The banking industry has undergone a major shift, all thanks to technological advancements.

While back-end operations have gained a shot-in-the-arm via technology, the customer service aspect still has a long way to go, and banks are betting on new found technologies to help them out in this aspect. Experts believe that customer service touch points, such as teller services and customer call support are avenues to not only solve problems but also to create a positive and long-standing impact with customers.

Consider these statistics and one can comprehend the scope for improvement in customer service—the average customer (US) interacts with customer support service 65 times a year which adds up to a whopping 270 billion calls a year! At an average of $1.0 per call, we are looking at 270 billion in costs and a big problem area to solve. Add to this, the time-constrained and fairly impatient millennial demographic which demands quick solutions; banks are definitely staring at a huge gap in customer service.

“About 33% of millennials are willing to wait for only 1-3 minutes to get the desired response while 56% of them switched providers because of lack of quality customer service.”

How do banks address customer service issues?

The introduction of smart virtual or digital agents!

Cognitive approach to upgradation of customer services

Technology is advancing to a point where the human element can be represented, at least partially, by digital agents. Concepts such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are encouraging banking industry to think different and big! Chatbots though quite useful are restricted to answering one question at a time and are “familiar” with a set of few pre-determined queries. Virtual agents, however, deviate from this norm and take the aspect of communication a few levels higher; they promise to engage customers in full-length conversations and have the ability to provide information on multiple areas or topics.

IBM Watson is a classic example of a cognitive virtual agent whose main purpose is to meet the needs of customers replacing the human interface. Sounds exciting enough? Well, that is the direction that banks are looking to take when it comes to customer service. We now have voice and text enabled virtual agents handling and solving customer queries.

A host of companies are coming with their versions of virtual or digital agents hoping to fill the roles of human resources in an effective manner. We have conversational bots that actively engage users bringing to them fast and accurate information. The near future will soon have much superior Virtual agents as the one-stop-shop for finding any information. 

Ways Virtual agents enhance banking services –

Database: Pretty soon customers will have all their information-related requirements fulfilled via virtual agents. They will not only act as the ultimate information repositories but will also provide accurate information in a swift manner.

Analyzing reports: Another area will be that of legal contracts and reports both of which require a stupendous amount of time and checks and re-checks. Machine learning is going to play a major role in the analytical performance of a virtual agent.

Advisory role: Ever heard of an online or a non-human advisor? Well, banks are looking towards AI and ML to help virtual agents become sound advisors for customers. These agents will help customers in making smart banking and financial decisions.

Risk advisory: From the bank’s point of view—virtual agents will assess all existing customer data, along with third-party data integration, to come out with their Fair Isaac Corporation or FICO scores. These scores would enable banks to assess the creditworthiness of the customer and credit risk associated.

Customer satisfaction and loyalty: In a major boost to customer retention—virtual agents will emulate the role of human assistants by delivering a near perfect personalized experience during customer interaction.

A Sutherland survey report says that 4 out of 5 customers prefer a two way conversational communication with technology than the usual one way creating a definite need for the introduction of smart virtual agents. It also reports that every 1 million chats with a virtual agent ends up saving about $7 million in costs signaling a trend that will only gain more popularity as time progresses.

Having a smart virtual agent which helps customer with queries, provides relevant solutions and takes up the role of an advisor is something banks are looking forward to. This will be a quantum leap for the banking industry and if things are going the way they are now, a smart virtual banking agent is not far from happening! The coming years will witness the next-gen of concierge banking and customer support service, courtesy, AI and ML—technologies that would take virtual assistants a few notches up towards becoming virtual advisors with cognitive abilities.

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