Celebrating 160 years of serving locals, we talk to Nelson Building Society (NBS) Head of People and Client Experience senior executive, Toni Lane. Accumulating 14 years of experience at NBS, Toni gives some industry insight on NBS and their goals for the future.
What do you think are the main attributes for NBS’ success and longevity?
A lot has changed in 160 years, but what has remained constant is our commitment to our clients; we listen and learn from them. Our people are the key to our success. They are central to NBS being able to offer a high-level personal service. As a client, you can contact your local branch and talk to someone you know. Equally, we have embraced technology such as internet and mobile banking – because our clients want and need this.
What makes NBS different from other financial institutions?
We build long-term relationships with our clients, and we work with our clients to help them achieve their financial aspirations. Our local knowledge and our ‘high-touch’ personal service sets us apart from our competitors. We empower our people to make decisions in a timely manner - local people making decisions for local families and businesses.
NBS is well known for its investment in our communities. Why is this important to you?
We are owned by our clients and our commitment to them goes beyond the branch walls. We do this by investing a significant amount of our profits back into the communities that they live and work in. Last year we invested a record $1 million and sponsored over 200 community groups and organisations. We are truly engaged with our communities.
What will the customer experience look like for your clients in the next 10-20 years?
Staying committed to our clients to ensure we understand and support their needs will help us to continually evolve. There is still a desire for human contact, so we’re committed to continuing to provide a service to our communities via our branch network. However, we are mindful that some clients prefer online options for services. This will form part of our investment in technological solutions, something we are working on and are excited to deliver.
What industry insights are you seeing in the banking sector as a whole?
Banking is a sector that is continually managing change. Recent changes to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA) have had unintended negative impacts for our people and clients that we have all had to manage. The requirement for some of our people to be certified to provide advice as a Financial Advice Provider is underway, as is work on our Climate Risk, Sustainability and Social Impact Strategies.
