Johannesburg, 08 Mar 2022
South African retail bank, African Bank, is saving hundreds of consulting hours per month using Entersekt’s MNO authentication solution to securely verify customers making use of its interactive voice response (IVR) system at their call centre. These savings are being re-invested into ongoing customer service improvements, delivering long-term benefits to the bank and its customers.
When African Bank launched its IVR system as part of its omnichannel strategy in 2019, the leadership realised that, while successful on multiple fronts, the bank’s diverse customer base had varying access to and comfort with technology. This made quick and accurate verification more complicated.
“While the system could recognise a caller’s telephone number, calls often came from landlines or unregistered mobile numbers. This would prompt the system to ask for PIN verification, but some customers would not have their PINs on hand. That then required the call to be placed through to an agent, who would have to resort to time-consuming security questions for verification purposes. In some instances, this would add up to two minutes to each call, keeping agents busy with verifications rather than attending to customer queries,” explains Pieter de Swardt, Country Manager for MEA, Entersekt.
Keeping their commitment to an outstanding customer journey in mind, African Bank IT leaders realised they needed a streamlined, more accessible verification process that would keep the user experience simple and do the work in the background.
The bank chose to implement Entersekt’s MNO authentication solution, which leverages the security of the GSM network (a fully out-of-band channel) to offer an app-free authentication experience.
A superior customer experience with improved security
After the Entersekt implementation, the benefits were felt almost immediately.
The verification process was reduced to a single, simple USSD message delivered to a customer’s registered mobile number at the beginning of a call. No mobile apps or additional registrations were required, and customers could respond immediately via the self-service USSD menu.
Authentication became secure, effective and accessible to all customers, even those with feature phones. And, because verification took place in the background, queries could be attended to as soon as a customer reached a consultant.
“We’re delighted at the positive outcome for African Bank and their customers. This is a great example of how a more secure solution can provide a better experience for end-customers while also delivering cost savings for banks,” comments De Swardt.
More than just a technical improvement, the Entersekt solution also delivered quantifiable, long-term business benefits for the bank and its customers.
Five months after implementation, African Bank was saving 250 consultant hours per month and the bank is reinvesting this saving into serving its customers.
“At the end of the day, it’s about achieving seamless entry points for our customers and that means making digital access better and easier,” sums up George Roussos, Chief Operating Officer, African Bank.
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