Prioritizing a Mobile-First Strategy to Enhance the Customer's Omnichannel Experience

Artificial intelligence is enhancing the customer experience across bank channels, creating personalized experiences, streamlining processes, improving security and increasing self-service capabilities. As banks' mobile-first strategies evolve, customers are being empowered to make better informed financial decisions and engage with their institutions in more proactive, meaningful ways. From AI chatbots that provide instant customer support and basic financial guidance, to online portals and mobile apps that allow clients to access their accounts and execute transactions whenever they want, wherever they want, mobile-first banking is at the center of the customer experience. Learn how enhanced digital experiences, AI integration and increasingly personalized products and services are creating a seamless experience that meets customers' radically changing expectations.


Transcription:

Mary Ellen Egan (00:11):

Good morning. Thank you so much for coming and attending our session today. I'm Mary Ellen Egan. I'm the Senior Director of Strategy and Content for American Banker with me, Rahul Kumar, who is the GM and VP Financial Services and Insurance at Talkdesk. And Kristina Tanner, AVP Digital Products USA bank. So welcome. So this morning we're going to talk about customer service, customer experience, and where we've been and where we're going and what banks maybe should be doing and haven't been doing. We've had a really lively pre-call out in the session area, and so I'm really delighted to be hosting this session. So one of the things we're going to look is where we've been like 15 to 17 years in mobile, which has been obviously very different from the old traditional bank where I used to go in and I knew the community banker teller and then you just went in and did your business. So Kristina, where have we've been?

Kristina Tanner (01:13):

So can you hear me all right? Okay. So when I think back 15, 17 years ago, USAA was one of the first banks with a mobile app and we launched in 2009 with mobile deposit. We think how far we've come since then, we now have nearly every servicing interaction happens on digital, mostly mobile and three quarters of interactions or of acquisition also happen in mobile. So to see that trajectory and change over time, I think often we say mobile first, but really what we mean is native first because that's where members really are interacting.

Mary Ellen Egan (01:56):

Rahul.

Rahul Kumar (01:57):

I think the mobile experience, it's fascinating that we are still talking about it. I think when I started talking to banks, I had a lot more hair and a lot less gray hair when we started talking about mobile. But I think it's fascinating because when this journey with mobile started with banks, it was primarily aimed at driving convenience, driving down costs, taking away people, giving people an easy way to service their needs. I think what I feel is now the conversation needs to essentially change. I think the adoption is there. USA is a primary example of the adoption that we've seen. People log in, I think the last stat I saw in the US on average, a person logs four times daily into their mobile app and they do it primarily to check their accounts, look at their balances, see if their payments are posted. And I think from where we were and where we are, I think we are at a point where we really need to question are we truly realizing the in the moment opportunity we have with our customers who log into our mobile app and how do we basically maximize that opportunity? We have. Kristina, you had a fascinating analogy about the six inch theory.

(03:34):

Why don't you talk to us about that?

Kristina Tanner (03:37):

No, it's true. If you think about how people use mobile, there's very few things that you hold six inches from your face. It's your phone and your loved ones and your phone is there far more often than your loved ones. And so if we think of that experience four times a day, many days in the month that we are in front of members in that way, it's a very intimate space and we have so many more opportunities than we did 20 years ago to interact with members. One thing that Rahul and I were talking about is that change is very much the dynamic. When we think about what we can do that is so many more interactions and so many more opportunities, we have to think about changing the dialogue. Like Rahul had said about, we often think about mobile and digital as ways to defer costs, stopping someone from going to a branch or making a call. But it is so much more than that. The value that you can generate out of those billions of interactions is really the next step.

Mary Ellen Egan (04:52):

We had talked about too, the difference between, one of the things we were discussing are banks getting their value out of mobile and digital, and we talked about all the apps that you use and how good retail is on keeping you engaged and getting you engaged. And sometimes banks aren't as good as that, so please weigh in Rahul.

Rahul Kumar (05:12):

Yeah, I think it's also how traditionally the success of mobile and digital as channel has been measured, what metrics do banks typically use to measure whether mobile or a digital strategy successful? They use the deflection rates. How many interactions were we able to move away from our contact centers into the digital channels? How many, what is the adoption rate that looks like? But I think that also fundamentally needs to change. You have banks and credit unions here. If you've been able to achieve the sort of deflection goals you have and adoption goals you have, I think it's now also time to change the way you have been defining success of mobile as a channel.

