Ordering a meal, booking a ride, signing a document or making a payment: across virtually every industry, digital services have fundamentally reshaped customer expectations. Banking is no exception. Today, customers expect banking journeys that are as smooth, efficient and intuitive as the digital platforms they use every day.

Delivering experiences that meet digital standards

"Customers expect their banking experience to be as easy and intuitive as the digital services they use in their daily lives," says Martine Kirsch. "We see expectations evolving every day, both among our customers and our internal users. People's habits have changed, and so have their expectations."

However, reducing the banking experience to the quality of a mobile app or a user interface would miss the bigger picture. While digital technologies have redefined standards for simplicity, banking at Spuerkeess continues to be built on deeper foundations: trust, security and personalised support.

Recognising the diversity of customer needs

"Today, the customer experience must be considered as a whole, especially in a universal bank like ours," Martine Kirsch continues. "Some customers want to complete every step online from beginning to end. Others still value personal interaction and prefer to start a process at a branch before continuing it from home at their own pace."

The rise of neobanks has accelerated changing customer expectations, encouraging traditional banks to rethink not only their services but also the way they approach innovation. The objective, however, is not to replicate the model of digital-only players.

"Neobanks have undoubtedly pushed the banking industry to become more responsive," acknowledges Martine Kirsch. "Today, customers compare experiences across banks much more easily than they used to, and they are also more willing to switch providers. We therefore need to deliver a redesigned customer experience while recognising that our users have different expectations and preferences."

Designing experiences with customers

To meet these new expectations, Spuerkeess has developed a structured approach to user experience over several years. The objective is to gain a deeper understanding of real customer behaviour and design improvements together with users.

"We have established customer panels for both retail and corporate banking," explains Martine Kirsch. "Customers take part in workshops, interviews and testing sessions. From the very beginning of a project, we engage with them to understand their expectations and identify potential pain points."

This approach allows new customer journeys and interfaces, including those developed for S-Net, to be tested at an early stage.

"Once we have prototypes of new screens, we ask customers to test them. Their feedback allows us to fine-tune certain features before launch, helping us ensure that the final solution will be intuitive and widely adopted."

User experience also depends on operational efficiency

For the Head of the Business Innovation Office, user experience goes far beyond visual design. It also encompasses internal processes, organisational efficiency and operational excellence.

"When we improve our internal processes, customers benefit as well," she says. "A good user experience also means fewer errors, less rework and fewer support requests."

Balancing innovation with operational reality

Creating smoother customer journeys must nevertheless take into account the realities of the Luxembourg banking sector, including regulatory requirements, security, compliance and long-standing technological infrastructures.

"We are not a neobank," Martine Kirsch points out. "We manage multiple service channels, legacy systems and significant regulatory obligations. Some aspects simply cannot be fully simplified, particularly those related to Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements and compliance."

The challenge is therefore to make these processes as seamless as possible despite their inherent complexity.

"We spend a great deal of time rethinking how information and questionnaires are presented so that customers find them as clear and straightforward as possible," she explains. "Beyond the look and feel, we are also working towards a more agile architecture that will enable us to evolve functionalities more easily in the future."

Accessibility and AI become key priorities

Among today's major priorities are accessibility requirements and the gradual integration of artificial intelligence.

"The Accessibility Act is prompting us to review many aspects of our digital services, from colour contrast and visual design to voice-over functionality," explains Martine Kirsch.

Artificial intelligence is also attracting growing interest across the banking sector, particularly for improving customer support and automating certain tasks.

"We see tremendous potential in AI, but we believe it must be introduced progressively and responsibly," she says.

Beyond technology itself, Spuerkeess remains committed to a measured approach to innovation.

"We want to continue evolving, improving and adapting to changing customer habits without losing sight of who we are," concludes Martine Kirsch. "Trust remains at the heart of the banking relationship. Our goal is to move forward step by step, while respecting our customers' pace of adoption."

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