Is the website on the way out?

While a disturbing number of SMEs are still struggling with the idea of getting their websites running efficiently, tech-savvy firms and larger companies are embracing a new challenge – could there soon be a day when customers don’t even want to deal with them through their standard websites?

That’s the prospect raised by Alex Twigg, the chief executive of National Australia Bank’s online-only subsidiary, UBank.

Speaking yesterday at the CeBIT technology conference in Sydney, Twigg says the competitors he is most worried about aren’t other banks, but Google and Apple, who continue to move towards making the smartphone (or a similar mobile device) an electronic payments mechanism, as we’ve seen with the release this week of the Google Wallet product.

“I am not worried about CBA or other monolithic organisations, but I do worry about Google, Apple and all those other organisations that are continually driving innovation and making our customers’ expectations more and more difficult to meet.”

The rapid adoption of iPhones and iPads have created new ways for consumers to interact with customers and banking is one of the most frequently-used services on mobile devices.

That’s clearly creating a challenge for UBank and other financial services organisations.

Twigg even floated the idea that UBank could eventually shut down its entire website and deliver all services through mobile devices and apps.

While the prospect of websites being redundant is frankly pretty unlikely, Twigg’s comments on the challenges of keeping up with the speed of innovation from Google and Apple should get entrepreneurs thinking.

How will your customers want to interact with your business in the future?

When does your business need to roll out new transaction options such as apps? Do you wait until you’re sure of demand or try to actively shift customers onto these platforms?

If customers do want to interact through mobile devices and apps, how will your processes and systems need to change?

What will be the cost of developing these apps and mobile systems? What might be the cost benefits? Might you need fewer front-line staff but more tech staff?

How will you ensure customer service levels are maintained if you actually talk to customers less and less?

All great questions which are tough to answer. But one thing is clear – if you’re not thinking about mobile sites, apps and mobile payment options now, you should be.