by 2021’.
What is Gamification?
Wikipedia explains that‘Gamification is the use of game design
techniques, game thinking and game mechanics to enhance
non-game contexts. Typically gamification applies to non-game
applications and processes in order to encourage people to adopt
them or to influence how they are used. Gamification works by
making technology more involving, by encouraging users to
engage in desired behaviors, by showing a path to mastery and
autonomy, by helping to solve problems and not being a dis-
traction, and by taking advantage of a human psychological
aptitude for game engagement. The technique can encourage
people to perform tasks that they consider boring, such as com-
pleting surveys, shopping, filling in tax forms, or reading web sites.’
Being The Best
Why is it so popular? Let’s have a look at gamification from
two perspectives.
First is the endless pursuit for approval. People as social beings
always want to show their value and they search for approval
of others.The praise can be gained thanks to success, achieve-
ment or knowledge.We can easily see that on social networks –
most of photos published there are taken on holidays in exotic
places. People want to show their value and achievements.
Second is Generation Y and their adventures with computer
games. These people have been playing games since child-
hood. The introduction of internet and online games allowed
millions of gamers to compete and fight for top ranking spots.
The points and rankings became the way to increase their social
value and gain admiration. Maintaining good scores and watch-
9in Focus
10. ing statuses became an everyday activity. Now, when Gener-
ation Y − people in their late 20s and early 30s took over the
steering wheel in business, they still need this easy and quick
comparison method – they need a game.
Taking Loyalty Management to Next
Level
The concept of a game mechanism in business is not new.
The basic idea of points and statuses has been used in loyalty
programs for years. Most of us heard about or participated in
a Miles and More program or keep a fuel card in a wallet. Loy-
alty programs are usually based on a simple formula − no par-
ticipation, no prizes. The gamification is more about thrill and
engagement − we play, we gain badges, statuses, points, and
people see how good we are.
Both gamification and loyalty programs reward participants
for their activity. However, the way for loyalty rewards can be
long and winding − what we get back is usually a drop in the
ocean comparing to our expenses, whereas gamification brings
almost instant rewards.
The key advantages of a gamification-based service process
according to Gartner are:
»» acceleration of feedback − in a real world, feedback is rather
slow e.g. annual performance assessment – gamification
increases the feedback frequency and maintains engage-
ment
»» clear goals and rules - in a real world goals are often blurred
and rules might be applied selectively – gamification pro-
vides clear goals and well-defined rules to make players feel
empowered and motivated
»» compelling narrative – in a real world activities are rarely
attractive – gamification builds a narrative that engages
players to achieve goals
»» challenging but achievable tasks – in a real world challenges
are everywhere, however they are usually long-term and
complex – gamification provides many short-term and
achievable goals to maintain engagement
»» credits – in a real world statuses and achievements are not
well visible, so they are often downplayed – gamification
provides explicit statuses to acknowledge achievements
and increase recognition.
Game Flow
One of the key aspects of gamification is a game flow, i.e. the
right game level for the right player. The game flow should
ensure that the game is equally interesting and awarding for
both a person who has just entered a game and for an experi-
enced player. That should be achieved by well-defined game
mechanisms including points, badges and challenges set for
gaining each status. Players be able to compare themselves
to other competitors at the same level. Since most of players
are engaged in social networks the game should inspire the
efficient team work.
Time for World of Finance
Gamification works for numerous activities, so why not to chal-
lenge employees of banks and other financial institutions in
order to change the way of their behavior and increase their
level of productivity?
Comarch introduced the gamification ad-on to the CAFE Plat-
form. Comarch Front End (CAFE) is a multichannel platform for
servicing customers according to the CRM strategy. The CAFE
Platform includes the following modules: CRM, Contact Cen-
ter, Customer Service (products and transactions), Campaign
Management and Analytics, which are responsible for a whole
customer lifecycle service process.
The gamification ad-on includes functionality that allows for the
successful gamification launch.There are three types of rewards:
badges, status points and activity points. Each employee can
access a ‘My Achievements’ page, where they can see their
results, check out the task progress and learn about requirements
of new challenges. They can also easily compare results with
others, thanks to the online rankings and progress notifications.
All types of employees are involved in the game:
»» advisors compete within the team, branch, city and region
»» contact center agents compete within the team and with
employees of the same skills or performing the same tasks
(sales, help desk etc.)
»» supervisors compete with each other based on their team
results
»» managers compete with each other based on their branch
results.
Points are awarded for numerous types of activities:
»» selling products
»» cross selling/up-selling opportunities
»» co-operation points (leads generated by call center, sales
in branch)
»» number of actions (tasks, contacts, applications)
»» customer acquisition
»» quality of service (based on surveys)
»» work experience in years
»» participation in e-learning trainings
»» adding content to the wiki.
Some extra points can be awarded for completing challenges.
There are daily, weekly and monthly challenges available in the
application. Thanks to the rule engine, the bank or a financial
institution can change game priorities and rules to make them
more consistent with their strategy, e.g. more points for selling
promoted products. It is worth underlying that Comarch provides
not only the tool, but can also provide the whole game concept.
Various studies show that gamification gives exceptional results
in many areas of our activity and it is one of the cheapest ways
of challenging the productivity. Additionally, it gives a com-
petitive advantage in the battle for the employee satisfaction
and loyalty. Gamification simply makes our work more attrac-
tive, interesting and engaging, so why not to implement it?
Marcin Kwilosz
E-mail: Marcin.Kwilosz@comarch.com
Position: Senior Solution Manager
Comarch SA
10 In Focus
11. For those who observe banking trends with scru-
tiny, Brett King’s name definitely rings a bell. How-
ever, if you do not recognize him, let me intro-
duce you to Brett King – a person who first came
up with the idea of Bank 2.0, the author of the
book of the same tittle and the advisor of the
largest US and worldwide financial institutions.
Brett King
– Banking Visionary
and His New Born
11in Focus
12. KING’S book was first published in 2010 and it
reverberated throughout the banking
world. The reviewers shouted: Audacious, provocative and
sometimes controversial, Brett King redefines the paradigm
of consumer banking. The author claimed that the internet
banking era forced banks to adapt to a new situation and
a complete change in the perception of customers and
their behavior. People older than generation X associate
the word bank(ing) mostly with an institution. Whereas,
for a younger generation, it is not a place but an activity
that they perform in order to pay for a service or a prod-
uct. Sounds reasonably… thinking about connecting with
friends and relatives, we no longer think about a phone
booth or a post office, but about a cellphone or internet.
