Digital banking: rebuilding the customer-bank relationship

The banking sector is constantly evolving and now, due to new technologies that are emerging exponentially (e.g. blockchain, IA, semantic analysis), developments are going even faster. More and more banks are adopting digital platforms.  However, in these exciting times there are still many uncertainties for both banks and customers.

In fact, there is a belief that by moving to a digital bank, the number of customer interactions will shrink. As a result, it will become more difficult to understand customer issues which will lead to high response time and inaccurate advices. Data security, cyber-attacks and hacks are turning into key concerns.

What is the best way to win customers loyalty?

In the financial sector, customer loyalty is one of the biggest challenges. With new forms of communication, rapidly advancing technologies and high customer expectations, it is becoming increasingly difficult for bank advisors to maintain a personalised and trusted relationship.

Indeed, customers complain about the low effectiveness on problem solving. According to Kundenstudie, just 50% of bank clients are "quite satisfied" with the services provided. This is due to the fact that customer service is not very personalised since the advisors must provide complete answers but at the same time have many other things and customer requests to manage. This explains why most bank customers get generic or inadequate responses. In addition, waiting time remains long and service delivery is slow. In other words, the process is slowed down since customers have to ask for help or access to more specific documentation from advisors upon every request.

On the other hand, there is an increasing number of communication channels available, although telephone and email are still the most used by customers. It seems to be impossible for banks to satisfy customers 100 percent or to optimise the orchestration of all digital and offline channels.

One of the alternatives that has been boosted in recent years is digital banking in customer facing processes. Banks can now leverage artificial intelligence and allow bank advisors, thanks to tools such as chatbots, to optimise the volume of requests and improve the organisation and communication of their internal teams.

The appropriate use of technology allows to personalise and add value. It also makes it possible to detect and prevent cyber-attacks and, at the same time, to improve data security.  The sharp increase in the number of requests, forces banks and financial entities to bet on automation to segment and thus respond in a concrete and personalised way.

At the same time, the most complex tasks and specific documentation can be automatically directed to experts. By improving customer service responses, customers will be more satisfied with the way their request is handled, and customer loyalty will increase. Additionally, waiting time can be reduced and responses are almost instantaneous. This not only reduces costs, but also enables secure interactions, signatures and data. 

3 Simple Steps To an effective digital banking strategy

1. Trust and proximity

In 2020, only 29%*1 of customers trusted their bank to look after their financial well-being. This is explained by the fact that despite the large number of digital solutions, not all of them are adapted to satisfy customers. In fact, banks and financial entities must identify which interaction channels are preferred by their customers, especially with the new emergence of other channels such as videos, chatbot, live chat... to build trust and closeness.

This ecosystem not only generates trust and closeness with clients, but also benefits SMEs, as they can access financing securely without having an appointment with a bank manager. In addition, quick access allows for a more detailed understanding of the needs of SME clients and reduces administrative costs. Consequently, bank transfers are more efficient and secure.

2. Technology and collaboration

New communication channels need the help of AI to ensure successful customer and business experiences. This ensures both comfort and personalization.

With more and more demanding customers, banks and financial entities are turning to AI to streamline processes and adapt them to customer requirements. AI can provide important benefits: it detects any problems, improves service quality by enabling access to relevant data for advisors, enables secure and autonomous account management for customers, provides conversations with multiple persons, identifies leads and opportunities. For companies, this technology is essential for secure documentation and efficient processing.

3. Security and confidentiality

With the increase of new digital channels, the risk of fraud or cyber-attacks is growing. It is essential to ensure security in the new channels as well as in the existing ones. By having a secure digital platform, the customer will enjoy a great experience

For SMEs and bigger companies, it is also necessary to have secure platforms for payments, i.e. remote transfers to suppliers or payments in general. In addition, fraud or corruption attempts can be identified faster. With the possibility of more confidentiality, the contractual process can be 100 percent digital.

What are the new opportunities for digital banking?

The synergy between humans and artificial intelligence generates a secure, intimate and qualitative experience for customer services. The usage of new technologies is leading banks and financial entities to leverage Cloud Infrastructures, Artificial Intelligence Analytics and Robotics. They  are following this trend, because  there is an enormous opportunity to re-shape their customer services approach. The idea is to have the perfect phygital*2 strategy and the technology support that fintechs provide to take advantage of all these changes. However, this requires a change in the existing culture to support these new technologies. Are Banks and financial entities willing to change their culture to execute and optimize operational processes?

1* Worldline, Expert Paper, Customer interactions 2021.
2*Pygital is the concept of using technology to bridge the digital world with the physical world with the purpose of providing a unique interactive experiences for the user. 

Download a free copy of the expert paper "Trusted Customer Interactions"