Business owners and consumers are rethinking their current relationship with their banks and an increasing number of them are looking to shift from traditional banks with cumbersome processes to more agile and efficient systems. It is an undeniable fact that consumers now have a choice for better platforms that are willing to solve their banking issues with better turnaround time and customer experience.
This is a time when financial institutions can grab the opportunity and create a win-win proposition for the bank and the consumer equivocally. The only way a bank can focus on solving the myriad issues that lead to bad consumer experiences is by offering a good one. Embracing technology and automation will not just improve efficiency as a direct benefit but enhance the overall consumer experience.
Banks no longer play the fiduciary role in lending but offer value-addition services for a small fee to small business owners. Through automated loan origination cycle and eAsset solutions bank employees can extend the required support for consumers.
Automation in banking enhances the consumer experience
- Consumers like digital banking
Automation is everywhere. For instance, cabs can be ordered through an app, groceries are delivered in a turnaround time of 15 minutes flat through the dark store concept, wholesale garment manufacturers have cracked the issue of inventory hold-up through category management, and cash flow has improved, and days outstanding has reduced through accounts payable platforms.
When automation can do so much, people who use these services will expect banks to shed their sluggish process workflows. They want quick processing of loans and other banking transactions that facilitate their business. Any hold-up from a bank’s end because of their inefficiency will force the consumer to move to a different bank or fintech company that is tech compliant and can enable quick actions.
- Keep business acquisition costs low
Customer acquisition costs will increase if the retention rate of the bank drops. Retaining an old customer is equivalent to bringing in five more. So banks should concentrate on service levels and let the standard of service attract more consumers.
- Free up capacity
Banking and financial services involve repetitive tasks that are ideal for robotic automation processes. When automation takes over the workflow, efficiency increases with increased speed, higher productivity, and lower errors. The free capacity of employees can be utilized for building long-lasting relationships with consumers.
- Use big data
Automation with AI-powered business intelligence tools will help banks understand consumer insights. Products can be designed to suit their specific requirements to suit changing times.
For instance, when a bank learns that senior consumers find it difficult to bank through automation tools as they are not tech savvy, it cracks this problem by offering personalized training to use the tools more effectively.
Banks also develop single-layer connections through their smartphones that can be operated easily without any security lapse as it operates through iris or face recognition.
- Easy onboarding
The onboarding experience is crucial as it marks the first impression for the consumer with a particular bank. Through automation, the onboarding process can be seamless in form-filling and account-opening tasks. Optical character recognition will help in extracting personal data from the ID proofs submitted by the consumer.
The interactive chatbots will help in easy onboarding. The documents and other information can be scanned and uploaded. The information is recognized and matched through optical character reading.
If the applicant makes a mistake in filling up these details, then the chatbot will inform through a pop-up message that the information in the document is not matching with what the consumer filled out.
If a person is applying for a loan, data relating to income and taxes are verified from third-party APIs through deep neural networking and machine learning to establish the authenticity of the client’s disclosures.
- Quick service
A loan applicant’s spending and saving patterns are established alongside the verification of credit scores for credit assessment that offers automated decisions for the lending team.
When credit analysis and assessment time is reduced, the underwriting process can be eased with fewer risks and faster turnarounds. A quick loan disbursal mechanism translates to the loyalty of the consumers and aids in repeat business.
- Round-the-clock service
Consumers these days lack time as everyone is trying to finish multiple tasks and concentrate on achieving their financial goals to retire comfortably and rich. As a peripheral effect, they lack time and appreciate banking that can be done when they are free.
A consumer who forgot to apply for a credit card or loan during day time can now fill out the application online through multiple channels like apps and web browsers.
How can digital tools be improved for consumer experience?
There are many benefits of automating the banking experience for customers. However, is it enough to digitize the banking platform for consumers?
The answer to the question crops up because there are consumers who aren’t tech-savvy. The number of people who cannot even operate a smartphone in the current world may be less and reduce with time. Still, it is necessary to understand that the purpose of digitization is to not just increase efficiency but also make the process simple for all the stakeholders.
To overcome the tech complexity issues, a bank has to keep its automation overlays less and the platform simple with an easy-to-use interface. The platform has to be device friendly and should not restrict the workflow between a mobile app and a web portal.
There can be teething problems initially, but in that case, instead of asking the customer to physically step into the branch, ask them to scan and email the documents through their registered email ID. There can always be a workaround that will not disturb a good experience for the customer till the tech issues are fixed.
Conclusion:
Consumer’s necessities are often basic, and they are not demands but logically speaking just solutions that they are looking for from their bank in supporting their income route. A bank that starts respecting the consumer’s point of view and supports them through quick and round-the-clock remote service will scale growth trajectories at a remarkable pace.