(06:04):

We were talking about how mobile traditionally has been treated as a siloed channel and not just as a siloed channel. And what it has led to is the experience is siloed. The data that you're able to gather from the interaction is siloed. I think that's where the true opportunity is. I was talking to Kristina about it. The way I look at mobile, the analogy I use is for you as institutions, mobile gives you an opportunity to treat it as your canvas, A canvas around which you can start painting seamless customer journeys and then still give the customers the choice of the channel that they want to interact with you depending on their need. If money and finances typically invokes a certain emotion within customers, so while you are on mobile, if the need is truly driving an immersion of stress and anxiety, let them talk to a person.

(07:11):

You do not get them to what they need in the quickest manner possible and in the channel that makes the most sense. So once you start doing it, that drives better customer experience. You're still not containing or siloing the experience in the app. You're still giving them the choice. You're still driving meaningful conversations, but then most importantly, you are now consolidating all your channels and treating them the same, consolidating the data, creating the rich interaction data sets, and then utilizing those data sets to drive predictive experiences, more proactive experiences. I don't know, Kristina, if you want to add that.

Kristina Tanner (07:57):

I think to build on what you said and what we talked about before is Rahul and I both came to the conclusion that if we could, we'd erase the world word channel from leadership's mind because it is a way to organize our work, but not a way to interact with our customers. And so I think that we have an opportunity where mobile being the primary interaction, mobile being data rich gives us this real ability to now actually say I'm going to, we all have talked about customer journeys for a very long time, but now I think we actually have a way to say this is such a pivotal channel, but not the only channel that we can make sure that we're keeping the story going. If you start in mobile but you end up calling, if you call, we follow up back in another channel and don't meet the member where they are, but also be aware that they are going to need to interact in other channels.

(08:59):

They do still need to call sometimes or they do still need to go into the branch. If something happens and it's stressful or it's hard, we don't want to take that away. And in fact, a lot of us that's like that's ultimately the secret sauce giving that support from a person, but mobile can still be part of that and then follow back up in a digital way, but taking away, I love that phrases like let's not call them channels anymore. They all work together. I don't know how our org structures will all be tipped on their head, but if we stop thinking about the org and we start thinking about the customer and the member, I think it would change the way we approached it.

Rahul Kumar (09:40):

Yeah, I mean it fundamentally challenges the operating model, right? The head of digital, the head of contact center, the head of deposits, the head of branch operations. I think all of those functions need to blend together to really come together and see how organizations can use this opportunity to drive meaningful experiences. Now, I will also say I work for talkdesk and this is we are in the CX space. We are offering, or we are encouraging banks and credit unions to take a more platform-based approach to how they're solving these problems. You necessarily, are you treating the experiences the same across different channels? Are you able to give your customers the ability to switch channels without causing friction in the customer journey? And the technology is there, it's just a matter of you taking advantage of it and then having a strategy that really helps you become a lot more proactive than the traditional reactive that is associated sometimes to customer service. So that's something that, and then obviously with AI, that opens a whole new conversation on how you can drive more proactive experiences, more predictable experiences for your customers, and then use the mobile as a delivery mechanism for those experiences.

Mary Ellen Egan (11:09):

How are you using AI at USAA?

Kristina Tanner (11:14):

Well, I will build on that, but I answer that, but I was going to build on something Rahul said too, which is we aren't judged necessarily against other banks. We are judged against other apps and there are many apps that have and many businesses that have no problem with this concept. And so our members and customers expect it even if they're not getting it from their other bank. And I think from that we have to, they're also to build on your point, they're already using AI too to meet members where they need. So there's how we use it. I think role's got a couple of great examples, but one thing I will say is I think from my point of view, I see two big areas. One is around efficiency. I think the industry is seeing this. There's a lot of ways I think we can actually get some of the more manual things we do become more efficient at them that lets us burn our calories on things that are more important.

(12:20):

Then we move to, or as well or in parallel like servicing and really using AI to help generate meaningful insights. I would say that that is banks have so much data about our customers and about our members and if we could use that in a way to help them, I'm going to let you give your example here, but when I think about people and their finances, a lot of times it's things they all know they need to do, but it's like flossing. They don't really like it and they know they have to manage their finances and they know they have to be good at it, but they're going to kind of quickly in and out. And wouldn't it be amazing if we could actually use those many interactions they have with us to actually help them with their finances and really do it in a meaningful way, not an interruptive offer, but actually a way to move them along in their journey.

