Original text here from Patrice Bernard (LinkedIn)
Large organizations are typically structured in silos, and within financial institutions, those housing corporate clients and individual consumers are usually separate and impermeable. In this context, the program launched by Bank of America for employees of corporate clients signifies a welcome shift.
As logical as it may seem in hindsight, the path taken by the American giant is the result of a combination of external factors, prompting the recognition of a set of needs that can only be addressed by breaking away from historical practices.
In this seemingly complex equation, the catalyst likely stems from a genuine attention to customer expectations, specifically those of medium and large businesses. Beyond their banking needs, these businesses also share their challenges and concerns, among which employee satisfaction and retention are recurrent themes, especially prominent lately.
Simultaneously, organizations attentive to consumer concerns – and Bank of America appears to be among them, as are many of the businesses that use its services – acknowledge a growing demand from consumers for support in improving their financial health, a priority now for its impact on workplace efficiency and productivity.
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At the intersection of these developments, the bank (at least in its "universal" model) is ideally positioned to offer suitable responses to the employees of its clients. It already often provides retirement savings products, employee stock ownership plans, etc., but it has the capacity to go much further, especially with educational tools for personal finance management.
In the case of Bank of America, its "Better Money Habits" – a collection of content and a series of webinars focused on financial literacy – is one component of the strategy in this area, complemented by a premium rewards system to encourage participation (and, incidentally, to create an additional channel for customer acquisition).
While the principle is straightforward (and could easily be expanded), its implementation is remarkable. It likely required a significant internal shift within a well-established hierarchy before the corporate division could begin to offer solutions developed by a department dedicated to employee benefits... and for this department to incorporate services originally intended for the general public from another branch of the organization.
