Modern trends in improving customer experience in banks

Guest blog post by Gideon Hollander, CEO, Jacada

The banking sector is to be commended for being pioneers in embracing new technology in the field of customer self-service. It was the banks who first pushed the boundaries of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems and web self-service or, online banking as it’s now known, which ensured getting account balances and making payments over the phone and web become a common household experience.

However, given this propensity to innovate, it will be interesting to see how the banking sector will harness mobile devices in the customer service field, particularly the smartphone. Additionally, with latest figures suggesting that 22 per cent of mobile finance users access content from their bank almost every day, this demographic is shifting from online banking to mobile banking, and consumers will soon expect to do all aspects of their banking via a mobile device.

Customers now expect to be able to reach your organisation anytime, and expect an instant and meaningful response from your organisation instantly and 24/7. If not, it’s simple; with consumer perceptions of the banking sector already at an all time low, and customer loyalties eroding with the countless incentives for people to switch banks, bank customers will simply take their business elsewhere!

This new mobile self-service channel offers banks an unprecedented opportunity to provide an improved self-service experience. Plus, given the exponential growth in smartphones, it’s vital that banks evolve their customer self-service strategy to incorporate mobile technology, and do it fast. And yet, while banks are once again pioneers in the field, the true power of mobile has not fully been realised. For many banking organisations, their mobile strategy has not yet evolved much beyond treating it similar to a web self-service channel.

For all its merits, existing web self-service is limited when a customer needs to speak with someone. The moment the transaction becomes complicated and requires customer service assistance, the user experience totally breaks down. There is no continuity between the web channel and the voice channel. As a result, when the call comes in to the customer service agent, there is no continuity and the transaction has to start from the beginning again, resulting in increased call handle times (increased costs to the Bank) and increased customer frustration.

By properly adopting mobile as the new engagement channel, the opportunity exists for banks to break down those silos and provide a seamless connection between their self-service organisation and customer care organisation.

Mobile enables customers to engage in a self-service session through an app that visually maps out the steps of the banking organisation’s customer service process, including the IVR. Customers are in control and able to visually journey through the app, with full support for data entry and sophisticated self-service capabilities. These sessions can proactively extract knowledge and retrieve or update customer information from back end business applications instantly. This gives your customer controlled access in real-time, resulting in more effective problem resolution.

Many customers prefer to interact with a visual IVR on their phone, which includes the ability to easily enter alphanumeric data. This level of interaction enables customers to enter pin-codes and pass-codes in a way that they are already familiar with from unlocking their phones, helping to increase security and authentication. The banks can also benefit from this as features such as a customer ID is enhanced. Additionally, banks can provide customers with a more personalised experience, customising content relevant specifically for them, therefore enabling increased cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.

There’s no getting away from it, there will always be a need for agent assistance in some interactions, so the goal has to be to provide a seamless transition to the voice channel from the self-service channel. Cutting edge mobile customer service technologies enable all the steps traversed by the customer, as well as any data entered, to be visible to the agent. This eliminates customers having to repeat information enabling more effective problem solving and a shorter call.

These self-service sessions extend far beyond the capabilities of a traditional IVR or web self-service interaction as mobile can leverage the inherent capabilities of the device, thereby dramatically innovating and improving the customer experience. New apps and mobile wallet technologies are being launched all the time by the banks and operators.

Mobile devices will become the largest engagement channel for customers, and banks have an incredible opportunity to be technology pioneers once again. Additionally, banks can differentiate themselves in the customer service arena, now more than ever, by utilising innovative customer service and banking apps. Today, around one in every four of bank customers owns a smartphone, and according to leading analysts, in a year or two it’s likely that this figure will be three out of four.

The latest figures from the US are even more worrying for the banks that have hit the headlines this year for all the wrong reasons; around 50 per cent of mobile finance users will stick with a brand and user experience that they like. With that in mind, banks really do need to adopt a mobile self-service strategy that engages customers sooner rather than later, or risk losing this dynamic mobile customer. The question is will you be ready for them?