The latest consumer research from Accenture as pointed out in a recent Finextra article reveals that UK customers’ branch and ATM visits are declining while mobile banking use remains flat. Yet, 70% of UK consumers want to speak with a person for customer service, open an account in person or have someone show them how to use online or mobile banking features. While branch visits may be down, UK consumers still want the human touch and demand more personalized services tailored to their needs.
““Consumers want natural conversation with a bank that understands their needs and acts in their best interest, while keeping their data safe and secure. This is particularly significant given the data revolution expected with open banking in the UK, which will challenge banks to compete on consumer experience”.”
Improving customer experience and personalization is becoming more important to US consumers as well, as noted in Mercator Advisory Group’s Insight report, Digital Banking: Improvements Are Needed to Compete with Fintech based on an online survey of 3,000 US adults with banking relationships conducted in November 2017. Our findings show a steady rise in US consumers’ use of mobile banking for managing their account information and making bank transactions,as 64% of US consumers use mobile devices to perform banking activities (up from 53% in 2016), though the use of mobile banking apps also appears to be stalling in the U.S. In fact, more access mobile banking from the web browser on the FI website and consider it their primary method for mobile banking transactions rather than using a mobile banking app. Mobile banking users engage more often than average using a wide variety of channels. Financial institutions need to improve the customer experience when using the mobile banking app to gain greater use. First of all, make the login quick and easy. Fintechs are doing a better job integrating their apps into customers’ social media and messaging apps they normally use.
And, while more than monthly branch visits are declining, 71% of US consumers visited a bank branch within the past year and mobile banking users are just as likely as average to do so and are more likely than average to use an ATM. Consumers are using a wide variety of channels to conduct banking activities and demand more seamless integration among the multiple channels they use. Improving the customer experience is key to better engagement.
Overview by Karen Augustine, Manager, Primary Data Services at Mercator Advisory Group
