In the banking and financial services sector, customer experience plays a vital role in differentiating the institutions from their competition. With ever-changing customer demands and a plethora of alternatives to choose from in this digital era, only a great customer experience can enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction, with better retention.
However, the pandemic has forced the banking and financial sectors to go digital, and their CX has been influenced by how well they handle the new digitization. Thus, simply being digitally sound is not enough; institutions must also focus on becoming customer-centric digitally.
Here are four digital CX trends across Africa’s banking and financial services that institutions should watch out for:
1.Using mobile app data to improve products and services
The majority of institutions are going digital by launching their own mobile apps; these apps collect a lot of consumer data that institutions can use to enhance the customer experience. Data analytics systems and machine learning algorithms help you extract useful information from this consumer data, which can then be used to build new products, enhance existing processes, better empower customers, and improve the overall customer experience.
Stanbic Bank, one of Uganda’s largest commercial lenders, is encouraging customers to transition to its digital banking systems by waiving digital transaction fees in order to improve their customer experience.
2.Integrating Artificial Intelligence with human power
One of the most important customer touchpoints is when they call the helpline for assistance. Nothing can be more aggravating for a customer than calling their bank’s customer care to report a problem only to be placed on hold.
When encountering a problem, users may now consult AI-enabled chatbots rather than waiting on the phone. Furthermore, Conversational AI has advanced significantly in terms of its ability to accommodate and handle customer issues, making it a superpower for rapid resolution.
3.An automated onboarding process
As the adage goes, “first impression is the best impression,” for a great first impression, a positive customer experience during onboarding is crucial. New customer onboarding traditionally involves a great deal of administrative work and raises the risk of process bottlenecks, putting consumers’ patience to the test. Banks may utilize automation to speed up critical aspects of the process, allowing consumers to create accounts even faster and improving the entire customer experience.
4.Cloud-based hosting
Banks and regulators in Africa are gradually changing their minds about cloud hosting. By moving to the cloud, banks regain control of their business models and innovation cycles, allowing them to develop excellent consumer solutions with agility and speed.
Absa Group, one of the major African financial services companies, has migrated many of its operations to the cloud, which has enabled them to deliver a great end-to-end digital experience, especially given their geographically dispersed staff and client base.
According to international consultants McKinsey, the number of Africans having bank accounts would rise from almost 300 million in 2017 to 450 million by 2022, with revenues growing from $86 million to $129 million during that time.
With most institutions aiming to be digital-first banks, it’s high time for them to begin investing in their digital client experience.
Learn more at the BFSI IT Summit Africa
Event organized byExito Media Concepts
