Interview with Matteo Coppari

Q: What are, at this particular time, the drivers of change in the market and what is the Lending industry going through right now?

The Covid-19-related health emergency has dampened both consumption and demand for financing. In fact, customers preferred to put off larger expenditures in anticipation of a calmer scenario. However, while we have seen a slowdown in consumption on the other hand, it has been possible to push the typically offline and physical contact behaviors of Italians, especially when it comes to financing services, toward more digital modes and channels. Hybrid approaches have been rewarded, that is, all those forms of operations that, on the one hand, have facilitated or totally eliminated the need to go to a point of sale and, on the other, have made it possible to keep the consumer-customer relationship central in both the purchasing and counseling phases.

The most interesting thing is therefore to observe how, within a market that is not particularly mature when compared to that of Northern Europe, the hybrid form, with a juxtaposition of digital processes and face-to-face relationships, can be the bridge that will lead to the full digitization of more consumer products.

Q: Do you think, then, that the investments in digital, made in response to Covid-19, will also have benefits in the long run or, once the emergency is over, will it be back to the way it was before?

I don't think we can go back to the way it was before because the customers who were able to experience the services remotely realized how they are just as, or sometimes more, effective when done through digital tools rather than enjoying them by going to a point of sale.

It has been a forced testing and learning phase. Our application has grown both in terms of the number of accesses and the type and amount of transactions, thanks in part to process optimization or regulatory reviews, which have enabled us to use telematics channels more smoothly and productively. Customers have been able to purchase services in a simple "click" or "tap," and this I am sure will remain in the memory, making people more likely to take advantage of remote financing and transactions.

Q: Effectively to date, high usage and especially a shift toward digital is emerging, not only forced but also appreciated by the end consumer. What changes both external (ecosystem and consumer) and internal (smart working and remote working) and what priorities have you been able to detect within your structure?

During this period, we had to manage first and foremost the physical safeguarding of clients but also colleagues, even though ours were essential services, trying to provide a viable alternative to physical access at our agencies. In addition, we also tried to support both commercial production and sales by incentivizing and trying to make the customer experience and that of our financial advisors as easy as possible.

In fact, in order for you to be digital, you need both parties to be digital. Thus, the push for digitization is not only aimed at consumers but there is a need that, whoever is in charge of selling or accompanying the client to more complex services is able and comfortable with remote management. This sounds like a no-brainer but, in fact, many consultants consider the first contact with the client via telephone a violation of privacy and private space. The fact remains that all business campaigns possess certain logic and dynamics that, transposed remotely, follow different rules of engagement.

Q:Based on what we are seeing right now as stimuli coming from the regulator, especially for what are the initiatives in which banks need to be able to give a concrete, immediate and personalistic response. Do you think that shared approaches developed by multiple banks can bring more value than a single initiative, or is the efficiency pursued by the individual sufficient to cope with the current situation?

Economies of scale are key to enable greater efficiencies, quality assurance and better uniformity of service. The biggest obstacle in Italy, however, remains the basic infrastructure. Everything we have talked about so far has as a prerequisite the fluidity of connection, transparency and speed in communications that are not always possible in our country. So it will be up to the banks to jumpstart the country and implement an acceleration, but having different rules of the game and infrastructure.

Q:The last question is related instead to Steering Committee the Digital Lending HUB of which you are part as a representative of your institution. What kind of value can an institutional committee like ours bring to the Members who are part of it and to the financial market?

University experience and research can bring into focus scenarios that financial institutions find fascinating but do not have time to pursue until they become established. A context such as Steering Committee can help bring into focus both trends and working hypotheses that companies can follow without too many distractions. Our institution has a good propensity for innovation, nevertheless there are budgetary logics that press both on the present and short-term visions. Working in these contexts therefore allows us to recover a medium- to long-term vision that is more open and free from the pressures of results.

Q:What issues could our committee focus on most so that additional value could be generated?

There are more cross-cutting themes that I think are very fascinating such as, for example, those related to the customer experience. Within our company, related to the world of financing, we have developed an approach that would include "second-generation" customers, that is, individuals who typically would not be able to provide sufficient collateral but who, because of the social context in which they move, can still benefit from certain financial services or products. In America, they are working on this sociodemographic approach, thus being able to observe interesting experiences that have arisen from assessing customers through the use of social or algorithms to detect softer, less immediate characteristics. Realities such as Google and Facebook are entering the financial world because the ability to profile and know the customer represents a great prospect. In fact, the real issue is not about the products, as the innovation of these already exists. It changes the enjoyment of them, how they get there, how quickly they can be purchased and, most importantly, how non-primary needs can be met within a buying behavior, creating mutual satisfaction.