The Internet and e-mail are so much a part of everyday life, you'd think that electronic discourse between bank customers and their institution of choice would be as commonplace as a telephone call. And if that wasn't enough, that most institutions now refer to call centers at "contact centers" is a nod to the importance of e-mail as a critical service channel.
But for some customers, that nod looks more like a kiss-off. The Customer Respect Group, a customer-service consultancy, says more than a quarter of U.S. financial institutions do not respond to all customer requests that come to them on-line. According to the group, about 13 percent of firms surveyed did not respond to any on-line inquiries at all, and 15 percent responded to only half. On the positive side, 72 percent say they respond to all inquiries.
The group's clients include The Allstate Corp., BB&T, American International Group, Banknorth Group, Fifth Third, Fannie Mae, JPMorgan Chase, NetBank, Medical Mutual of Omaha, Prudential Financial, South Trust, Sovereign Bancorp and State Farm Insurance. It uses a Customer Respect Index to help companies improve how they treat their customers on the Internet. Its study on banks' interaction with consumers on the Web assigned a rating to each company on a scale of 0 to 10-with 10 being the top score-using factors such as ease of use, privacy and transparency.
Bank of America's on-line services scored the best, with an 8.3, followed by Wachovia at 7.7, Hibernia at 7.6 and Wells Fargo at 7.6. The group didn't reveal the lowest-scoring banks, but offered up a sobering composite score of 4.9 for overall responsiveness for all banks.
The results on privacy are even more shocking. Though 99 percent of firms say they explain privacy policies on their sites with disclosures explaining how customer data is used, 59 percent share data without their customers' permission. "Those firms that don't consider the business impact of providing a poor Web experience are taking unnecessary, serious risks," says Roger Fairchild, president of the Customer Respect Group. Fairchild also says too many firms still haven't taken steps in areas such as privacy and responsiveness, crucial factors in providing a good customer experience on the Web.
Alpha Wants a Gold Medal in Fraud Fighting
Figuring the increased use of credit and debit payments during the Olympics will invite an increased risk of fraud and other electronic shenanigans, Greece's Alpha bank is connecting to a fraud-detection application from Alaric Systems, Fractals.
The bank will connect to the engine via the DeltaDetect payments processing service, which is provided by Delta Singular. The service allows banks to remotely connect to Fractals or receive e-mail notification of suspicious transactions.
