What is secure messaging – and what role does it play in private wealth?

A combination of global developments, technological progress, generational shifts, and new opportunities have transformed the wealth management landscape.

The growing mainstream market has led to a new type of investor who has unprecedented access to the wealth sector and is more likely to question traditional practices or authorities. Then there’s the notable rise in female-owned wealth, with UBS’s Women’s Wealth 2030 predicting that women will own a combined 97 trillion US dollars.

And that’s without mentioning the ongoing “Great Wealth Transfer,” which will see around $60 trillion in wealth move from the Boomer generation to younger ones by 2060. To further emphasize the changes taking place, we can also look at complex geopolitical situations and a rise in cost of living.

There’s much to contend with on a macro level, but perhaps the most important area in terms of day-to-day relationship building is the complete overhaul of how clients access their services. Regardless of the specific investments that individuals are interested in – or the ramifications of global events – how clients want to interact with their advisors has transformed.

Shifting client preferences

The traditional dinner, coffee, or other in-person meetings that once defined client-advisor relationships have given way to a more hybrid approach. Much of this is generational, with 34% of millennial and 35% of Gen X investors claiming that hybrid access to advice is important when choosing an advisor. As the generational shift continues to take place, we can expect these numbers to rise.

That said, technology alone isn’t enough to satisfy client needs, with personalized support still essential for a well-rounded service. In short, clients want to talk to real people, but using the channels of their choice. For more complex decisions or moments of truth, this may require video calls or Co-Browsing, but what happens for the more normal, day-to-day interactions?

This is where Secure Messaging comes into the picture as an emerging industry standard.

What is Secure Messenger?

On the surface, Unblu’s Secure Messenger appears to be exactly the same as many popular messaging apps that are already on the market, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc.

This, in fact, is the secret to its success.

It is compliant with data safety and recording requirements for the banking and financial industry, guaranteeing the highest level of protection for both the clients and the organization. 

Private communication apps allow clients to maintain control over communications with advisors. All of the information is recorded, documented, encrypted, and stored on the premises or in the cloud so it can be retrieved by financial regulators.

The benefits of secure messaging apps for advisors

In private wealth, Secure Messenger can streamline communications for both the client and advisors – with further benefits for the private bank or wealth management firm itself. 

Why advisors like secure messaging 

Changing client expectations regarding forms of communication have placed extra pressure on advisors to maintain relationships through chat messages. However, unless the advisors have the right digital tools (with robust security features for confidential chats), they are powerless to take the initiative.

Not only are advisors expected to offer hybrid experiences as the norm, but there’s a stronger emphasis on providing proactive advice. Secure communication empowers advisors to address many of these issues – both from a security standpoint and beyond.

A secure messaging service makes interactions between the advisor and client simpler because it can fit around the client’s schedule, allowing advisors and clients to communicate asynchronously with heightened security features. This improves productivity and grows contacts that later become business opportunities.

Likewise, for more personalized scenarios based on personal client preferences, they can initiate conversations in a natural and intuitive way that is much more secure than email communications.

Mobile messaging apps and trust

Secure Messenger has many benefits, but one of the most vital areas is its ability to boost trust. Trust is central to any healthy relationship but it has fallen steadily in the wealth management industry for years now.

Addressing the issue of trust

While the issue of trust has no single solution, there are a number of key strategic tools that offer advisors the groundwork to regain it. For example, while data security and a feeling of understanding rank highly among client concerns, this cannot come at the expense of convenience. To put it simply, clients want to deal with their advisors when it suits them.

Instead of making a phone call, they want advisors to be responsive and interactions to be informal and easy – like sending a text message or voice message from their mobile device. 

Secure messaging allows them to do just that. Whether they want help with a transaction or advice on investing, secure messaging empowers clients to ask advisors questions easily and on the move, conducting a flexible conversation according to their schedule.

Complementary Secure Messenger features

Using WhatsApp or similar platforms can present a number of communication challenges at the organizational level. Secure Messenger provides the institution with an extra layer of protection and empowers it to offer a superior service experience. It does this via a number of complementary features. 

In other words, secure messaging solutions can be integrated into a firm’s existing communication channels, whether portals, mobile apps, or more. All of it is made possible through a consolidated Digital Client Interaction Platform.

The Digital Client Interaction Platform

Conversational engagement provides an end-to-end experience for clients, leveraging multiple communication tools to ensure expectations are met at every point of the journey. With robust security features and encryption by default, advisors can make use of artificial intelligence, voice calls, video calls, direct messages like Conversational AI, Co-Browsing, and more to match individual needs while ensuring online privacy. 