I remember religious education at my primary school. The
priest used to teach us that the Church is not the building
but the Community. Banking today is no longer a building
either – it is a community that plays more important role
than ever before; hence the bank is able to collect a huge
number of information that constitutes, if processed cor-
rectly, a valuable source of knowledge about the customer.
The community that interests King the most is the internet
community with emphasis on the strongest social media
player – Facebook.
Banks are still a bit unsure of Facebook, whereas market-
ing specialists have already learnt how to preach on the
importance of social media during executives meetings,
and they keep repeating: every company needs a Facebook
profile’ or ‘if you are not on Facebook, you do not exist. As
a consequence, every bank decides to set its flag on the
Facebook no man’s land, claiming proudly that social media
are an important part of their marketing strategy. We could
discuss for ages the way banks cope with social media, and
wonder whether a marketing manager should be fired if
the company does not have a Facebook profile, but it is
a completely different story. Going back to Brett King and
his Bank 2.0 – King’s approach to social media is much
more complex. He sees big advertising potential in social
media, but this is not the only advantage – he considers
Facebook to be a huge knowledge base that can be very
useful for banking. By linking a Facebook account to a bank
account, the bank receives information about social activ-
ity of the customer. King claims that thanks to this knowl-
edge, the bank can assess and verify the customer much
more effectively than with the use of traditional methods
like the mother’s maiden name or the ID number. Tracking
the customer social activity may also enrich the knowledge
of their financial situation. In materials that I had access to,
King does not spend much time evaluating this subject, but
I personally see big potential in a use of apps like e.g. Four-
square (it can also be linked to a Facebook profile) – you
can read more on that in my article on page 36). However,
KYC (Know Your Customer) is not enough. King claims that
customers with the most complex social networks will be
awarded by their banks with special benefits as potential
trend-setters as they can help the bank attract new clients
by their posts and comments.
What else distinguishes Brett King’s approach to function-
ality offered by internet banks today? King underlines that
nowadays, those who perceive banking as an activity not as
an institution do not find very important the fact whether
the bank owns a banking license or not. If the service pro-
vider allows the customer to make immediate and secure
transactions, then no one cares if the bank has headquar-
ters with marble stairs and 50 offices around the city. Who
needs a branch if there is no need to visit it since all can
be done on the phone?
Everything on the phone – this customer wish still remains
unfulfilled, however King thinks that we are much closer to
make it happen than anyone expects. In 2015 most ATMs
in US should be equipped with NFC (Near Field Communi-
cation). This technology is already available in new smart-
phones like Samsung Galaxy S III, Blackberry Bold 9900 or
Nokia Lumia 820. In Poland some mobile phone providers
(e.g.T-Mobile) offer mobile payments via NFC to their cus-
tomers. A smartphone (a banking card, or a sticker provided
by the bank) with the NFC technology allows to make con-
tactless payments. Transactions are made by placing the
phone close to the card reader in a shop or to ATM.
Mobility allows us to use services wherever we are – not
only in places where services used to be offered traditionally.
We ‘carry’ all services with ourselves, we decide when and
where we want to use them. We are a bit like those console
action heroes, who go around with all equipment on their
arms and decide with one click to change a weapon from
bazooka to a shotgun or a knife. In a real world, instead of
I remember religious education at my primary school.
The priest used to teach us that the Church is not the building but the Community.
Banking today is no longer a building either – it is a community
that plays more important role than ever before;
hence the bank is able to collect a huge number
of information that constitutes, if processed correctly,
a valuable source of knowledge about the customer.
As a consequence, every bank decides
to set its flag on the Facebook no man’s land,
claiming proudly that social media are an important part
of their marketing strategy.
12 In Focus
13. juggling weapons we juggle mobile apps, and we choose
the one we need in a given moment. How to get to that
place? – I use my smartphone navigation app. I do not
have a valid ticket for the city transport – I get my ticket
online within seconds with the use of a QR code. I want
to have things under control and know how much money
I have spent on fuel this month, or learn when I spent the
most on tiny pleasures – I use ifin24 app (Comarch Personal
Finance Management).
An increasing number of smartphones and cheap or even
free mobile apps in App Store and Google Play allow us to
perform different activities much easier and quicker.
Brett Kings has high expectations of mobile devices. The
visionary is so sure about the power of smartphones that he
does not only advise his clients on investing in mobile tech-
nology, but also launches his own financial activity called
Movenbank. Brett King estimates that 30 000 customers
is enough to bring him profits under condition that each
customer performs one transaction daily. Movenbank as an
institution based solely on mobility (no payment or bank
cards) requires ATMs with NFC. In US such cash-machines are
already available in New York, Austin and San Francisco. It is
estimated that by the end of 2014, 50% of US retailers will
be equipped with NFC readers. What will be the situation
in Europe? Which banks will manage to adapt to changes,
and which will be left behind? Time will tell. In one of his
interviews King says with irony that paper money will never
disappear because of alcohol, prostitution and gambling.
However, if there are only these three reasons left to use
paper money, then banks can invest hard in mobile tech-
nologies and move on with the mobile expansion on the
market to win aware and demanding customers.
Antoni Sikora
E-mail: Antoni.Sikora@comarch.com
Position: Marketing Manager
Comarch SA
In one of his interviews King says with irony
that paper money will never disappear
because of alcohol, prostitution and gambling.
We are a bit like those console action heroes
who go around with all equipment on their arms
and decide with one click to change a weapon
from bazooka to a shotgun or a knife.
In a real world, instead of juggling weapons we juggle mobile apps,
and we choose the one we need in a given moment.
13in Focus
14. Mobile Bank 2.0
The smartphone becomes a personal assistant, whose role is to help in daily activities. Until recently, the customer
contact with the bank was limited to visiting branches or logging in to the bank website. Smartphones have
changed that model, allowing the bank to implicitly take part in the customer everyday activities. The banking
application may itself initiate contact with the user, depending on the defined conditions, such as a change in the
account balance, transactions performed via other channels (e.g., credit card), or a change of the user location.
14 In Focus
15. UNTIL recently, it seemed that the smartphone
would only serve as an expensive mo-
bile e-mail reader and gadget, attractive mainly for teenag-
ers. It turns out, however, that the device well serves more
serious purposes. For more and more people the smartphone
became an indispensable device at home, at work or on the
go. Why cannot we do without a smartphone? Maybe because
the smartphone has started to act as our personal assistant.
