Today, nearly 9 in 10 Americans use digital apps and services to manage their finances – a 52% growth rate from 2020. Along with this digitalization of financial services, the unbundling of services and a shift from working with one bank to using various apps and services for different financial needs is on the rise. One prediction is that the rebundling of financial services will lead to the “neo-super-app,” which will offer multiple services within one single tool, such as banking products, budgeting, bill payments, or investments.
In addition to these large-scale changes, this is also a time when financial uncertainty, concerns and challenges abound. Amid rising inflation, financial advisors urge that having a plan is more important than ever — and can help to “stress test” one’s investment strategy. However, many Americans are unprepared about their financial futures – about 63% of workers admit they don’t know as much as they should about retirement investing, a recent survey by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies pointed out. Meanwhile, the survey also found that only 35% work with a professional financial advisor, and, although most workers (70%) have some form of financial strategy for retirement, only 29% have a written plan.
What’s more, the June 2022 American Psychiatric Association (APA)’s Healthy Minds Monthly Poll found that 87% of Americans indicated they were anxious or very anxious about inflation, and 51% are more worried about a potential loss of income. In the United Kingdom, workers are struggling with the biggest drop in pay in more than two decades, as food and energy prices continue to surge, taking a large bite out of wages. In Canada, a recent survey found that 54% of Canadians aged 55+ have delayed retirement due to soaring inflation and high costs of living, while 62% have delayed retirement because they don’t have ample savings or investments.
This doesn’t mean that customer service becomes an afterthought – seven in 10 U.S. consumers say they have spent more money to do business with a company that delivers great service. With shifts in how services are delivered, and to successfully meet the needs of the modern consumer in today’s environment, the importance of customer experience (CX) in the financial world is only pushed to the forefront. How can financial services professionals go above and beyond to deliver exceptional customer experiences, concentrating on the human element of support? Taking a personalized and proactive approach, what if they could dedicate time to helping their clients solidify their savings plans and improve their financial wellness?
The Power of AI in CX for Financial Services
Conversations at scale, and at speed
Customers expect many things (speedy food delivery, online banking transactions completed) instantaneously, and completely tailored to their individual needs and personal context. Today, with conversational AI, companies can interact personally and contextually in real-time with customers at scale, delivering effortless experiences and rapid resolutions to support queries.
By speaking to and picking up from different silos of data, AI can personalize and contextualize every interaction, in real-time. This is key, as customers today have different needs – just consider a tech worker who may be laid off due to pandemic-related cutbacks, or a public sector worker in the UK who is facing wage cuts, and has been starting to consider retirement. Previously, customer service agents needed to access multiple systems in order to resolve a single ticket; AI can do this faster and more accurately than ever before, allowing for ultimate VIP service, at scale. Additionally, through integration with back-end systems such as CRM, the AI can easily pull in data to resolve customer service issues on an individual basis without human intervention.
With finances, the stakes are higher, and customers demand immediate support. Adopting an ‘always-on’ approach to support (because customers can encounter issues 24/7/365), conversational AI can deflect and handle the majority of customer service inquiries, at all hours. This reduces the cost of keeping a human support team on hand, by minimizing the number of employees required after-hours.
Becoming customer advocates
By identifying issues and offering solutions unprompted, this is the space where conversational AI shines – such as reminding a customer to transfer balances from one account to another, or alerting them that, based on their savings goals and spending patterns, there might be a higher interest savings account. This type of customer advocacy is increasingly expected, as customers look to brands to be partners, rather than solely as suppliers of goods and services. Consider a young family who is looking to purchase a home, in a rocky real estate market with rising mortgage rates, and navigating a complex territory that is unfamiliar to them. In such a case, an extra personalized and proactive touch will go far.
Paving the way for ease and speed of service, AI can help financial services professionals dedicate their time to uniquely human care – perhaps helping a client create an investment plan, helping a young couple with their first mortgage payment, or helping an elderly client transition to online banking and bill payments.
Constructing Immediate & Effortless Financial Services Interactions
From inflation-era concerns to the changing nature of financial services and evolving customer preferences, there are a number of reasons why a great customer experience is especially critical today. Helping support teams swiftly handle interactions at scale, while preserving that all-important human touch, investing in AI for a fintech customer experience will pay off, time and time again.
