The Evolution of Customer Communication in the Finance Industry

Eric Bilange, EVP Enterprise, Xura

Financial institutions are undergoing a process of evolution in the way they deal with their customers.

Juniper Research predicts that, by 2017, there will be one billion mobile banking customers. Forty per cent of these, while accessing their accounts via apps on their mobile phone, will still ring call centres or visit their bank’s high street branches for certain enquires. This statistic reflects a desire, from more than half of global banking customers, as identified by KPMG, for a combination of social, personalised and “human” aspects of customer service to be integrated into their banks’ online services and mobile app interactions.

Looking for a more personal and convenient means of interacting with their banks, today’s consumers want to replicate the experience they have become familiar with from using messaging services such as WhatsApp. However, with todays advanced communication technology, such as banks and financial services companies have an easy route to provide similar-type experiences.

Real-time, next generation customer interactions, including VoIP calling, video chat, instant messaging, encrypted file- and screen- sharing, presence and recording, can all be available at the touch of a button with WebRTC technology. This not only improves the functionality of the service but adds the human element with sophisticated security features, which provides multi-factor authentication, to allow customer to engage appropriate bank personnel immediately without the need to visit a physical branch.

Probably the single most important innovation – contextual communication

Moving spoken and video interaction into an app or web experience will not only lead to less interruption through the banking interaction, but it provides the the ability to push or capture data from the screen, and the creation of more seamless and personal experiences with the human dimension.

For example, with real-time communications user context is at the core of the offering. This means when a customer clicks to communicate with their bank or financial services provider, their chat, video or voice call can firstly be routed to personnel in the customer branch, who may know the customer’s circumstances or, if that staff member isn’t available diverted to a bank’s agent in a call centre. When a session comes through, the customer is already authenticated and the agent can access the customer’s transaction history or pull relevant contextual information from the user’s mobile app or web screen, meaning issues are resolved quickly and preventing users from repeating information.

By bringing together the most appropriate banking staff member with a customer and his and data, translates to a faster call resolution a personalised service as well as peace of mind; so in other words, substantial cost savings, a more enjoyable customer experience and increase loyalty.

While today there are other proprietary approaches for creating video-based applications exist, WebRTC is likely to be the dominant technology – in the medium term at the very least. Indeed, analysts have estimated that over six billion devices will be WebRTC-capable by 2019.

And, as it has become increasingly important across retail banking, insurance, capital markets and various emerging fintech applications, the technology has seen high-profile names including American Express, Coutts, and Wells Fargo have becoming early adopters

According to Dean Bubley, lead analyst at Disruptive Analysis, “banking, insurance and related sectors have been at the forefront of commercial WebRTC adoption already, and this trend looks to broaden and deepen further.

“While self-service and messaging/notification channels will continue to evolve, so too will voice and video – and WebRTC is probably the single most important innovation to allow that to occur.”

Optimise communications channels

There are a number of reasons why financial institutions are optimising their communications channels, including cost, customer preference, loyalty, and security. There may not be one clear “right answer” but taking this approach is based on an ever changing digital environment, a dynamic situation which is based on the particular customer, and a variety of other contextual va

Eric Bilange, EVP Enterprise, Xura

Financial institutions are undergoing a process of evolution in the way they deal with their customers.

Eric Bilange

Juniper Research predicts that, by 2017, there will be one billion mobile banking customers. Forty per cent of these, while accessing their accounts via apps on their mobile phone, will still ring call centres or visit their bank’s high street branches for certain enquires. This statistic reflects a desire, from more than half of global banking customers, as identified by KPMG, for a combination of social, personalised and “human” aspects of customer service to be integrated into their banks’ online services and mobile app interactions.

Looking for a more personal and convenient means of interacting with their banks, today’s consumers want to replicate the experience they have become familiar with from using messaging services such as WhatsApp. However, with todays advanced communication technology, such as banks and financial services companies have an easy route to provide similar-type experiences.

Real-time, next generation customer interactions, including VoIP calling, video chat, instant messaging, encrypted file- and screen- sharing, presence and recording, can all be available at the touch of a button with WebRTC technology. This not only improves the functionality of the service but adds the human element with sophisticated security features, which provides multi-factor authentication, to allow customer to engage appropriate bank personnel immediately without the need to visit a physical branch.

Probably the single most important innovation – contextual communication

Moving spoken and video interaction into an app or web experience will not only lead to less interruption through the banking interaction, but it provides the the ability to push or capture data from the screen, and the creation of more seamless and personal experiences with the human dimension.

For example, with real-time communications user context is at the core of the offering. This means when a customer clicks to communicate with their bank or financial services provider, their chat, video or voice call can firstly be routed to personnel in the customer branch, who may know the customer’s circumstances or, if that staff member isn’t available diverted to a bank’s agent in a call centre. When a session comes through, the customer is already authenticated and the agent can access the customer’s transaction history or pull relevant contextual information from the user’s mobile app or web screen, meaning issues are resolved quickly and preventing users from repeating information.

By bringing together the most appropriate banking staff member with a customer and his and data, translates to a faster call resolution a personalised service as well as peace of mind; so in other words, substantial cost savings, a more enjoyable customer experience and increase loyalty.

While today there are other proprietary approaches for creating video-based applications exist, WebRTC is likely to be the dominant technology – in the medium term at the very least. Indeed, analysts have estimated that over six billion devices will be WebRTC-capable by 2019.

And, as it has become increasingly important across retail banking, insurance, capital markets and various emerging fintech applications, the technology has seen high-profile names including American Express, Coutts, and Wells Fargo have becoming early adopters

According to Dean Bubley, lead analyst at Disruptive Analysis, “banking, insurance and related sectors have been at the forefront of commercial WebRTC adoption already, and this trend looks to broaden and deepen further.

“While self-service and messaging/notification channels will continue to evolve, so too will voice and video – and WebRTC is probably the single most important innovation to allow that to occur.”

Optimise communications channels

There are a number of reasons why financial institutions are optimising their communications channels, including cost, customer preference, loyalty, and security. There may not be one clear “right answer” but taking this approach is based on an ever changing digital environment, a dynamic situation which is based on the particular customer, and a variety of other contextual variables, which can ultimately differentiate a corporate brand.

With more apps, services and devices available for connecting and communicating with customers than ever before, it’s crucial that banks and financial institutions embrace the current digital revolution in which increased convenience and a more personal experience will build longer-lasting loyalty and customer retention. This has been reflected in a high level of investment in mobile and digital applications and communication technology across the industry as products and processes change to adapt to this growing demand for more personal interactions.

So, the integration of WebRTC rich communication technology will enable intelligent, secure and personalised two-way dialogue across any device, supporting banks and financial businesses in their drive to create an omni-channel experience, improving the way they interact with their customers, while saving both time and money at the same time.

riables, which can ultimately differentiate a corporate brand.

With more apps, services and devices available for connecting and communicating with customers than ever before, it’s crucial that banks and financial institutions embrace the current digital revolution in which increased convenience and a more personal experience will build longer-lasting loyalty and customer retention. This has been reflected in a high level of investment in mobile and digital applications and communication technology across the industry as products and processes change to adapt to this growing demand for more personal interactions.

So, the integration of WebRTC rich communication technology will enable intelligent, secure and personalised two-way dialogue across any device, supporting banks and financial businesses in their drive to create an omni-channel experience, improving the way they interact with their customers, while saving both time and money at the same time.