Matt Sherwen, Managing Director, Sherwen Studios
Dealing with financial matters is often a stressful situation. Whether a customer is applying for a loan, mortgage or credit card or simply trying to withdraw or deposit cash from their account, it’s a chore that they want to get over and done with as quickly as possible.
That’s why speed and self-service interactions have become the default setting for retail banking, both in-branch and via mobile banking. The way that we choose to manage our finances has inherently changed, with 33% of UK adults using mobile banking daily and 36% of UK adults saying they hardly ever visit their bank in branch.
On the face of it, this is a positive transition because it shows that customers are able to manage their routine finances themselves, freeing up staff to provide support to customers who need additional help and guidance. While technology has automated some of the simple tasks (such as depositing a cheque through mobile check-capture or receiving real-time alerts for payments, low balances, or suspicious activity), retail banking needs to establish better ways of retaining human empathy and oversight, rather than just relying on AI and FinTech.
When you can combine technology with human intervention, it becomes far easier to deliver better customer experiences and benefit from stronger brand loyalty.
How well do banks know their customers?
Banks might have access to all of the financial data of their customers and insights into their demographics, but much time and emphasis is being placed on truly understanding how a customer likes to manage their finances and why.
As the statistics confirm, there are many different ways that customers might interact with their bank or building society. Some customers might prefer a personal approach; others may choose to only interact via mobile banking. But today’s banking is about delivering personalised experiences and understanding how and where a customer might need additional support. It’s about having the capabilities to recognise what emotional triggers might change their typical user behaviour and putting in appropriate responses.
For example, some users might engage with push notifications while others might be reluctant to engage with any digital transaction, fearing that it could be fraudulent. Some customers may be happy to apply for products solely online, while others want to complete the process in-branch under the supervision of a staff member, particularly when it involves identification checks.
User behaviour isn’t just about monitoring how many transactions they complete online. It’s about recognising what potential bottlenecks they might face and learning whether specific changes or updates are genuinely resonating with customers and improving the overall experience.
Emotional trust is important in retail banking.
It’s very easy for customers to transition from one bank to another. The Current Account Switch Service (CASS) means that you can switch banking providers in as little as seven days, and with many digital-only banks offering cash incentives to new customers, it’s more important than ever for retail banks to differentiate themselves. Now is the time for retail banks to think carefully about each micro interaction (in-branch and via mobile banking) and show their customers that they genuinely care about their experiences.
It’s about recognising that financial interactions aren’t always straightforward.
A suspicion of a potentially fraudulent activity or a question about loan eligibility can quickly trigger stress levels and become an emotional experience. That’s why banks need to have protocols in place that can immediately identify, recognise and respond to those emotional triggers, bringing in human empathy and support to help overcome potential customer problems.
Where self-service solutions are in place, any customer service tools, such as AI-powered chatbots, must have stress indicators programmed in (such as frustration in text or voice hesitation or repeated failed login attempts) so they can identify those emotional cues and escalate support to a human agent much quicker.
Once it is clear that a customer has potentially moved into a ‘fight or flight’ emotional state, the personalisation journey needs to immediately recognise that the way we listen to and understand communications will naturally change. During moments of high stress or confusion, customers will need calmer language, clearer action points and immediate human intervention to tackle the issue at hand.
How to blend the technology with human empathy
If we are moving towards a digital-first banking industry, then it’s essential to establish ways to retain human empathy and oversight over all interactions to ensure excellent customer experiences.
It begins with mapping out the many different customer journeys that an individual might take. By identifying different touchpoints across online portals and logins, branch visits, and customer call centres, AI can analyse demographics, transaction patterns, and sentiment signals. This will help in a marketing context because it will become easier to tailor product recommendations and targeted offers. As a result, the customer starts to see the bank as a trusted financial partner, rather than feeling that they are being sold to.
Escalation triggers need to be based on more than just failed login attempts, specific keyword triggers or unusual click activity. They need to factor in behavioural cues, whether that’s conversations on the phone or through an automated chatbot. These escalation triggers need to be continually reviewed and monitored, allowing AI to train itself on real conversations with customers so it can better learn the nuances of language. When these triggers are managed correctly, a customer will never feel stranded by automation when they are clearly looking for human help.
When a human intervention is required, there should be clear communication with the user about when and how a customer advisor will make contact. If a phone call is required, the communications need to clearly state what security protocols will be in place for the advisor to identify themselves.
Finally, it’s important to consider the cross-channel approach. If a customer has researched a mortgage application online, how easy is it for them to complete that application in-branch? A branch advisor or manager should be able to easily see the previous transaction history with unified customer profiles and shared dashboards. When in-branch and mobile banking are treated in siloes, customers will naturally become frustrated by repeat questions and unnecessary friction.
Biography: Matt Sherwen is the Managing Director of Sherwen Studios, a creative, strategic and technology-driven digital consultancy for transformation, AI and automation. From website development to full omnichannel digital infrastructures, Sherwen Studios works with clients to help them understand how to evolve their digital presence.
