What does a typical call center have in common with an automated teller machine? Neither has realized its potential in terms of reducing branch-based transaction traffic.
True, the call center is still in its early stages of development. But experts said bankers should listen to the lessons of their experience with ATMs before diving headlong into telephone banking.
Remember? ATMs were designed to reduce consumer reliance on tellers. If common teller transactions were automated, it stood to reason that consumers would cut back on their branch visits. Only it did not work out exactly that way.
As the volume of ATM transactions grew and grew, consumers continued to visit branches as they always had. Bankers, realizing the delivery channel would not support itself with cost reductions, began charging for ATM transactions, amid consumer protests.
At many banks, ATMs now support themselves. But it took a consumer- unfriendly change of strategy and years of operating the terminals at a loss before this could be achieved.
Early signs are that bankers are headed in a similar direction with call centers.
In its first survey of telephone banking, conducted this year, Speer & Associates noted that the pricing structure of most call centers encourages consumer use of the channel.
"Most banks aren't charging fees at all, while others may offer a specific number of calls per month free," said Francisco J. Sauza, vice president at the Atlanta-based consulting company.
This fee structure is having the desired effect: Consumers are using call centers. According to industry experts, the number of telephone-based banking transactions grew 30% to 40% in 1995.
Since call center transactions cost a bank one-fifth to one-tenth what branch transactions do, according to Speer, this seems like good news. Only it isn't, entirely.
Speer and other retail banking researchers note that the rise in call center transaction volumes is not accompanied by a significant drop in branch-based transactions.
Experts said that, if bankers are to avoid the mistakes made with ATMs, they must introduce logic into their retail pricing. Simply put, that means the transactions that are most expensive to complete - those in branches - should not be free.
