Customer service

An omnichannel payment platform offers customers a unified shopping experience across whichever channel they decide to make a purchase, whether via point-of-sale in-store, online, mobile or even telephone, writes Nick Aceto, senior vice president of technology for CardConnect.

Given the rapid pace of change across the industry, it’s wise for banks to focus on improving customer service rather than chasing the strategies of their rivals.

Scores of customers have been unable to use digital channels to access accounts for more than a week, and many have taken to social media to voice their displeasure with TD’s response to the outage. The lesson for other banks: Test new platforms, and test them again, before making them live.

How do you eliminate "pain points" in the banking experience, increase wallet share and improve loyalty? Companies like Ally, USAA and Bank of the West are believers in tracking the customer journey to find the answers.

Consumers are more than willing to share retail payment information, geolocations, as well as Uber, OpenTable, Facebook, and Twitter information. However, they have high expectations for what they receive in return, writes Lisa Woodley, vice president of FSI customer experience for NTT Data Services.

There are a number of tactics and solutions organizations can employ to shut down the favored methods of fraudsters, including the use of bots and device compromise, writes Michael Lynch, chief strategy officer at InAuth.

The move comes at a time when banks are becoming more aggressive in acquiring or investing in financial technology companies.

Capital One became the latest bank to feel customers' online wrath last week after reports that some customers were being charged twice for debit card activity. But it was hardly alone.

First it was coffee and car service, and now it could be cashier’s checks and debit cards. Matt Krogstad left his bank job to build tech that lets bank customers order products at the press of a button and pick them up at a branch or get delivery.

Banks have been in full cost-cutting mode in recent years, but with profits expected to increase substantially as a result of tax reform, all analysts and investors want to know is how they plan to spend their tax savings.