ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Cloud, mobile and smart technology
Solano Bank plans to move retail customers to a mobile-only banking service and close half its branches. A non-executive director notes that 30% of customers are elderly or live in areas with poor connectivity. Applying stakeholder and strategic change thinking, what is the most appropriate implication?
Solano should phase the change, assess the impact on elderly and poorly connected customers, and keep alternative access channels. These customers carry legitimacy and can influence regulators and media, so managing exclusion risk protects reputation while still capturing the efficiency benefits of mobile banking.
- AProceed because mobile adoption is inevitable and customer segments with difficulty will leave anyway
- BProceed but treat the customers as low-interest, low-power stakeholders to be monitored only
- CDelay all digital investment until every customer has a smartphone
- DManage the change in phases, assess impact on these customers, and retain alternative access channels to protect inclusion and reputationCorrect
Explanation
A bank has social responsibility and regulatory scrutiny, so vulnerable customers are stakeholders with significant legitimacy and potential influence through regulators and media. A phased change with alternative channels balances efficiency gains against exclusion and reputational risk. Ignoring or delaying everything are extreme responses that fail to reconcile the objectives.
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