Digital participation for the Raiffeisen Cooperative Banks
Digital technologies enable participation that goes beyond the bratwurst at the neighbourhood festival. We have initiated this process at Raiffeisen and report on it here.
When was the last time you were at the bank counter?
The digital transformation is fundamentally changing everyday processes. From shopping to ordering taxis and even banking. Although digitalisation means that traditional services at the bank counter are being used less and less, digital participation in particular also opens up a lot of potential for a cooperative bank like Raiffeisen. So we investigated the question "How can Raiffeisen innovatively renew its participation options by 2030?" on behalf of the bank. A future experiment goes through four steps in each decentre and various participatory and flexible methods. Using the scenario technique, we sketched out various directions over several months and then tested them. The conclusion: speculation and experimentation is also an interesting way into the future for banks!
Scenarios for the future
When it comes to digital transformation, there is no universal solution for dealing with the innovations. On the contrary, it is often the case that tools that are simply introduced once by the management are little used. Digitalisation is developing fast, if you always just react, you will never take an innovative position. Under these preconditions, we have taken on the Raiffeisen cooperative banks. As a cooperative bank, participation is in the DNA of the organisation. First of all, we asked for the wishes and needs of branch managers, customers and department heads, through interviews and quantitative surveys. As mentioned above, digital participation opportunities need to be created through the interaction of users' desires and managers' visions.
More than a bratwurst
On this basis, we have used the scenario technique to develop various participation structures that lie on two axes. On the one hand, there is the willingness of the members of the cooperative to participate, and on the other, there is the innovative power, i.e. how far the proposed innovation is from the status quo. The scenarios are not only linked to online participation, but also reflect the different influences of digital participation. For example, one scenario is about how bank branches will be repurposed as over-the-counter business becomes increasingly less relevant. The goal is to create scenarios in which different target groups are addressed and different levels of participation are possible.
Into the future with experiments
Based on these possibilities, further fields of action and problems were elicited in a workshop with Raiffeisen, after which they were tested with experiments. Experiments range from co-determination in the sponsoring of local projects or greater exposure of cooperative values. The important thing is that if there are new participation vehicles, they should also enable real participation. A total of 21 experiments were developed in five fields of action.
Boundaries and lessons learned
In our work for Raiffeisen, we combined different actors and methods. We conducted qualitative interviews and held speculative workshops. It is often difficult to keep an eye on the possibilities of digital transformations when you are busy with the daily business of a company. This is where the scenario technique is particularly promising to create a vision with different stakeholders and thus create an impulse to initiate change. But these changes take time and implementing new opportunities for participation requires resources and may trigger major structural changes.