Rahul Kumar (13:20):

Yeah, I think Mary, to your point, when a digital leader, and I've spoken to a few and I don't want to throw this out as a general statement, but AI, so when digital leaders look at AI, they immediately think of a chat bot. AI is not a chat bot. It goes much. The power of AI goes beyond what you can do with a chat bot. So going to my earlier point, if you are treating all your channels the same and you're creating these rich interaction data sets that are now available for you to analyze, there's a person that logs in on the fourth of every month and all they do is check their balance to make sure that the pay stub has arrived. Do they really need to do that? And if they do that, can you capture or give them something meaningful as an added experience while they're doing it?

(14:19):

Maybe as an organization you know that they have a direct debit that pushes $4,000 every month out to a separate financial services institution at the mortgage payment. Are you realizing an opportunity to give them an option to reduce that mortgage payment and bring that business inside your organization? I think these are some of the areas where AI can truly help surface meaningful information, insights that drive action. Now, the chat bot gives you an additional option to make that insight actionable. So if you think about, hey, when you surface an insight and it catches somebody's attention, the chat bot is basically a mechanism that allows you to drive engagement, qualify. Does this really make sense for you? And if it makes sense, that is when you bring in your closer to close that opportunity. I think these are some of the ways I think there's so much value that can be extracted. I think I give kudos to organizations that have pushed their mobile adoption to 70, 80% across their customer base, and if you have achieved that, these are some of the things that you should be thinking about. Like now, how do we shift the obsession around convenience, UX and UI and start obsessing about how to drive meaningful, proactive customer engagement in the channel that you're offering to your customers?

Mary Ellen Egan (15:53):

Excuse me. It was interesting when we were talking earlier, and Kristina, I think you said the point banks think that they're competing against each other, but they're really not. They're competing against all the other apps, and so for that then what should a bank be considering to drive some of those engagements that we've talked about?

Kristina Tanner (16:12):

Well, maybe also to build on what you said about UX and CX is they don't go away. They're still important, but we going back to holding this only six inches from your face many times a day, I think we have an opportunity to actually delight people to actually spark a positive emotion when sometimes they're having a not so great day or not so great emotion or just doing something business as usual, right? They're just paying your bill or checking a balance, and I think that's also, you can't just do that, right? That actually takes a lot of thought and thoughtfulness so that you're actually speaking to somebody not in a generic way, and I think this is what we should consider with AI is how does it bring us there faster? These are conversations I think really would've been just pie in the sky, right? Many, not even two years ago last year. Now, if we think about how to plan that and really think about that data that we have, how we can structure it and how we can consider, I'm going to say the word I said, we shouldn't say channels. We use it in that non channel way to give that experience. I mean, who solves that first is really going to show up well for their customers. We're all figuring it out. So

Rahul Kumar (17:52):

Yeah, I mean, you're right. I think, like I said, not to repeat myself, I think this is an area that fundamentally gives you the opportunity to completely rethink your strategies. You have the technology available for you to do. Finally, and I like to say this again, there's a term that is thrown around in the context of mobile in banking, which is this whole notion of financial wellness. The mobile apps have traditionally been talked about, Hey, this is a delivery mechanism we can use to deliver on our mission of driving better financial lives for our customers. If that is one of the goals you have, I don't think any institution has fully cracked what delivering financial readiness for the customers really means. That's the opportunity that is sitting in front of you. The mobile gives you the prime real estate for you to be able to differentiate yourselves by servicing meaningful insights and AI becomes a technology that helps you truly now orchestrate and fulfill the promise that you've, and I say you and not all of you, but in general as an industry, truly deliver, finally deliver on the promise of financial lives. I think Stacy at Amplify Credit Union yesterday was talking about this no fee banking that they've instituted the no fee banking is just a start. What are you doing with it? Okay, I'm not going to charge you a fee for you to do business with us is a great starting point, but where do you go next? I think these are some of the conversations that need to be had with institutions and internally with all of your leaders.

Mary Ellen Egan (19:52):

Yeah, we had talked a little bit too about that. It's because money's such a loaded topic for a lot of people. There's a lot of emotion. Sometimes it's shame, sometimes it's guilt, and so there's a reluctance sometimes to engage with somebody, and so I think part of, and you think about people who are unbanked or underbanked, what are we doing to serve them? I mean, how can we better? Because at the heart of all this, it's the customer journey and how do we get to them and serve them better?

