Today’s retail banking customers aren’t getting high-quality experiences from their contact centers. According to data from Deloitte, banking customers are less satisfied with contact center experiences (46% positive) than they are with online banking (65%) or with branch services (49%). These lower customer satisfaction levels could pose a risk for the industry and may motivate consumers to look for alternative financial solutions.
After investing significantly in digital experiences such as online banking, many organizations still have unrealized opportunities at the contact center. Fortunately, a digital revolution is changing how contact centers operate, creating options for financial institutions to reconnect with their customers through other channels.
If you want to improve your customer experience (CX), consider implementing these new technologies that have the potential to transform your retail banking business.
How Contact Centers Are Evolving
McKinsey reported that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated retail banking consumers’ preference for digital channels by as much as three years, a significant change illustrating just how eager customers are for digital options. Already, contact centers have the potential to eliminate up to one-third of low-value activities to improve customer service, thanks to remote work and new technology.
Your contact center can use these trends to your advantage. Service automation, conversational AI, robotic process automation technology (RPA), voice-based banking and other tools can transform your CX and position your bank for the future of customer service and customer preferences.
5 Types of Automation in the Banking Industry
Customer service automation is one way that banks are improving their customer service in order to reduce churn, win over new customers and gain a competitive advantage.
Here are a few of the most popular types of automation tools banks are leveraging today.
1. Voice Recognition and Chatbots
Research shows that half of customers hang up phone calls with contact center agents after being on hold for only one minute. Although customers usually do want to communicate with human agents, higher contact center volumes make immediate conversations and short response times difficult for many financial institutions to accomplish.
If your agents are putting callers on hold or not immediately responding in chat, you’re probably losing customer conversations. Frustrated customers are more likely to walk away from your bank, potentially costing your organization.
With chat, you can use chatbots to start engaging with your customers instantly, keeping them engaged until an agent can take over. You can also assign agents based on keywords and language the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool sees in conversation with the customer, ensuring that the right agent is matched to the right inquiry every time.
Customers who are calling in can be matched with agents using machine learning and voice recognition. This way, your customers don’t have to repeat themselves explaining what they need.
2. Virtual Contact Centers
Remote work and improved technologies are also unlocking more geographic options for your bank’s contact center. This isn’t yesterday’s outsourcing. You can find U.S.-based or local talent and provide on-demand service for callers. Cloud computing and other technologies are making local agents a viable alternative for customer service.
Your virtual contact center agents can securely access the information they need on customer accounts and provide follow-the-sun availability through the use of offices and virtual work from different time zones.
3. Automated After-Call Work (ACW)
Contact center agents are busy with high call volumes and competing job demands. In some instances, these agents are too distracted to accurately or efficiently complete ACW when conversations with customers are finished. As a result, customer relationship management (CRM) information or essential data collection for tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is compromised.
By automating ACW, your contact center agents have fewer distractions and less on-the-job friction, freeing up your team to focus on your customers.
4. Voice Authentication
Voice identification provides a natural alternative for financial institutions looking for a smart authentication option that reduces fraud risk. Instead of using personal questions, contact centers can use voice biometrics along with passphrases to authenticate callers. This streamlines contact center calls and offers a better CX than PIN-based or fingerprint authentication.
5. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
RPA can streamline the repetitive work that many banks and their teams do every day at work. This allows agents and staff members to spend more of their time on high-value tasks and engaging with customers. For back-end processes that are causing delays and backlog, RPA can be a time-saving intervention that helps your employees get more done and improve their own personal productivity.
Compliance, transaction processing, customer reminders, reporting, fraud detection and customer service are just a few RPA use cases that could benefit your bank and transform your business. Instead of asking your team to take on these tasks by themselves, you can implement RPA and give your organization robotic assistance wherever it’s most needed.
The New Normal and Contact Centers
Non-traditional banks’ proliferation poses a risk to financial institutions and highlights just how essential CX is for today’s retail banks. By leveraging technology, financial institutions can compete effectively with fintech startups and can connect with customers again. Contact center technologies such as customer service automation solutions can prepare banks for a public that is more eager to embrace technology and mobile banking than ever before.
To learn more about how technology can help your retail banking contact center address customer service challenges, connect with an expert from Uniphore today.
