When it comes to digital banking solutions, one of the biggest debates in the industry is between those who want a customizable product and those who think a configurable system is best. While both camps have compelling arguments, the question remains—which is best for your institution?
It’s no secret that the banking sector is under pressure. Regulation compliance, declining profits, and the need to appeal to a new generation of customers are just a few factors that strain banks of all sizes.
Community banks and credit unions are challenged to find new ways to compete in today’s environment. With the need to appeal to a range of demographics, each with its own specific preferences and concerns, many have turned to digital banking solutions to streamline operations and improve the customer experience. With so many options available, however, how do you choose a product that balances internal needs for efficiency and scale with those of the customer?
Custom solutions are often seen as the ideal, but they can be expensive to develop and maintain. Configurable solutions are the alternative, but if you go this route, choosing a solution that will satisfy immediate needs and grow with you is vital.
When a company customizes an application for its customers, it can increase loyalty by satisfying needs more precisely. Customization will often help you sell a product as the customer gets more precisely what they want.
On the downside, a custom solution can be tough to implement and manage as you scale, which often leads to downstream decreased customer satisfaction. New features would have to be developed from scratch, and customers may experience downtime or interruptions in the interim.
Tracking customizations can also pose a challenge. If the developer and customer part ways, customizations can break or fail due to lack of maintenance. The bottom line is that creating new custom software is costly and complicated. It requires massive resources for development and testing, and the customer must be ready to commit.
Configuration offers many of the same benefits of a custom app with significantly reduced cost and technological complexity.
One tool that makes configuration more attractive is feature flags – an approach that allows accelerated feature development and is less complicated than managing a customization. Feature flags are a DevOps approach that toggles features during runtime, allowing you to test in a controlled environment.
Feature flags also harness the power of test-driven development, where developers release often, test, adjust, and release again.
Additional benefits of using feature flags in development include:
• Enables continuous delivery
• The customer can test and deploy when ready
• Add or remove features without deploying new code
• Accelerated time-to-result
BrightFi’s software is configurable in every way. From fonts to logos and colors, you can achieve the look and feel of a custom application without managing an entire library of custom code.
Additionally, we can configure a site in minutes and add new configurations at any time—without impacting the core application or causing application downtime.
Configuration vs. customization is a choice you’ll need to make based on your specific needs and available resources. Overall, a configured system still offers a branded look and feel without the added expense and complexities of building a custom solution. In our experience, customers are often disappointed with customizations, from how they are handled and maintained to the ongoing cost.
If you’re evaluating digital banking software we would be happy to connect and talk through your specific needs. We’ll help you achieve spectacular results in less time without impacting operations. Request a demo today and discover what BrightFi can do for you.