The Essentials – Remote Access to
a Banking Account
Speaking about mobile banking, we mostly think of remote
access to the banking account via mobile phone. Smart-
phones do not offer new technologies in this area, but thanks
to the great possibilities of graphical presentation and inter-
action, they provide unmatched comfort. Navigating the
banking system using a smartphone is simply enjoy-
able. Another important advantage is the speed of
the smartphone itself, and increasingly better
data transfer speed. Not so long ago, retriev-
ing data from the banking system through
a phone took a long time. Moreover, it
was expensive and annoying. Currently,
the login process takes only a few sec-
onds. High usability applications designed
specifically for smartphones take advantage of
opportunities offered both by the touch screen and
keyboard. This means that even the cumbersome login pro-
cess becomes bearable. The latest mobile banking solutions
offer alternative methods of authentication, such as a gesture
login (so-called pattern-lock). Logging in using this method
does not require remembering the PIN or password. It only
takes swiping a finger across the screen and linking the dots
in a previously defined way. A pattern created by the move-
ment of the finger is a safe and relatively easy to remember
authentication method.
Personal Assistant in Your Pocket
The smartphone becomes a personal assistant, whose role is
to help in daily activities. Until recently, the customer contact
with the bank was limited to visiting branches or
logging in to the bank website. Smartphones
have changed that model, allowing the
bank to implicitly take part in the cus-
tomer everyday activities. The bank-
ing application may itself initiate con-
tact with the user, depending on the
defined conditions, such as a change
in the account balance, transactions
performed via other channels (e.g. credit
card), or a change of the user location.
Opportunities offered by smartfones are wide
– we can imagine a scenario, when the bank after
noticing a customer credit card payment at the gas station,
is able to send a notification that a local station offers bet-
ter prices and a discount program. In the near future, we can
imagine other services offered by the bank such as instant
legal advisory, medical advice or plumber service – all within
the reach of the thumb.
Personal Finance Management
In the area of personal finance management, the smartphone
can effectively support planning of household expenses and
act as a personal financial advisor to help the user make deci-
sions related to balancing the family budget. Modern banking
systems allow for automatic categorization of expenses and
provide reports and analyses of monthly expenses. Access to
this information via smartphone provides numerous benefits:
users can check the current account balance before making
expenses, they do not have to wait to manually enter cash
expenses on their PC. The systematic input of transaction data
is crucial in the management of household expenses – other-
wise, after some time, the user can come across budget holes,
the source of which is no longer clear or possible to remem-
ber. A pocket financial advisor in the form of a smartphone
allows users to define limits for all categories of expenses,
which helps to maintain financial discipline in the household
budget. The smartphone also supports verification of the
available resources and control of the long-term plans, thus
giving the bank a unique opportunity to offer the customer
personalized financial products or additional recommenda-
tions on improving their financial situation. For example, the
bank can offer a cash loan that can be granted instantly thanks
to the previously performed scoring.
Electronic Wallet
Mobile payments have been around for a while but so far they
have not been popularized in a business model that would
offer a satisfactory level of comfort. Smartphones, in particu-
lar those equipped with the NFC technology, may be game
changing. With contactless technology and applications pro-
vided by the bank in cooperation with card operators or tele-
com providers, the smartphone can function as a proximity
card. At the current rate of technology development, the usual
plastic cards may go down in history faster than expected. VISA
now estimates that by 2020 more than half of the payment
transactions will be carried out via smartphone. It should be
noted however, that a mobile e-wallet with a contactless pay-
ment (NFC) option can be implemented in a number of busi-
ness models, including those without the bank participation.
Therefore, it is important for the banks to get involved in the
early stage of this technology implementation.
Authorization of Transactions
Authorization with the use of codes or text messages is cur-
rently one of the most reliable ways to ensure the security
of internet transactions. From the bank point of view, this
transaction authorization method is, however, a significant
In Focus 1515in Focus
16. disadvantage as the bank has to cover the fixed costs of
its maintenance dependent on the user activity. The opti-
mal solution is to introduce a token associated with a native
mobile application or with one of the modules constituting
the mobile banking system. In order to perform an operation
via computer or smartphone, the user enters PIN and gener-
ates a one-time password or authorizes the transaction with
a unique digital signature. As a result, the bank does not
bear the cost of each authorized transaction.
Notifications
Two-way communication between the bank and
the customer through a device that fits in a pocket
provides a number of opportunities for interaction
depending on the current context of user actions.
Messages are displayed in the notification bar used
to provide information on incoming text or e-mail mes-
sages. Thus, no message can be ignored by the user. How-
ever, this feature should be used very cautiously, because the
annoyed user may uninstall the application instead of switch-
ing the function off in the smartphone settings. Therefore, the
default settings should include only critical event messages
with the possibility of extending the scope of received noti-
fications by the user.
Native Application vs. Mobile Website
The bank may assume that a mobile website meets all needs
of the customer. However, a great advantage of native appli-
cations for smartphones is that they work in the background,
ensuring two-way communication between the customer
and the bank. In addition, a native mobile app can use addi-
tional features of the smartphone, such as the camera, accel-
erometer or access to a phone book. Functionalities available
only in native applications include a mobile wallet, invoice
scanning, support for QR codes, video communication with
a personal advisor and notifications. From the bank point of
view, native applications are also easier to distribute via stan-
dard distribution channels i.e. the application stores familiar
to all smartphone users.
What is next?
When it comes to the use of smartphones in the coming
years, the priority seems to be introduction of the possibility
of contactless NFC mobile transactions integrated with a bank
account via mobile banking applications. We can also expect
further development of the multi-channel banking concept
based on the existing channels of communication and inter-
action with the bank, such as the video channel, which allows
advisors to present the offer to their customers and reply to
all related queries. Furthermore, the interaction between
the bank and its customers is going to move to new chan-
nels using devices that so far have not been associated with
banking, e.g. Smart TV.
The combination of the online banking and smartphone bank
access becomes a viable alternative for the bank branches
or even credit cards. The smartphone provides information,
enables remote operations and begins to act as an advisor.
