Bridging the Digital Divide: How can Building Societies Ensure Positive Outcomes for Non-Digital Members?

The Digital Divide

Most of us struggle to imagine life without digital connectivity. We Whatsapp friends, pay our bills online, scroll through social media, and many of us now work remotely from home, communicating via Zoom or Google Hangout. It’s easy to think life is like this for everyone.
It isn’t.

There is a danger that, without careful consideration, the digital divide will disadvantage those members in arrears for whom a telephone conversation or branch visit is preferable or necessary. And yet these physical services are coming under pressure and becoming less cost-effective as the number of users dwindles. It presents traditionally face-to-face entities like building societies with a dilemma. How can they control costs and deliver good value for money, and at the same time meet the needs of all their members