The servicing paradox: Why banks are building platforms through customer problems, not tech strategies - Tearsheet

"While banks announce AI deployments and digital transformations, the real platform shift is happening through something more mundane: solving customer servicing headaches one API call at a time. Banks have a servicing problem masquerading as a platform opportunity. You won't read the evidence in their press releases, but you can see it in how they're actually solving operational friction for business customers who want banking to work well."

"Major institutions like Bank of America, Citizens, and J.P. Morgan actively deploy generative AI tools for employee productivity, yet nearly 70% of AI use cases lack reported outcomes or measurable ROI. The disconnect stems from familiar challenges: difficulty separating AI impact from overall growth, problems mapping cost benefits from internal efficiency gains, and an inability to translate technological capabilities into customer value."

"American Express exemplifies this quiet evolution. The company's "One Amex" servicing model isn't pitched as a platform play, yet it functions exactly like one. Clients access corporate cards, working capital solutions, payment automation, and merchant services through unified touchpoints that span their entire business relationship. The platform emerged from customer need, not strategic planning. The digital banking sector provides instructive lessons. Companies like Chime, SoFi, and Nubank took different approaches to becoming platforms, with varying degrees of success."

A platform shift in banking is occurring through practical servicing improvements delivered via APIs and unified servicing models. Banks are resolving operational friction for business customers by integrating corporate cards, working capital, payment automation, and merchant services into cohesive touchpoints. American Express's One Amex model illustrates an emergent platform born from customer needs rather than top-down strategy. Major banks deploy generative AI for employee productivity, but many AI initiatives lack measurable ROI. The main challenges are isolating AI impact, mapping cost benefits from efficiency gains, and converting internal tech capabilities into clear customer value. Digital banking entrants offer varied platform blueprints.

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