Users can easily compare and purchase financial products
regardless of time and place. The mobile banking channel
makes shopping easier by helping customers find the most
suitable offer and make accurate financial decisions. The devel-
opment of mobile banking, however, cannot be seen as an
evolution of the online banking. Mobile banking is a parallel,
complementary channel, which offers new possibilities for
user-friendly, simplified banking and focuses on the features
that the user may need on the go. For more advanced bank-
ing operations requiring more attention, the main channel
will still be the online banking accessed via computer.
Mobile banking can succeed provided that it is simple and
user-friendly, offers useful features for a selected segment of
customers and puts the limited screen possibilities to the best
use without causing much discomfort to the user. This way,
not only does the bank obtain an additional service channel,
but also strengthens its presence in the customer life, serv-
ing as an advisor who calls for actions or decisions related to
personal finance.
Marcin Kwilosz
E-mail: Marcin.Kwilosz@comarch.com
Position: Mobile Banking Solution Manager
Comarch SA
16 In Focus
17. We Have to Stop
Wasting Money
Billions of euros for innovation flowing to universities,
startups, business incubators and technology parks are
mostly spent in vain. Instead, they should be flowing to
Polish medium and large companies.
17in Focus
18. IN today's world, achieving innovation in a tradition-
al sense, like the discovery of a light bulb, is only
possible as a result of progress in basic research: in physics,
chemistry, molecular biology or mathematics.
Recent inventions such as the transistor, the laser, the com-
puter, or use of the atom for energy production were made
in the 50s. Since then, we have experienced incremental or
evolutionary innovation. Basic research is funded to a much
lesser extent than in the past. Now, innovations are the result
of the work of hundreds of thousands of scientists and engi-
neers focused on developing improved versions of technol-
ogies and devices. A mobile phone and internet were not
inventions. Groups of engineers worked on these solutions
for decades, improving a telephone and a computer with
the use of the semiconductor technology. The best proof is
the fact that inventors of the internet and the mobile phone
are not known by name.
Innovative research is funded by government agencies.
Huge amount of the money allocated is wasted. Despite
of spending billions on research and development, the EU
institutions do not have any devices or technological solu-
tions to boast about. Similarly, in Poland, Polish Agency for
Enterprise Development and other government agencies
give away hundreds of millions of Polish zloty with no effect.
The prevailing opinion is that a significant part of the money
for innovation should go to universities. The history of sci-
ence and technology shows that innovations do not come
from universities. Most of the money goes there, because
in Brussels and Warsaw the professors were chosen to be
responsible for its distribution. The problem is that the pub-
licly funded institutes and universities are not responsible
for anything, they do not share the stress associated with
creating something new. A professor does not spend their
own money, they expect that after completing one project
they will get another one. There is nobody to evaluate the
value and usefulness of their work.
Moving away from basic research is a global problem. My
experience from working in the world's leading laborato-
ries in France, Australia, Canada, and visits to the U.S. is that
at least since the 80s research has been commercialized to
a large extent. In the early 80s, I conducted research on the
development of telecommunications networks at indus-
trial laboratories in Paris. In the second half of the decade,
I developed algorithms for Telecom Australia at the univer-
sity in Australia in the applied mathematics department. At
that time my colleagues, prominent theorists from American
laboratories began complaining that they had to take indus-
trial internships. Global competition resulted in the confusion
of roles. The main stream of money directed to universities
is spent on developing technological solutions for imme-
diate implementation. In order to achieve real innovation,
universities should conduct preceding research. The point is
not to cut funding for higher education institutions, but to
restore their primary mission, which is to conduct research.
In order to defend the thesis that funds are directed to uni-
versities, business incubators, companies created by profes-
sors or startups are promoted. Incubators and cooperation
between universities and the industry within technology
parks are just the pretext to raise money. The objectives of
creating incubators are vague, and it is impossible to settle
the responsibility for the money spent. They are in fact allo-
cated to administrative structures.
Comarch in Krakow operates in a technology park. As a result
of a complaint lodged by the voivode of the Lesser Poland,
the regional administrative court overruled the resolution
of the park zoning plan, which means that the launch of any
new investment takes at least a year longer. For many years,
we have not been able to elicit the proper labeling of the
route to the company, which employs nearly 2000 people.
In Germany, the routes to company buildings are labeled like
those of museums and memorials. Now, district councilors
want to change the name of the street where our offices are
located. We point out, that the costs associated with that
change would be so high and even difficult to estimate, and
we do not only talk about printing new marketing materials.
The Comarch address is in the databases of over one mil-
lion potential customers and partners. Councilors do not
understand the importance of a global address database
for the entrepreneur.
The perception of IT companies in Poland by the decision
makers is distorted by an outdated social stereotype of an
intellectual: a truly wise person cannot be rich, so they must
be a poor loser in order to be supported. Due to these prob-
lems, Polish technology parks for the last couple of years have
mostly attracted investors like real estate developers or mul-
tinational corporations in need of cheap labor.
Many professors raise research funds at university and then
start their own companies based on the research results. As
a rule, there is nothing wrong with that.That is how Comarch
and numerous American companies started. However, this
only makes sense if after an incubation period, the duties
associated with being a professor and a business person are
separated. The professor has to give up his or her job at the
university and take care of business or sell the business. The
situation of holding both positions at the same time is harm-
ful for the company and the quality of research. It results in
wasting talents and enthusiasm of gifted young people.They
are attracted to companies launched by professors by the
promise that they would participate in interesting research.
Instead they end up doing commercial projects, and there is
no one left to do science. In the beginnings of Comarch, the
idea was to establish a university-related company to help
young scholars earn extra money but it quickly became clear
that we need to make a choice.
Professor Janusz Filipiak
Comarch SA Founder CEO
18 In Focus
19. There is a bizarre phenomenon in Comarch branch offices
in the West: university units want to implement commer-
cially innovative solutions developed by our company. Not
only would no reasonable entrepreneur use such services,
but also a university cannot provide commercial services.
Just as with the supply of goods, there must be a defined
contractual liability to provide the possibility for claim com-
pensation in case of delays or defects. It is hard to imagine
such a business model. Unfortunately, these expectations
show how far technical universities are moving away from
their core tasks.
In addition to the belief that universities can be the leaders
of innovation, in Poland there is an assumption that another
important source of innovation are startups. A lot of money
was granted to new companies, whose sole asset was a busi-
ness plan included in the grant application. It turned out that
they operated as long as the EU money lasted, and I am not
talking about cases where the conscious or subconscious
intention was to extort funding. In the mature and competi-
tive economies introducing new products to the market takes
time. Achieving the self-financing phase of an investment
takes about seven years, a company has to make substantial
investments in marketing and obtain full compliance with the
requirements of the market. A company must have access to
a wide sales network, which is all but impossible for a single
product on a mature market. Comarch has experienced this
at the outset. We generated an innovative, on a global scale,
EasyNet (software for managing computer networks), but we
were too small to effectively commercialize it.
