NEW YORK, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A survey conducted
by Inlet, a technology platform that enables companies to securely
deliver digital documents across multiple online consumer
destinations, found that consumers are increasingly comfortable
using cloud storage sites as a place to store their life's most
important records – and that many can see themselves living without
paper bills and statements.
The Inlet survey asked U.S. consumers about their daily online
habits and found that most prefer digital in all aspects of their
lives. The increased demand for digital has put a larger spotlight
on the uncovered opportunities for banks, in particular, to improve
on customer experience and take advantage of the trust consumers
already place in them; especially when it comes to emerging
technology such as mobile banking and the path toward AI-enabled
processes.
Today, providers such as insurance companies, credit card
companies and utilities have the ability to become further embedded
in the daily lives of consumers by engaging and communicating
through their preferred digital channels. By developing and
maintaining meaningful relationships with customers, companies are
allowed more room for innovation and can continue to elevate their
overall experience –furthering loyalty and upsell
opportunities.
Highlights from the survey include:
- Chocolate and drinking were the two most popular things
people would be willing to give up for one month to stop receiving
all paper mail. With so many daily habits controlled digitally,
the household chore of paying bills and organizing documents is
still a pain point for consumers. Companies need to alleviate this
pain by making it easier to go paperless and access documents via
the channels their customers prefer to use.
- More than 50 percent of respondents are comfortable storing
their most important documents in the cloud with photos being the
number one item, followed by financial statements and bills.
Taking note from photo sharing platforms like Facebook and
Snapchat, bill providers can build on consumers' comfort with
storing photos on the cloud to explain why their other personal
information is also safe there.
- Roughly half (48.2 percent) of respondents said they would
never trust Alexa, Siri or another AI-enabled assistant to pay
bills on their behalf. While these findings make it seem like
AI has a long way to go to become a true digital assistant for the
everyday consumer, comfort levels with this tool will increase as
companies continue to educate their customers about the benefits AI
provides, such as increased organization.
- Survey respondents feel more comfortable logging in to a
bank's app by typing the password versus using touch ID (34.5
percent vs. 23.8 percent) and over a third of consumers don't
access their bank account information on their mobile devices in
public areas. Skepticism around mobile banking and passwords is
still prevalent among consumers today, which is why financial
institutions need to take steps to educate consumers about
security.
"For companies and consumers, the cloud has moved beyond being
just an abstract concept and now has the capability to change how
people work and live," said Chuck
Cordray, CEO of Inlet. "As consumers continue to adopt a
digital-first lifestyle, there's a significant opportunity and
untapped potential for companies to evolve into more advisory roles
when it comes to educating audiences about trusting and working
with cloud to harness its full potential."
Cordray added, "Inlet's role is to take the resource burden away
from providers and enable them to efficiently and safely deliver
eBills and statements to major destinations such as Google Drive,
Amazon Drive and more than 6,500 banks and credit unions across the
country."
About the Survey
Inlet commissioned SHIFT Communications to survey U.S. online
consumers through Google Surveys about consumer cloud behaviors.
The survey was completed by 1,514 respondents with a 95% confidence
level. The survey was weighted against the U.S. Census Bureau
Current Population Survey for age, gender, and region of
the United States to be
representative of the population. Inlet was the sole investor in
the survey. The survey period was March 24,
2017 – March 26, 2017. Data is
available upon request.
About Inlet
Inlet is a secure digital document delivery platform which
exclusively connects companies to consumers via major personal
cloud storage sites and thousands of financial institutions.
Through a single integration, companies can send eBills, statements
and other important documents to the online destinations their
customers visit and trust the most. These destinations include
Amazon Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive* and Evernote in addition to
6,500 bank and credit union websites across the country. Inlet
increases customer engagement, paperless adoption rates and enables
faster payments. To learn more about Inlet, a joint venture between
Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR) and Pitney Bowes (NYSE:
PBI), visit www.InletDigital.com.
Contact:
Lolita Verny-Acosta
Inlet
203-898-3697
Lolita.vernyacosta@inletdigital.com
Mary McGuire
SHIFT Communications
646-756-3709
Inlet@shiftcomm.com
*Google Drive delivery launches on June
30, 2017
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SOURCE Inlet