By embracing conversational engagement – with Secure Messenger acting as a key tool – advisors are better able to ensure a gold standard experience and build long-term trust. The ability to offer a secure messaging platform that emulates popular messaging apps, while also enhancing the experience, allows advisors to leverage key moments and boost conversions.

Feature-specific benefits

Need more specific examples? Here are feature-specific ways that Secure Messenger can empower advisors.

AI-powered service

This feature can also be used to write new message contents from scratch – something that is particularly useful when creating communications for multiple clients. Combined with broadcasting and labeling features, the Co-Pilot can create a relevant message to be broadcast to multiple recipients, increasing the frequency and quality of client-advisor interaction. 

Back-up representatives

The secure messaging platform’s omnichannel capabilities (on mobile devices and beyond) are further enhanced by the ability to designate back-up representatives, known as deputy management, for when the primary advisor isn’t available. 

Likewise, advisors can invite team members or experts to help with specific conversations or advice on topics. To speed up conversations and hold multiple efficiently at the same time, advisors can make use of canned responses for quick feedback.

The secure messaging software itself is inherently flexible. It can be integrated with other systems like CRMs, CBSs, bots, etc, and is easy to embed. This means you can display the Secure Messenger access on your e-banking, client portal, website, or mobile app – so clients can always communicate on their terms.

Native appearance

When a client interacts with their advisor, it’s important for every touch point to appear native to the institution. Every time a client sees Zoom, WhatsApp, or other known brands, apart from not being compliant, this can weaken or dilute the image of the organization. For this reason, it’s vital to use a Secure Messenger or secure chat app that integrates with your ecosystem in a natural way.

“Our bank is known in Paris as the private bank with the best and most complete investment paper reporting. We want to carry our legacy over to the digital space, which is one of the reasons we chose Unblu for handling advisor/client conversations. A lot of configurations are possible, making this channel appear tailored to the bank.“

– Director of Client Experience at a private bank 

Alleviates privacy concerns

Reduces administrative burdens

Secure Messenger, as part of an overarching digital client interaction platform, can help advisors to organize client communications. With a number of back-end features, such as a single inbox for all conversations across channels, labeling features, AI-support, and more, advisors can seriously cut down on routine tasks.

This gives them more time to dedicate to client-facing tasks, empowering them to offer timely and insightful advice, while identifying opportunities to upsell and cross-sell financial products that align with clients’ goals.

Secure messaging solutions as part of a larger journey

With Secure Messenger, a client might start a conversation using a mobile banking app on his or her phone. The advisor will then receive a notification and can reply. When the conversation moves to the desktop, the client and advisor can then use Co-Browsing or video calls to interact or even collaborate on documents together. The transaction can then be finalized on this platform.

A secure chat app like Secure Messenger is integrated with other features such as Co-Browsing, further enhancing the client-advisor interaction.

Customers and advisors can move seamlessly between different features, like Secure Messenger and Video Chat thanks to this integration, and this improves the potential and quality of client service.

Visualizing a sample journey

As alluded to above, not every conversation will take place only on just the Secure Messenger channel. As part of the overarching platform, the app allows advisors to escalate the conversation as and when required for maximum support.

Take, for example, the common case where an advisor or client has an investment proposal. What would that journey look like?

Investment suggestion

Assuming the client and advisor already have a relationship, the initial contact could be made by either party. It could be that the client was reading about a possible investment online and wants answers to basic questions, or the advisor has found an opportunity they believe the client might be interested in.

Either way, the first contact takes place over a secure message solution, with one sharing the suggestion with the other.

Sharing a document

Escalating to a video call

Launching Co-Browsing

Once on the call, the advisor begins to go through the answers to the questions. This goes well at first, but after a while, the client begins to confuse different parts of the document. To add an extra layer of effective communication, the advisor launches a Co-Browsing session without leaving the current channel, allowing both the client and the advisor to see and interact with the same document and browse the internet together.

Making the investment

The promising details alongside the ease of communication encourages the client and they decide they’re ready to sign. Thanks to Co-Browsing capabilities, they are able to do it then and there, getting a signature in a secure environment. The conversation ends and the client sends the advisor a final message over the secure messaging app thanking them for their support.

Direct secure messaging with Unblu 

Ensuring secure communications, particularly those that take place on personal phones, is a priority for wealth management firms. While standard messaging is popular, the online threats and ensuring compliance with industry regulations means that firms must embrace the security features that private messaging apps offer. 

Being able to send and receive secure messages will not only guarantee compliance, but it also solves one of the main communication challenges that teams face – convenience. Equipping your team with the ability to send direct messages is one of the primary methods of communication that lead to accelerated AUM growth.