Why your bank's customer service needs to up the empathy – and AI may hold the key
By PV Narayan, Head of Banking for Americas, Capgemini
Marketing guru Shep Hyken once said "make every interaction count, even small ones." This quote has always stuck with me because it's so human, and because it explains why we feel a strong emotional connection to certain brands. We are more likely to become repeat customers if we experience good customer service, even in a small interaction.
It is well known that contact center agents are the face of any bank. They are on the front lines dealing with customer interactions and shaping your bank's perception. Alas, the unfortunate reality is that today's customer service isn't standing up to customers' needs. Consumers in 2025 expect more, and it's on banks to step up.
Today's consumer won't stand for generic banking – they expect a personalized, seamless experience. More than that, they want it to feel human. Often, this demand lands with the staff at a contact center. But can we expect this staff to keep up with ever-growing customer expectations unaided? Or, even worse, can we expect the contact center to deliver a great experience when the perception is that banks are actively trying to automate away their jobs?
Capgemini's
I'm convinced we'll do right by customers if we deploy technology to help overworked agents. Technology, after all, is a tool. The use of AI can help eliminate friction and let these agents deliver the kind of frictionless experiences that customers are hungry for. By implementing predictive AI capabilities, banks can prevent issues before they even occur based on historical patterns and trends, reducing the number of complaints and anomalies in real-time.
In the World Retail Banking Report, we sought to understand how 8,000 millennial and Gen Z customers view perhaps the single most important feature of their banking relationship: the card. The consensus was clear: there is room for improvement at every point of the customer journey. And there is a clear need for personal connection.
The worrying part of our research findings was the extent to which bank teams seemed aware of dissatisfaction among customers. Consider this: 68% of banking institutions acknowledged poor customer satisfaction as a major issue. What's more concerning is that over 60% of bank marketing staff say they are overwhelmed by the number of applications they receive, and many banks acknowledge the KYC process can take days.
All of this is taking place against a backdrop of profound technological change. These changes have benefited nimble, digital-first players such as Monzo and Revolut. While they may seem small compared to the scale of US megabanks, they have succeeded in capturing valuable market niches. They did so by creating smooth digital experiences, broadening the aperture of services available and sidestepping much of the friction that can hinder established banks. They created real customer connection.
AI can let US banks build this connection too, removing bottlenecks in manual processes such as card applications. At a strategic level, it can inform banking strategy, create products with in-built personalization and close the customer service gap with the emerging neobank players.
By proactively predicting and addressing trends, the technology can assist banks in staying ahead of customer complaints and operational bottlenecks, making the process smoother for both agents and customers.
However, AI can't do it alone – many customers will still want the option to connect with a human being. After all, personal finance is personal, whether it's a customer loan application or resolving a disputed charge. But AI can empower those humans, giving them a better insight into the customer's situation and request.
For example, if a customer is angry about an unauthorized credit card transaction, a human agent augmented by AI can use sentiment analysis to detect the customer's anger. The AI can then direct the query to an agent who has a high success rate in managing similar complaints and calming frustrated customers. AI can even proactively anticipate scenarios to help agents better serve customers.
Furthermore, by automating routine inquiries, AI allows agents to focus on complex, high-value tasks that require empathy, creativity, and judgment – attributes that customers are increasingly expecting. In this way, AI enables agents to provide more personalized service at scale, bridging the gap between human empathy and efficiency.
To put it simply, AI can make customer service agents much happier and more productive in their work. This takes more than a technology strategy: bank leaders will have to implement a thorough change management plan. That means educating employees about the potential of AI and their role in augmenting human capabilities, as well as clearly delineating what work will be done entirely by AI, and where AI will play a supporting role.
It's also crucial that banks adopt a customer-centric AI strategy, focusing not only on operational efficiencies, but also how these technologies can directly enhance customer experience and employee experience. AI's role is not just to solve problems faster, it's to solve them better and with more empathy, while providing seamless self-service options and empowering agents to be more competent with contextual insights and continuous learning.
The bottom line: bank executives must push the boundaries of innovation to explore the potential of AI – in a safe and controlled fashion - that strives to deliver enhanced client engagement. It's time to make every interaction count.
