Juggling Experience for Traditional and Digital Users

The financial services industry is facing a crossroads when it comes to meeting consumer expectations. With 46% of consumers using only digital channels for their banking needs, according to PwC, financial institutions are feeling the pressure to digitize. However, even in the digital age, the majority of American consumers still prefer to visit a brick-and-mortar branch when opening an account, Reuters reported.

As consumers remain loyal to both traditional and digital aspects of banking, today’s financial institutions must create experiences that meet the needs of both types of consumers.

Use Technology to Replicate Traditional Banking Activities

Financial institutions are in a position where they must continue to innovate to stay relevant against competitors. Banks and credit unions are prioritizing digital transformations as consumer preferences continue to shift toward digital channels, with 63% of American smartphone owners using financial applications to review their checking and savings account balances or perform simple transactions, according to Bankrate. In fact, the preference for digital channels led to the closure of 1,700 bank branches between June 2016 and June 2017, the largest one-year decline in history, the Wall Street Journal reported.

With that, financial institutions have a huge opportunity to utilize new technology, from chatbots to artificial intelligence, to further enhance the consumer experience and deliver streamlined, nearly humanlike interactions to meet consumers’ growing desire for service anytime, anywhere.

Capital One is a leading example of a pioneer in the industry when it comes to digital innovation, releasing its Eno chatbot in March 2017 and becoming one of the first banks to roll out a digital assistant. Banks including MasterCard and Bank of America quickly followed suit, introducing chatbot technology to help consumers review their account balances and purchase history, even providing an analysis of spending habits to help users make smarter financial decisions. With chatbot technology, credit unions are able to customize interactions based on the individual needs of the member – i.e. automating support for those members with simple transaction-related inquiries, and identifying members who need further assistance and should be transferred to an agent. Further, in providing an analysis of user behavior to offer financial advice and guidance, credit unions are able to elevate the member experience that much further.

As institutions continue to enhance their digital strategy, consumers will have access to a wide range of resources – from online forums to blogs, live chatbot responses, digital payment reminders and more – to help troubleshoot issues and questions on their own. However, for those critical issues that require a human touch, customer service agents will be vital. The role of the human customer agent is critical to fulfilling consumer needs’ for human-to-human interaction when discussing personal banking needs. Emotionally intelligent customer service agents can do what technology is not yet capable of – mimicking true human emotion and empathizing with a consumer, which is essential to developing brand loyalty and trust.

Adopt Technology That Enhances CUs’ Greatest Asset – its Employees

In order for credit unions to successfully transition into the digital age, they need to ensure their employees are trained to work alongside new technology that’s introduced.

The ATM is a prime example of an emerging technology that has changed the roles of financial institution employees for the better. With the introduction of the ATM, which allowed consumers to digitally execute simple transactions, branch personnel were given the opportunity to focus more on complex consumer-facing operations.

JPMorgan Chase, which has more than 16,000 ATMs across the U.S., saw its teller transactions decline by 25% from 2014 to 2016 – as customers used ATMs for 90% of withdrawals and 60% of deposits. However, its customers continued to cash checks exclusively with tellers, which signals that they choose human-to-human interaction with a teller when it comes to ensuring funds from checks are allocated properly. ATMs did not eliminate the need for branch employees, but rather enhanced their ability to service customers’ more intimate banking needs that require personal human assurance.

Beyond automating simple transactions, new technology is also allowing employees to fulfill the needs of traditional consumers who are looking for personalized banking experiences. TD Bank recently partnered with Layer 6 to build its own artificial intelligence prediction engine that can analyze a variety of data from customer profiles, transaction histories, phone calls and images, in an effort to improve customer service and guide predictions and suggestions in real time. In arming employees with extensive customer data and background that can be accessed as soon as a customer enters the branch, TD Bank is more confident that tellers will be able to cultivate personal bonds with their clients.

Customer service agents are also learning to utilize AI-powered technology to better understand consumer needs and preferences. New technology is enabling agents to assess phone conversations with consumers immediately after they take place to help them make smarter future business decisions. For example, according to the Wall Street Journal, Sprint recently implemented new software to help call center representatives respond to customer inquiries strategically. In an effort to empower call center employees, Sprint is developing “interaction assistants,” or software programs that can suggest next steps for employees to take during a call with a customer, based on massive amounts of data and analytics gathered from previous customer calls.

By eliminating confusion around standard consumer-client interactions, financial brands have the power to substantially elevate the consumer experience. Without having to search through a database for answers or connect with senior management for guidance, call center agents have the ability to provide timely responses that, supported by data, are proven to yield positive responses.

As financial institutions continue to navigate the industries’ digital shift amid conflicting consumer behaviors, it’s important to understand that while digital innovation is necessary, traditional forms of communication and interaction are still vital to the overall consumer experience. The businesses that are able to establish an environment in which technology and employees function together will find success in delivering customized experiences to satisfy a range of consumers.

Monti Becker Kelly is Vice President, Global Account Management for Sitel. She can be reached at 866-957-4835 or hello@sitel.com.