Johannesburg, 23 Nov 2016
The way consumers interact with financial institutions is fundamentally and rapidly changing, and this presents a huge opportunity - albeit a challenging one - for retail banks, says Dean Mollet, Consulting Systems Engineer at Avaya.
In recent years, social media and mobile applications have thrived. A recent study conducted by Avaya and BT shows the number of consumers using mobile apps for financial services over the last few years has more than trebled, while Web chat has also significantly increased in popularity.
This has been triggered by an 'anytime, anywhere' digital culture as consumers and businesses demand financial management on their own terms. This trend is also being felt in South Africa - the largest banking groups all have mobile apps, with First National Bank recently reporting an 85% increase in usage of its banking app.
However, adding different communication channels doesn't really help either the bank or the customer if they aren't joined up. Digital disruptors in the banking sector are going further than just providing an app, and are using analytics and automation to create value from the data generated through customer interactions across different channels. By tying various platforms together, they can not only respond and resolve issues more quickly, but take a more proactive approach through predictive data sets that are constantly working in the background.
Say, for example, a bank's customer wants to query their account, but doesn't have time to call during business hours. While the company's mobile app may provide some information, a more personal experience will assure the customer that their account security is maintained, so the app should provide them with the capacity to request an after-hours call back. And when the representative does call back, they should possess the right information, so they don't need to impose a lengthy identification or clarification process on the customer, and they should be aware of whether the customer has posted on social media channels about the issue.
To take another example: a bank could introduce video conferencing technology to local branches, so customers could get access to specialist advisors more easily. So a customer could get information about a mortgage application in their local branch, and scan, send and receive documents quickly and easily, reducing the time and effort required to process and approve a mortgage.
The business benefits are clear. Companies that can keep customers satisfied, engaged and coming back have a competitive advantage. And by taking data the company already has and putting it into the decision-making process, they can make smarter decisions that enhance the customer journey in terms of speed and quality of service.
Achieving this with yesterday's technologies is extremely difficult, which is why the banking industry should not rely on old processes to achieve new results, as outdated contact centre and communications platforms weren't built to support modern interactions. While the data surrounding these interactions may be stored and possibly be relevant at some further point, it can't be qualified to inform intelligent decision-making. This is why digital transformation has become a critical differentiator.
Using omnichannel customer experience technology, banks can track a customer's activity on any channel and register it as part of the customer journey. Based on insights contained in this data, contact centre teams can proactively anticipate a customer's intentions, and instead of greeting them with a generic recorded IVR message, can generate a personalised opener, for example: "I see your recent transaction was not successful, would you like me to connect you with an advisor to discuss this?"
Smart apps can reach out while the customer is active online or on their banking app, using proactive chat or even offering video interaction.
This brings me neatly to Avaya Oceana: finally, a true omnichannel customer experience solution for the digital age. Avaya Oceana is the only all-inclusive experience platform for today's digital enterprise. Built with employees, agents and customers in mind, Oceana represents the convergence of the contact centre with the enterprise. With historical and real-time analytics, Oceana provides that full contextual experience across all channels, enabling the enterprise to be smarter, employees more productive, and customers simply happier.
Banking and financial services providers have more data than any other industry at their disposal - it's time to make the most of this, for the benefit of customers themselves.
For more information, please visit www.avaya.com or e-mail mollettd@avaya.com.
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