In a world where hundreds of thousands of people in doz-
ens of countries work on innovations, the same idea can
be implemented in many laboratories. In the evolutionary
model of innovation it is not possible for an individual to
invent something completely unique. The winner will be
the one with better access to the market, a bigger sales net-
work and more money for marketing. A corporation may be
slower in the development of an innovative solution, but it
will leave the startup far behind when it comes to its com-
mercialization.
In the global economy, manufacturing of the product on
a large scale requires complex cooperation. The produc-
tion of an attractive looking case for a device can cost mil-
lions, much more than the electronics inside. In the example
of iPhone, the case, usability and attractive graphics of the
applications often prove to be more important than tech-
nological innovation. Whereas in the EU grants for startups,
the funds are provided to produce a technical solution and
no one wonders who and how will introduce this innova-
tion to the market.
Comarch is considering the acquisition of a startup founded
with EU grants. However, we do not want to buy the technol-
ogy. We are only half a year behind with the development
of a very similar solution financed form our own funds, so it
would be very easy to make up for the time gap. What we
buy is a team of very enthusiastic people with knowledge
which is valuable to us. How many startups and small busi-
nesses fueled by EU grants can the Polish industry buy?
Unfortunately, not many.
We come to the question of how the Polish medium and
large companies, such as Comarch, are financed from pub-
lic funds. Unfortunately, very poorly. In 2011-2012, Comarch
applied to Polish institutions 34 times for EU funding of
research and development. I can hardly believe it myself,
but none of the applications were accepted, while in most of
national rankings Comarch is considered to be the most inno-
vative Polish company. For the past two years we have spent
100 million PLN annually from our own funds on research and
development. Each year, Comarch sells Polish technological
innovation to the biggest corporations for nearly 100 million
euros, so it is difficult to believe that all of our fund applica-
tions did not meet the criteria of innovation.
The situation of German entrepreneurs is very different.
Recently, the Bavarian government assigned about one bil-
lion euros for research and development to the largest com-
panies in the state, including BMW. Our German company,
Comarch AG, is also a beneficiary – we have received nearly
2 million euros to build a data center in Dresden from the
government of Saxony. Without any networking. In Poland,
as a justification for the rejection of one of our requests , we
were told that Comarch has a large profit, and it can fund its
own research. In light of these facts, the recently announced
EU grant program in Poland, under which companies have
to pay extra to universities to carry out research and devel-
opment, seems ill-considered.
In the absence of visible results of EU programs, awarding
enormous research and development grants for small busi-
nesses, university units and startups without effects, the
principles of fund allocation need to be changed. A much
larger stream of funds should be directed to the medium
and large private Polish companies, where the money is
spent effectively, and the benefits for the whole economy
will be invaluable.
The article was published in Forbes 11/2012
(Polish edition)
19in Focus
20. These days customers make product choices in a very smart way - they prefer instantly available quality products
of high performance at reasonable price.
Customer Means Who?
We know that the ultimate objective of any bank is to
attract more and more customers and gain their loyalty.
Bankers agree that products are no longer the main draw
for customers as all banks have similar offers. If not prod-
ucts, then what? If the bank knows little about its cus-
tomers and ignores their needs introducing products
without paying attention to that, it will not survive long
on the market. The bank should observe the customer
behavior and take into account their shifting demands.
However, nowadays banks are reluctant to use their
customer data. In some cases, its volume and segrega-
tion pose impediments. In others, banks believe (erro-
neously in most cases) that regulatory bodies prevent
them from exploring it. Surprisingly for banks‘some 70%
ofcustomerswouldbehappytodisclosepersonalinforma-
tion if it improved the level of service and products they
were offered’(Ernst Young Global Consumer Banking
Survey 2012). Therefore, if the bank wants to survive, it
must think about the customer behavior and their needs.
Comarch Smart Finance
– Re-think Your Banking
20 In Focus
21. Awareness
These days customers make product choices in a very smart
way – they prefer instantly available quality products of high
performance at reasonable price. Additionally, those belong-
ing to Generation Y are more demanding than others. For
last few years banking customers have significantly changed.
Researches show that customers become less loyal to their
banks, increasingly choosy and better informed. They focus
on the best answer to their needs and they do not settle for
the first solution offered by their financial services provider.
Moreover, the key question is how customers buy product.
Internet and the real world provide numerous possibilities
to get information on the product details, prices, reviews
and recommendations – be it a friend in the restaurant,
the shop staff, a review on the internet forum or a post on
Facebook. Due to the growth of mobile internet and camera
equipped-devices that just need a QR or bar code to pro-
vide full information on products, creating new offers gets
more complex. Customers listen to each other more than
to their banks or financial advisors.‘Globally, 71% seek advice
on banking products and services from friends, family or col-
leagues, and 65% use financial comparison sites to find the best
deals’ (Ernst Young Global Consumer Banking Survey 2012).
It means that customers become disloyal. ‘The overall pro-
portion of customers planning to change banks has increased
from 7% to 12% since 2011’ (Ernst Young Global Consumer
Banking Survey 2012). Banks should look to the future – Gen-
eration Y emerges as a key customer segment. To establish
positive and lasting relationship with this group, banks must
revisit many of their strategies, particularly those concerning
channels, marketing and products. First, they must develop
a deep understanding of values that drive the consumer
needs and preferences.
Nowadays, banks need to better understand the lifestyle of
their customers and step into their shoes.
Intelligent Banking
Millions of people around the world log into their internet
bank at least once a week to check their balance and overall
financial situation. Consciously or not, they make calculations
how much they can spend. Gartner emphasizes: ‘Today’s Per-
sonal Finance Management functionality focuses on delivering
the customer’s current and past transactions in an organized
analysis (by category, payment type or date range). However,
this data usually has no connection to the customer’s future’
(Add Social Capabilities to Online Personal Financial Manage-
ment to Keep Customers – Gartner Report). Comarch decided
to help customers and give them ‘money-to-spend indicator’.
