Bank Customer Expectations: Nothing Short of Digital Excellence

Sixty-eight percent of customers report that COVID-19 elevated their expectations of banks’ digital capabilities  

“Accustomed to the service standards set by consumer internet companies, today’s customers have come to expect the same degree of consistency, convenience, and personalization from their financial-services institutions.”  

-McKinsey 

The unprecedented outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the operational challenges that it imposed on financial institutions did little to lower customer expectations for superior digital banking experiences. In fact, research by Salesforce suggests just the opposite, finding that 68% of customers reported that COVID-19 elevated their expectations of banks’ digital capabilities.  

Banking customers were already gravitating towards digital channels before the pandemic. COVID-19, however, greatly accelerated the rate of digital adoption. More than half of banking consumers report using digital products more than they were before the pandemic and nearly 90% of them plan to continue increased digital usage going forward.

In the rush to expand their digital offerings, many financial institutions prioritized implementing innovative technologies at the expense of the customer experience. And according to the Salesforce report, banking customers took notice: “only 27 percent feel the financial services industry is customer centric. Even fewer [23 percent] think the industry handled the pandemic well.”

Financial institutions emerging from digital survival mode must now shift their focus to reimagining the customer experience. Digitally inclined customers consistently identify three components of a superior digital banking experience:

• 24/7 customer service
• Opening and closing accounts without being required to enter so much information
• Clear and easy to use apps

This excerpt is a part of our banking trends brief, Digitalizing Employee & Customer Experiences in Banking: Overcoming Unprecedented Challenges to Thrive in 2021.

You can download the full brief here, or view other webinars, e-Books, white papers and more in our resource center, including:

• Branch Transformation: Achieving Branch Transformation by Bringing Together Virtual and Physical Channels
• Mobile-First Banking: Aligning Consumer Preferences with Digital and Human Channels to Provide a Superior Mobile-First Banking Experience
• Securing the Digital Banking Experience: Striking a Careful Balance Between Security & the Customer Experience
• Consolidating Vendor Networks: Enhancing Digital Banking Capabilities with a UC Solution