It is rare to love your bank. For decades, we’ve been exposed to financial experiences with our banking providers that appear to have too much friction and paperwork or that simply do not adapt and evolve with our habits and standards.
Today, however, most financial institutions are making massive efforts to shorten the distance between user’s new expectations and the services and products they deliver. Here, we will discuss nine banking customer experience trends that financial institutions must consider to remain competitive over the next year.
Before listing the trends, we must define customer experience regarding banking solutions. Consumers today have a very different type of interaction with the products and services they consume than a few decades ago. Before, it was common for them to accept some of the friction and difficulties required to access a particular product or service because fewer choices were available. On top of that, information was also not as openly available as it is today, and in general, thinking about the customer was a priority but not necessarily something reflected in the relationship between them and financial providers.
Today, the game has changed completely. Multiple financial solutions are available, some of which are completely digital and require less effort from the consumer’s perspective. To remain top of mind and develop a more engaging relationship with your customers, focusing on their experience, their needs, and how to make things easier and more comfortable for them is a top priority.
While each financial institution has its own objectives and customers, some examples of great banking CX are:
Understanding the signals of change and what can happen in the future is arduous, especially for massive organizations that can’t afford mistakes. However, keeping up with CX expectations also means exploring potential trends and horizons and using them as scenario planning tools that can lead your strategies and product/service design processes.
As we mentioned in the introduction, customers today have much more knowledge about products and services in the financial sector. For financial institutions to match their expectations, they need to understand their customer' behavior, pain points, and potential solutions and play a more active role in their daily lives.
While this varies depending on the type of customer you have, what matters is that there's an internal team that actively researches what customers need so you can build products and experiences that match their needs.
Most people who have called a financial institution do not recall the experience as pleasant. While there are plenty of reasons for this to be true, one of the main pains is the lack of understanding of their problems and having to repeat your request through multiple touchpoints until you finally connect with someone who can help you.
The expectation is that customers are understood and their journeys are logged. That way, they can choose between channels (texting, calling, and online) without having to explain their request from scratch every time.
Financial institutions that accurately understand users’ journeys and build a connected customer service approach will stand out from the competition.
It's challenging to find a person without a smartphone. We have more apps today in our pockets than tools our grandparents had in their entire house a few decades ago. As a result, we have become great at identifying the types of mobile applications and experiences that are pixel-perfect and those that are a bit clunky or difficult to navigate.
Banking institutions that go a step further and constantly strive to improve their mobile banking experience to match customers' expectations make a difference. From small improvements such as using facial recognition to log in instead of the password you may forget to the possibility of solving more complex problems via mobile, a better banking experience must be prioritized.
Users want to do more, better, faster, and independently. Financial institutions must use technologies such as IVRs and conversational AI to help customers meet those expectations. Long gone are the days when customers were happy to be on hold for 15 minutes trying to solve a problem. Today, they want to do it in seconds and most likely do so without contacting a human agent.
While not all customers have this self-serve preference, the trend of becoming more tech-friendly and independent is there and can't be denied. We stopped asking for directions and started using Google Maps. We stopped asking for recommendations and resorted to our music provider's suggestions. We’re changing, and our financial expectations are different.
Independence and empowerment matter to today's users. Financial institutions that adapt to that context will outperform those that don't.
Empowering your customers to solve their own financial needs means adapting to multiple segments and behavioral expectations. For those who prefer apps, you must build an app that lets them do what they need to do. For those who like to call, you must do the same, and so on.
Self-service is more than a polished digital journey to let people do what they need; it is more of an omnichannel approach to ensure that any type of customer can use the bank and its channels best to match their needs.
Ultimately, what matters is that they can solve most of their queries on their own without having to speak with an agent, regardless of the channel.
Everything happens online. From ordering food to dating to paying taxes. Why would financial management be any different?
Of course, having financial services that are analog and physical offices is essential for certain types of customers. But, prioritizing digital experiences to match the expectations of younger generations is critical for banking corporations today and in the near future.
More than ever, people care about their digital footprint and banking habits. Ensuring the information they provide and how you manage it is safe and private is non-negotiable. On top of that, ensuring that these standards are met will also help financial institutions meet compliance requirements.
While regulations may change according to the region, banks need to adapt and ensure their customers' information is always safe and private.
Beyond saving money or having a checking account, customers today are more aware of the importance of investing their money. This is a massive opportunity for financial institutions to adapt to this trend and build technologies and teams that successfully guide their customers in the right direction regarding investments.
Beyond investments, banks can also help their customers better understand their financial habits. For example, they can send automated messages to their customers when they are overspending beyond a previously determined budget on a particular trip, or they can provide tips based on their current income on how much to save and how much to invest.
The options are endless. What matters is that customers perceive their banks as partners that help them manage their finances, not just as a vault that keeps their money.
Blockchain technologies have existed for multiple years and have proven to be a potential trend for financial institutions to explore. The decentralized nature of blockchain technology, the transparency of all movements, and the possibility of managing alternative non-fiat currencies can be a valuable option for more tech-savvy customers.
With Mosaicx, your customers have natural-sounding conversations that help them resolve requests such as checking their balance, transferring funds, or updating information on their own. This empowering financial helps them accomplish their goals while letting your team focus on more strategic tasks, improving your brand equity and overall perception.
Visit our finance page to see how our real-time conversational AI solutions accomplish personalized, trusted, and secure financial interactions.