The Comarch Personal Finance Management key feature pres-
ents the customer with the amount of money available until
the end of the month calculated on the basis of expenses, all
fixed costs according to the transaction history, plans, sched-
uled payments and income. Depending on the calculation
result (surplus/shortage), the system suggests taking actions
to improve the customer finances.
Support
Bank customers are rarely accountants, therefore they often
need a helping hand. Banks should help customers make the
best decision for reaching their financial goals. ‘Nearly eight
in ten users say that Personal Finance Management gives them
greater control over their financial lives’(Aite Group, LLC, 2010).
In response to the customer needs, Comarch Personal Finance
Management offers powerful tools allowing bank customers
to take control of their personal finances. It visualizes their
financial lives and helps them to be smart with money, i.e. save
towards goals, cut unnecessary spending and achieve their
financial objectives. Comarch Personal Finance Management
aggregates the customer data concerning accounts, invest-
ments, loans and credit cards from various financial institu-
tions. It analyzes that information and presents it to the user
in a comprehensible way with the use of a web browser or
a smartphone application and the internet connection.
Personalization
Customers want their banks to know them well and treat
them individually. They value personalized products and ser-
vices. Therefore, banks need to employ more programmatic
approach to personalize the customer experience. The cus-
tomer expects the bank to take into account every informa-
tion they provide, and make use of it while interacting with
them, e.g. while presenting offers. If a customer rejects the
cross-selling offer from a bank advisor, they should not get
the same one by email shortly after. Customers should not be
treated as new ones every time they interact with the bank.
The customer behavior is a perfect source of knowledge about
their needs and preferences that should be used by the bank
to communicate in a more efficient way. For example, if the
bank notices that the customer habitually overdraws the cur-
rent account, it should offer the overdraft protection product.
On the contrary, if the bank notices that the customer habitu-
ally keeps a large amount of money on the current account,
it should offer the high-yield saving products. Moreover, the
customer personalization should be based on demograph-
ics and statistics. Customers are ready to provide the bank
with more personal information as long as they receive bet-
ter-tailored offers. By incorporating a variety of external data
sources, banks can gain more understanding of the customer
backgrounds, interests and goals, and serve them in a better
way. If the bank knows that the customer is in early 40s, owns
a house and a car, and has children, it should be aware that
this customer is unlikely interested in any loan products. Such
a customer might be probably interested in deposit products,
e.g. a savings account or a mutual fund for children education.
If the bank explores all channels and business lines, then it is
able to present the customer with relevant cross-selling offers.
Comarch Personal Finance Management is a natural channel
for personalized product offers and advice. Combining per-
sonal data with customer transaction habits provides the bank
with a powerful knowledge base – a starting point for person-
alized conversation with the customer. Owing to the backend
event-triggered business logic, the customer receives the right
21Solutions Case Study
22. offer in the right time instead of getting the annoying spam.
Personalized products and services mean a higher conversion
rate for banks and a higher satisfaction level of their customers.
Customer Speaks
The number of people using internet before making any pur-
chase decision is increasing rapidly. For example, before buy-
ing a car, they do a lot of research – read reviews, ratings and
pricelists at different websites. Thanks to various portals, social
media like Facebook and Twitter as well as other specialized
networks, bank customers can learn about financial products
and services offered on their market and select the provid-
ers and delivery channels matching their needs and lifestyle.
However, banks should listen to their customers. If the cus-
tomer complains, there might be a problem with the bank
product or service. Complaints allow the bank to learn about
its business and help to solve the problems. Bearing in mind
customer complaints shows respect to customers and wish to
improve. Besides, it provides customers with a sense of security
making them less likely to go to competitors. Therefore, banks
should allow their customers to have a voice on their product
design and delivery.
Mobile Routine
‘Consumerusageofmobiledevicesischanging,withmoreconsum-
ers using smartphones. Consumer use of smartphones increased
sharplyin2011,from33.5%inthesecondquarterto39%byNovem-
ber 2011’ (comScore report: 2011 State of Online and Mobile
Banking,February2012).Today bank customers expect to access
their accounts and money anywhere and anytime regardless
of a service channel. What they appreciate most is the speed
and operation simplicity. According to Gartner, customers use
multiple devices and access points to get personal information
e.g. financial data. Therefore, finance management offered by
the bank must be channel-neutral (Gartner report: Add Social
Capabilities to Online Personal Financial Management to Keep
Customers by Stessa B. Cohen). New customers do not see any
distinction between where they do their banking and where
they live their lives. They want the bank to be available any-
time and everywhere on all devices. No matter where they are
(at work, at home or at a friend’s house), they want to view all
their financial information in one place. Comarch Smart Finance
Mobile offers the most popular personal Internet banking ser-
vice in a smartphone-friendly format, granting them full control
of their money. They can make money transfers on holidays,
manage their accounts on the bus, pay their bills between
meetings, and check their balances before shopping. Comarch
Smart Finance Mobile allows the users to keep track of their
money in a more comfortable way no matter where they are.
User-friendly Experience
The bank customers search for products and services with
a very critical eye. They expect high quality, inspiring design
and above all fulfilling their personal needs. Comarch has
adopted new technologies to provide the users with the best
experience of the touch-friendly layouts and lightweight,
fast-loading pages, optimizing the channel for both regular
browsers and touch mobile devices. The users are provided
with a well-designed screen interface ensuring fewer mouse
clicks and the immediate bank system response.
Re-thinking Personal Finance
Comarch Smart Finance is the answer to changing needs
and behaviors of people who use new mobile technologies
on a daily basis.
Comarch Smart Finance offer a new approach to finances:
»» it reminds the user about upcoming payments and shows
their financial situation at the end of the month, giving
advice how to improve it
»» it helps the user to be smart with the money showing how to
save towards goals, pay the bills, cut unnecessary spending,
and achieve their financial objectives, providing the possi-
bility of sharing their financial objectives on social networks
and access to their money anytime anywhere
»» it offers simple and user-friendly banking far from a traditional
accounting approach to finances, providing all necessary
information in an easy and comprehensive way
»» it guarantees maximum effect with minimum effort as it
takes a little time and energy to monitor personal finances
with its convenient tools and automated tasks
»» it provides unlimited access to the bank anytime anywhere
thanks to the mobile latest technology
»» it has smart interface design since Comarch attaches great
importance to look feel of the solution – even though it
offers the rich functionality and numerous tools, it is still
intuitive, easy and friendly to use.
