Digital banking is popular. Using our smartphones to check account balances, transfer money between accounts, deposit checks, and send payments to friends, family, and businesses is common as demonstrated by these statistics from DataProt.
- By 2021, there will be roughly 7 billion mobile users worldwide
- More than three-quarters of Americans used a mobile device to check bank balances in 2019
- Total value of payments made using mobile devices will reach $503 billion in 2020
Without having to drive to a physical brick and mortar bank location, consumers have more options than ever from which to choose. We can certainly appreciate the accessibility and need for digital banking, especially living in a fast-paced society where busyness is the cultural norm.
Benefits of Digital Banking
Perhaps, the two words that come to mind when thinking about digital banking are convenience and comprehensiveness. Have you tracked how many times you pick up your phone in a day? In an hour? In 10 minutes? So much of what we need to do is right at your fingertips. The breadth of digital banking apps is extensive: pay bills, person-to-person transfers, and transfer funds to another institution, to name a few. And, you can do this while waiting in line at Starbucks or binge watching on Netflix at home.
But, let’s consider something most of us have not quite ever experienced until now: a pandemic. Yes, a pandemic where the convenience of digital banking is now a necessity and digital face-to-face meetings for everything becomes the new ‘norm’ for a season.
We have been witnessing an increase in the use of mobile or digital banking for quite some time now. More recently, the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, is being integrated within the information technology systems at many financial institutions. An example of AI is the use of ‘chatbots.’
Many benefits have been experienced by the consumer: receiving an instant response pretty much around the clock, getting answers to basic, simple questions, or resolving complaints quickly. Another familiar example includes voice assistants. Behind the scenes, AI provides senior management of better understanding customers’ needs through various analytics, as an example.
Digital banking is popular. Using our smartphones to check account balances, transfer money between accounts, deposit checks, and send payments to friends, family, and businesses is common as demonstrated by these statistics from DataProt.
- By 2021, there will be roughly 7 billion mobile users worldwide
- More than three-quarters of Americans used a mobile device to check bank balances in 2019
- Total value of payments made using mobile devices will reach $503 billion in 2020
Without having to drive to a physical brick and mortar bank location, consumers have more options than ever from which to choose. We can certainly appreciate the accessibility and need for digital banking, especially living in a fast-paced society where busyness is the cultural norm.
Benefits of Digital Banking
Perhaps, the two words that come to mind when thinking about digital banking are convenience and comprehensiveness. Have you tracked how many times you pick up your phone in a day? In an hour? In 10 minutes? So much of what we need to do is right at your fingertips. The breadth of digital banking apps is extensive: pay bills, person-to-person transfers, and transfer funds to another institution, to name a few. And, you can do this while waiting in line at Starbucks or binge watching on Netflix at home.
But, let’s consider something most of us have not quite ever experienced until now: a pandemic. Yes, a pandemic where the convenience of digital banking is now a necessity and digital face-to-face meetings for everything becomes the new ‘norm’ for a season.
We have been witnessing an increase in the use of mobile or digital banking for quite some time now. More recently, the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, is being integrated within the information technology systems at many financial institutions. An example of AI is the use of ‘chatbots.’
Many benefits have been experienced by the consumer: receiving an instant response pretty much around the clock, getting answers to basic, simple questions, or resolving complaints quickly. Another familiar example includes voice assistants. Behind the scenes, AI provides senior management of better understanding customers’ needs through various analytics, as an example.
Need for Human Interaction
While most of us are familiar with or even savvy with online meetings, the need for human interaction can been seen in a new light. Can one really replace the other? Should the digital space of banking completely exclude the interface of human interaction? Certainly, our experiences lately might give us answers we wouldn’t have expected perhaps just a few months ago.
While digital banking brings convenience and ease to customers, the need for human interaction cannot be completely written off. It goes without saying that so many segments of human life involve community, involvement, engagement on many levels.
How can a financial institution build trust and relationships using chatbots and other forms of AI?
Human empathy goes a long way, especially when it comes to difficult conversations and seeking resolution to difficult questions and conflicts. Digital banking and AI, rather, are tools to support the need for human interaction.
The Pandemic Impact
And, let’s not forget the pandemic we’re currently experiencing. We hear many voices and most conflict with one another. Fear is more present, and uncertainty exists for many. The human touch even if by phone or video conferencing is important to foster and deepen the customer relationship through trust and comfort. With larger, more complex transactions or financial decisions, customers want and need personal assistance, for their voice to be heard and their needs understood. Truly, customer needs drive how to balance digital banking and the need for human interface.
So, going forward, we may see a cross-over of this blend of digital banking and personal assistance from an actual human being. The use of the smartphone can bring the bank to the customer at home. Mobile video conferencing allows this to occur, and many of us may have already been experiencing this during this pandemic.
The Future of Digital Banking
It’s really important for financial institutions to know their customers and understand the demographics the areas in which they serve. Different generations desire different types of human interaction and digital banking. The faster our culture moves in the direction of technology, the more adaptable financial institutions must become. So, the answer to the question of how much human interaction is needed will need consistent evaluation, and we must always remember that nothing can replace the human touch of connecting, caring, relating, empathizing, trusting.
About OnCourse Learning:
At OnCourse Learning, we provide compliance training and professional development education for your entire staff – from the frontline to the boardroom. Through our Learning Management System, your people get educated and certified – and your financial institution can efficiently manage complexity, change and growth.
About OnCourse Learning:
At OnCourse Learning, we provide compliance training and professional development education for your entire staff – from the frontline to the boardroom. Through our Learning Management System, your people get educated and certified – and your financial institution can efficiently manage complexity, change and growth.
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