Colourful night of digitalization 2022: the Sparkasse shows what digitalization means in customer service

The Colourful Night of Digitalization will take place for the second time in Karlsruhe on 1 July 2022 at . This year, Sparkasse Karlsruhe is also taking part as a sponsor. The company is committed to digitalization both internally and externally – but that alone is not the reason for supporting the Colourful Night of Digitalization. To find out more about what motivates Sparkasse to strengthen Karlsruhe as a digital location, we spoke to Marc Sesemann, member of the Management Board.

For Marc Sesemann, Sparkasse Karlsruhe not only stands for finances, but also “for the region in which we live. It stands for reliability – even in difficult times, both for the customers who live here and for the companies that operate here,” explains the experienced and well-versed corporate customer expert, who was born in Karlsruhe, right at the start. His customers are clearly at the heart of everything he does.

It is impossible to imagine the local economic infrastructure without Sparkasse Karlsruhe, especially . For this reason, the company is happy to be a sponsor of the Colourful Night of Digitalization. According to Sesemann, many of the bank’s commercial customers are also represented at the event. The exchange between companies is also an important concern for the Sparkasse and the Colourful Night of Digitalization makes this possible. According to Sesemann, the Sparkasse contributes to the realization of the city festival primarily “to promote this entrepreneurial network and to make our contribution to this event, which creates valuable added value for our region – and far beyond.”

It is not only the business customers of Bank that have benefited from the fact that digitalization has now become established at the savings bank . Many now use all of the online banking options in the portfolio. For Sesemann, digitalization is therefore of “great importance” for customers and therefore also for the company. Even if many people still associate the good old savings books with the bank, Sesemann believes that “we are far more digital than some people think from the outside.”

Digitalization in the bank holds great potential

But what exactly does digitalization mean in the context of a bank – that’s what we wanted to find out from Mr Sesemann. According to Mr. Sesemann, the focus is particularly on communication and service for end consumers. “In order to provide each customer with the best access channel from their point of view, we rely on a mix of personal and digital advice: where it is simple and desired, digital or self-advice solutions can be used, where it gets more complicated, we are of course also there in person; at the company’s premises, at the customer’s home, in the branch, by phone or via chat.”

However, the switch to digital communication is far from complete . “We are constantly expanding our digital advisory services for our private customers, most recently with the digital advisory center. For our commercial customers, the digital Business Center was launched on 1 April. In addition, we are regularly digitizing suitable processes, such as the conclusion of loans via the online branch,” says Sesemann. This makes customers more flexible, they are no longer tied to the opening hours of the branches and can decide more individually which service they would like to use at which time.

Overall, Seemann is certain that “digitalization makes many things easier, faster, more efficient, more resource-friendly, allows time and location-independent working or learning, etc.” He sees Sparkasse Karlsruhe as an important institution in this respect: “In the technology region, we are one of the strongest economic and innovation regions in Europe. We can maintain or even expand this position of strength through digitalization. Especially if we manage to stay one step ahead!”

Sponsoring support for the Colourful Night of Digitalization

Thanks to sponsors such as Sparkasse Karlsruhe, it has been possible to finance half of the Colourful Night of Digitalization 2022 and thus relieve the existing budget by around 50%. This makes it possible to implement many other measures as part of the Colourful Night of Digitalization and sends a positive signal to .

This is because, like the karlsruhe.digital initiative itself, business and the public sector will bear an equal share of the costs for the Bunte Nacht der Digitalisierung 2022.

“The fact that so many partners and sponsors, such as Sparkasse Karlsruhe, have accepted the invitation again this year and are participating with such diversity clearly shows that the Colourful Night of Digitalization is exactly the right format to promote and strengthen Karlsruhe’s positioning as a digital stronghold,” explains First Mayor and Chairwoman of the karlsruhe.digital initiative, Gabriele Luczak-Schwarz, who is responsible for the flagship project karlsruhe.digital as part of the city’s corridor theme “Karlsruhe as a city of business and science” and also communicates this to the outside world as a “place of opportunity”.

Cover photo: Marc Sesemann. Photo: Sparkasse Karlsruhe