Anna Płowiec-Wandas
E-mail: Anna.Plowiec-Wandas@comarch.com
Position: Business Solution Manager
Comarch SA
22 Solutions Case Study
23. »» Clear visual editor helps you design, build and run
a form with just a few mouse moves (drag drop) −
even complex forms can be deployed in a few hours.
»» Using Comarch eForms does not require technical
expertise − an intuitive user interface makes creat-
ing complex forms easy.
»» Owing to a SOA architecture, data from many dis-
tributed sources and systems are integrated into
a single user desktop.
The Comarch eForms system is designed for building forms, web applications and enterprise portals.
With its intuitive user interface and numerous available features it fully automates the processes of
registration, complaints, logistics and others that require interaction between a customer and a company.
Comarch eForms
– Quick
Friendly
23Solutions Case Study
24. Tomasz Korczakowski
E-mail: Tomasz.Korczakowski@comarch.com
Position: Business Solution Manager
Comarch SA
eForms Editor
The core of the system is a module for designing electronic
forms. A large library of components allows to design even the
most complex forms, as well as to easy define and efficiently
process business rules.
Automatic Forms
Comarch eFroms is equipped with a decision engine and a rule
processing mechanism. Algorithms for decision-making, exter-
nal data retrieval and data correctness verification are fully con-
trolled by the system and available to the business administra-
tor. Mechanisms used in the application prevent errors thanks
to data entry verification. All necessary calculations are avail-
able in a real time.
Search Engines
An integral part of the system is a module responsible for brows-
ing the data stored in it. To define the search engine the same
components are used as in the case of eForms. The applied
approach allows to build any search engine in an efficient and
intuitive way.The engine can be embedded in the system, pro-
viding access to the collected information, allowing its report-
ing and supporting export to external systems.
Monitoring Module
Owing to the module of data monitoring, operations in multiple
systems can be easily synchronised. The user can also imme-
diately respond to unexpected events, create and distribute
reports. The module enables flexible scheduling of tasks with
the help of an unlimited number of calendars. The user can
define holidays and with the support of the decision engine
perform even the most complex calculations. Statuses of tasks
are reported to the system administrator.
Key Features of the System:
»» easy and intuitive interface allowing business administrators
to create screens available to users
»» eForms repository − all data entered into the system are
archived and accessible for authorized users
»» eForms versioning support − successive versions of the
same forms
»» electronic attachments support − electronic attachments
in various formats, e.g. Word, Excel, PDF, TIFF, JPG
»» organizational structure support − possibility of transfer-
ring eForms to a person or a department within a defined
organizational structure
»» administrator full control – management of system param-
eters, user privileges, creation and configuration of forms,
dictionaries, printouts and processes
»» library of actions – a predefined library for creating sequences
of actions to be performed in response to the system events
(e.g. after clicking Save, the system performs a sequence of
operations, i.e. validates the accuracy of data, saves data,
and sends notifications by email)
»» multilanguage support – supporting the user interface in
different languages simultaneously.
24 Solutions Case Study
25. Market Demands
A number of investment accounts opened by banks
and brokerage houses in Poland continues to grow.
According to the Polish National Depository for Securi-
ties (NDS), in 2012 it amounted to more than one and
a half million. This value can be overstated since only
a quarter of investments accounts appears to be active.
For brokerages, which make profits on transactions, the
key issue is to activate customers. Taking into account
the increasing popularity of mobile devices, their avail-
ability and interactivity, it is not surprising that they
are in the center of attention of financial institutions
as a tool for attracting customers.
The analysts of Gartner, Pyramid Research, Flurry and
GfK Polonia predict a further increase in sales of smart-
phones, both in the world and in Poland. According
to Flurry, smartphones become the main channel of
access to information − the time spent on mobile appli-
cations gradually increases as compared to the one
spent with a traditional browser.The analysis of banking
applications carried out by experts of Janmedia Interac-
tive presents huge disparities in their usability and func-
tionality. The report shows that the user expectations
come down to the ability to quickly and seamlessly
perform the most common operations and access to
various features of the application, while maintaining
a high level of user-friendliness. The Comarch Mobile
Investments application meets all these requirements.
Brokerage houses introduce mobile access to accounts not only for the active investors but also for those who
place orders occasionally.
AModernMobileApproach
to Investment Account Management
25Solutions Case Study
26. Customer Needs
Every day, brokerage customers check the information about
the companies and instruments that interest them. Broker-
age houses introduce mobile access to accounts not only for
the active investors, but also for those who occasionally place
orders or check their investment status. Mobile browsing of
the current stock prices and placing orders at any place and
time is an important complement to desktop transactional and
analytical systems. A mobile application, which presents com-
prehensive information is often more useful than a traditional
one − it requires only a mobile device. However, to meet the
growing demands of users, such a solution must be continually
developed in accordance with the latest technological trends. It
must leverage all capabilities of the device, such as a touchable
screen, gestures or the accelerometer. With the current capa-
bilities of mobile devices and data transfer decreasing prices,
there is nothing in the way of mobile applications for investors
to become as popular as desktop applications.
Comarch Mobile Investments
The Comarch Mobile Investments application for iPhone with
the iOS operating system is a solution designed according to
current market trends. A modern smartphone app providing
mobile access to brokerage services fully meets the expecta-
tions of investors. Comarch Mobile Investments integrates with
Comarch Smart Finance − the mobile banking solution. Thus,
the synergy effect guarantees even greater range of features.
The application provides an encrypted connection to ensure
the highest level of data transfer security. Systems created by
developers without the brokerage participation often do not
enjoy the confidence of banks and brokerage houses since they
might provide the developer with passwords to accounts. In
this case, users make transactions in the application on their
own risk. Comarch Mobile Investments is a combination of
innovation, usability and ease of operation. It offers a compre-
hensive functional package, combining investment account
operation data with financial market dynamic information.The
solution provides users with unlimited access to investment
accounts and stock prices as well as the ability to place orders
from anywhere in the world 24/7. In addition, users can cre-
ate their own watchlists with different views − sheet orders,
boxes and boxes with charts.The application can be used any-
where, at home, at work, on the road, even with data roaming
on. Moreover, the application has an ergonomic and intuitive
user interface specific to iPhone. ‘That was a real challenge for
us to make a mobile device present extensive and advanced infor-
mation, as well as provide access to the system transactional part,
in which the orders are executed’, emphasizes Łukasz Grędecki,
Director of Comarch Production Center in Lodz. ‘The solution
was developed by the team led by Marcin Góralski, who was also
the main analyst. Technological aspects were monitored by an
experienced designer Kacper Wołyński. Thanks to the coopera-
tion with Comarch Business Development Center and one of the
leading Polish brokerage houses, the current version of Comarch
Mobile Investments takes into account recommendations and
suggestions of all experts, optimally combining a design theory
and brokerage experience’.’
