I often hear bankers express concern over "who owns the customer?" particularly during discussions about mobile telephony. They fear mobile carriers are trying to take over the customer relationship, resulting in the bank becoming a back-end commodity. And this is not just confined to mobile telephony, as the question is raised whenever banks talk about "partnerships" with non-banks.
Being a manufacturer of banking products to a retail partner, a telco, an airline, or any other business, causes the bank to worry about what it means to their trust, relationship and ability to cross-sell to the end-target, the customer.
Who owns the customer? Well, I've got news for you. No one owns the customer – the customer owns you. The idea of 'owning' the customer is antiquated 1990s terminology and those who use it are asleep to the world today – one of social media, social networking and banking as a service.
In fact the idea is as out of date as banks that split their customers into key demographics of work, age, sex, ethnicity and so on.
Talking about customer ownership and using old-style demographic models is just wrong. There is no customer ownership, except for customers who want to be 'owned' because you have earned their loyalty and trust. They want to be with you; they enjoy their relationship with you; they see you as being an operator in their interest that suits their lifestyle. In giving you their business, loyalty and trust, they expect to 'own' a relationship with you, not the other way around.
Others just don't care. They see banks as all the same. But they will not defect; they will just stay with you because they are too lazy, fed up or disillusioned to change.
Then there are customers who seek to own the very best deal they can get, jumping around banks for the best interest rates. They do not want relationships or dialogue, they just want to get the best out of their finances.
These groups of customers do not have singular attributes or homogeny of demographics. Some are young and some are old. Some ignore technology channels and prefer the branch and human touch, while some are highly socially networked and expect to have a personalised touch through their Facebook or Twitter channel.
There is no predictability, homogeny, ownership or relationship with any of these individuals. Just people who have financial needs, who give you their business, relationship, loyalty and even trust as long as you earn it, keep earning it, and fit their lifestyle for the 21st-century way they live. So please stop talking about customer ownership and demographics. If you do, you are living in the past.
Chris Skinner is an independent financial commentator and chairman of London-based The Financial Services club (www.thefinanser.com)
