Transforming your bank's digital experience
Pandemic conditions over the last two years have certainly accelerated banks’ digital transformation efforts. Two years later, what lessons have been learned and where can banks still improve?
A bank or credit union’s digital transformation is an integral part of improving its customer experience. During the pandemic, when face to face interactions were reduced drastically, both improved customer service and a move to make certain transactions self-service went hand in hand to keep customers satisfied. A customer’s experience refers to all the touchpoints a customer goes through in trying to engage with an institution, whether it be on the phone, in person, on a computer, a mobile phone or a machine. Here we highlight a few emerging trends the industry has seen with regards to improving customer experience through digital means:
- Self-service using mobile app. Gone are the days when providing a mobile app was a luxury feature in a financial institution’s list of offerings. Today, it is a basic expectation and one would be at a severe disadvantage without offering this service. If you do not currently offer a mobile app, it doesn’t have to be as intimidating as it may seem. The key is to forge the right vendor partnership and give them the work to do! If you already have a mobile app, the critical thing to do at this point is gather and analyse the data from that app to learn more about your customers, optimize your processes and develop new products, while continually seeking to improve your customer’s experience.
- Automation. The concept of automation can be applied to many different touchpoints in a customer’s banking experience. It can start with an improved onboarding experience, to include online forms and document submission portals; continue with AI-enabled chatbots to help solve customer problems and queries without taking up too much human bandwidth (with an estimated cost savings of $8 billion by the end of this year); and generally having a comprehensive and easy to use online banking system is a must. An important thing to consider to provide superior customer service is to deliver the same quality of customer service at all of these touch points, whether digital or human. There should be a seamless transition from one channel to another. Support and education for the technologically-less-inclined must also be provided to allow quality service for all.
- Offering contactless payment solutions. Almost three quarters of consumers say that the type of available payment options from a vendor will influence whether they use that vendor or not*. And, in 2022, where buying habits have returned to pre-pandemic levels, payment preferences have not. Digital and contactless payments, including digital wallets, touchless terminals and tap-to-pay platforms, have provided an ease and convenience that consumers have not only accepted, but expect as part of their everyday experience. This is true not only of small items, but larger purchases as well, such as home renovations and vacations.
- Self-service using smart kiosks. Financial institutions will find that there needs to be a balance between automation and physical contact with customers. Smart kiosks can help to maintain this balance. Strategically placed smart kiosks can help to automate routine transactions, such as cash and cheque deposits, withdrawals, document scanning, bill payments, etc, while still availing human staff assistance if needed. Kiosks can help to provide true 24/7 banking, convenience, cost reduction, security, reduced wait times, and ultimately, increased customer satisfaction.
- You don’t have to do all the legwork yourself. Unless you have the deep financial pockets and complex technological knowhow to create your own fintech solutions to provide better service for your customers, the logical way forward is to find the right fintech company to partner with. Banks and credit unions need not have the solutions themselves, especially if there is someone who has already done the legwork and who spends their waking moments trying to improve these solutions. Find the right fintech provider to partner with, one with ample experience, a variety of solutions and the ability to customize solutions for your and your customers’ needs.
GPC is actively delivering and researching a number of the aforementioned solutions across the globe. If you’d like to speak to members of our Business Development and Digital Innovation Teams to see how we can help drive your digital transformation - click on the button below to set up an appointment.
Sources:
*Thryv, Payments Dive 2022 Consumer Payments Survey
https://global.hitachi-solutions.com/blog/banking-customer-experience-trends/
https://www.revechat.com/blog/customer-experience-in-banking/
https://www.atmmarketplace.com/blogs/improving-your-banks-digital-experience/
https://www.everybitmatters.com/bank-kiosks