Comarch Mobile Investments includes an extremely impor-
tant aspect of multi-market support. The solution can be used
for transactions on Warsaw Stock Exchange including Catalyst
and NewConnect markets with easy transition to the transac-
tional part. The Comarch mobile application meets two most
important expectations of customers − it is equipped with an
extensive and rich informational part, and supports the pos-
sibility of switching to orders. Owing to the new technology,
the application provides:
»» access to main information on selected securities
»» quick access to charts, statistics and a technical analyses
»» quick defining of notifications on selected securities
»» quick access to press-releases related to selected securities
»» quick navigation within own watchlists
»» quick order placing both in a simplified and complex forms.
The Comarch Mobile Investments solution offers numerous
advantages and is a perfect complement to Comarch Internet
Investments.The next stage of the application development is
a version for smartphones with the Android operating system.
As a recognized brand among software providers for the finan-
cial sector, for many years Comarch has focused on innovation,
while ensuring the highest level of customer satisfaction and
fulfilling customer expectations.
Advantages of Comarch Mobile Investments:
»» availability − unlimited access to the investment account and stock prices along with the possibility of trans-
actions performed anywhere 24/7 with a mobile phone or PDA/smartphone and wireless internet access
»» mobility − ideal for active investors operating on the go
»» trust − data encryption ensuring security and protection
»» enhanced functionality − the possibility of transferring any website functionality to the mobile channel
»» ease of use − an ergonomic and intuitive user interface, no special hardware requirements for users.
Milan Popovic
E-mail: Milan.Popovic@comarch.com
Position: Business Solution Manager
Comarch SA
26 Solutions Case Study
27. Wojciech Pawlus
E-mail: Wojciech.Pawlus@comarch.com
Position: Sales Director
Comarch AG
Business Case
Delta Lloyd Life has decided to cooperate with Comarch mostly
because of the process-orientation of the solutions and their
ability to offer a global view of the customer.
‘Cooperation with Comarch will allow us to optimize the under-
writing process, which will result in more effective and accurate
underwriting decision making. The main goal of the project is
to improve the customer outcomes, service and overall satis-
faction levels throughout all lines of business – pension, group
and retail insurance’, says Anne Romagnoli, Chief IT Officer at
Delta Lloyd Life.
‘The cutting-edge technology based on SOA principles applied in
ComarchUnderwritingandComarchInsuranceClaimsenablesthe
solution to fit into the existing IT environment at Delta Lloyd Life
as the best-of-breed component in the medical acceptance area’,
underlines Anne Romagnoli, Chief IT Officer at Delta Lloyd Life.
‘We are confident that our market-proven solutions will allow
Delta Lloyd Life to meet its business objectives. It is a common
goal for both sides as we see ourselves as long term partners for
our customers. The project with Delta Lloyd Life is an important
step to strengthen Comarch’s position in Benelux – the region that
lies in our strategic interests’, adds Wojciech Pawlus, Sales Direc-
tor, Benelux Region, Comarch.
‘The Comarch application offers not only rich functionality in
terms of underwriting and claims processes. Our solutions are
based on a common technology framework which incorporates
the Comarch Business Process Management tool. The BPM com-
ponent allows for flexible configuration of the process to best
reflect the customer operations. Moreover, Comarch BPM enables
managers to monitor the user work and their efficiency as well as
providing the MI reporting, which allows for spotting bottlenecks
and process optimization, explains Ewa Jasiecka, Managing
Director, Comarch UK.
Delta Lloyd Life is a leading Belgian insurance company
offering life insurance to corporations and individuals. The
company was founded in 2001 as a result of merger between
CGU Life, OHRA Leven and Norwich Union. After the merge
with Swiss Life Belgium in 2008, Delta Lloyd Life has become
a true expert in the ‘pension’ segment while strengthening
its position in the Non-Life market under the name Zelia.
Delta Lloyd Life is also the organizer of the Pension Ambas-
sador Award.
Delta Lloyd Life NV is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The
company operates as a subsidiary of Delta Lloyd Group that is
listed on NYSE Euronext Amsterdam and operates primarily in
the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Comarch announced that Delta Lloyd Life, a Belgian pension insurance expert and active player in the corporate
and retail life insurance market, chose Comarch solutions to support the company in refining the medical
acceptance process.
Comarch for Delta Lloyd Life
27Solutions Case Study
28. The Comarch Personal Finance Management innovation lies in simplicity.The customers can relax and relies on the
system, which automatically reminds them about deadlines, payments and other important dates. Comarch Personal
Finance Management is not only a tool to make saving and managing money more effective – it is a customer
guide for planning the budget, which takes the initiative and requires minimum effort.
Comarch Personal Finance Management
– Get Closer to Your Customers
‘Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful’
– John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life
IN times when the economic situation changes
very quickly, the role of an innovative financial
institution is not only to follow their customer habits
but to create trends. Customers appreciate visionaries,
forward-thinkers and those who strive for new solu-
tions. Following and analyzing consumer trends allow
to forecast their evolving expectations for coming years.
The best way to get to the customers is to follow their
habits, everyday behavior, and recognize their daily rou-
tines.
The annual report Consumers Convergence, released by
KPMG in 2011, tracks trends in the consumer behavior
and indicates the direction of future changes.The results
show that consumers would consequently turn to mobile
devices to support their daily routine. Even though the
personal data security remains the main concern among
mobile devices users, 56% of respondents would choose
financial institutions as the most reliable to deliver their
services via mobile. This outcome predicts increasing
popularity of the financial software and applications
dedicated to financial institution customers.
To be successful in attracting new customers and
retaining old ones, financial institutions should always
be a step ahead of them. Moreover, they should be eas-
ily accessible and flexible. These days, as the market
competition is fierce, loyal customers are valued more
than ever. When the economic situation is unstable,
people tend to keep their funds and capital safe and
controlled. To meet their needs, Comarch has devel-
oped a tool that enables tracking and monitoring
the customer payments and expenses. Moreover, it
gives them reliable estimations of their future cash
28 Solutions Case Study