Kristina Tanner (20:20):

I think that ultimately should be all of our goals to make it so you actually aren't just managing your finances. You're not just managing your finances, you're financially well, it is the thing. It's that thing in the distance we're all looking to get to. That's ultimately where we need to go. When you think about, I think also I was thinking about this. We all ultimately have to go back and when we want to do any of this great stuff, we have to have a business case. We have to have a way that we tell this story and the value that we drive, and I think it's a different way to think about our work because if you stop thinking just about what you take away, what you save, and you start thinking about what you can generate, I think that takes us to another place. And I know Rahul, you probably work with, I mean I'm at one bank, you work with a lot of different clients. How do you help them think about how they bring this forward?

Rahul Kumar (21:34):

Yeah, I think fundamentally one of the things that at Talkdesk we generally lead with is all our selling is based on value. The value that we can help you unlock through the investments that you're going to make. I think one of the things that is fundamentally important, Mary, to your point, when you think about the underbanked and the emotions associated to money, it's all driven by the intent around in that moment what the person is feeling, what they need. If you are able to understand those intents and drive the experiences that best serve them, to your point, Hey, my account went into delinquency, now that is a period where shame comes up, right? Do you really want that person to talk to a person at that point? Maybe not. Can you drive a completely automated experience that allows them or gives somebody who has a delinquent account to come out of that situation? That's where automation comes in. You should be looking to automate. That's where looking at the intents that are traditionally typically drive interactions into your environment and then be able to then sort of design your experiences where you could lead with automation in certain scenarios, but you might want a human to handle something.

(23:10):

I will give you an example. If I lost my wallet and I am going to the airport, I lost my wallet and the first instinct is I'm anxious. What happens to all my cards is does somebody has access to my cards in that moment, do I want to talk to a chat bot? Maybe not. I probably need somebody to just freeze all my accounts. In that instance, maybe that can happen immediately on the app, but in that instance, if I'm reaching out to the bank, I need a person to calm me down, understand the sentiment, the mood, the intent, and then you are able to design your experiences to cater to the person and the emotions that they're feeling in that moment.

Kristina Tanner (23:56):

Well, and I think that, I think you can sometimes even do it better than a person because you can give them more information than somebody can do in speaking to you, but you're right, you have to care for them that way and don't, kind of the old adage I think is that mobile shouldn't just replicate, or digital shouldn't just replicate. It has the power to actually give you just a little bit more than what you could get from a human. So you're absolutely right. You have to handle those situations seamlessly. But also it lets you rise to the occasion, I think, and if you can care for it even better, because you can give all the assurances and a receipt of what it is and you know what I mean? You get these things that when you talk to somebody, it's only as good as the person you spoke to and how good they are at that script in that state, whereas you can make sure it's perfect, right? Through testing and everything in digital as well.

Mary Ellen Egan (24:59):

We're almost out of time, but does someone have a question? I can run the,

Kristina Tanner (25:04):

While you're looking for a question. I will say too, I think as you were talking about helping someone out of a bad spot, I think wouldn't it be awesome if we could anticipate before they got to that spot and help them, so didn't actually, so we could see all the patterns that lead to delinquency and start to help before you get there too.

Rahul Kumar (25:25):

I agree. I think one of the last things I would say is don't try to overs solve the problem.

Kristina Tanner (25:33):

Yeah.

Rahul Kumar (25:35):

I think be pragmatic. Think of this as a journey, but then understand that the technology now is available for you to be able to do the things that were not possible even six months ago. The technology is evolving rapidly like we are in the AI business. Again, the conversations we were having six months ago are very different from the conversations that we are having now, and I think the technology start looking at technology as a way that can help you solve the problems that you're looking to solve for, but then be pragmatic about it. Don't be afraid to take small steps and start, have the test, learn and fail attitude.

Kristina Tanner (26:27):

Yeah, I think it's great advice. It's not, isn't like a hammer looking for a nail? What are we trying to solve and then how can that maybe do it faster for us or better? And to your point, don't wait. Start and try. I think maybe my last thing I'd say is don't forget how I think how much that intimacy and those interactions you have with someone, and it's only going to be more as time goes on. So how do we think about how to really delight people in those interactions and give them something they wouldn't otherwise expect?

Mary Ellen Egan (27:11):

Well, thank you, Kristina. Thank you, Rahul. If you have questions, I think they'll hang around for a bit and answer you, but thank you so much for the insight and the great advice. Thank you.

Rahul Kumar (27:19):

Thank you everyone. Thank you so much.