Nearly half of customers in Great Britain, Germany, France, and the U.S. believe their banks don’t value them as a customer (48%), according to new Ipsos MORI research commissioned by GMC Software Technology.
Consumers want to decide how they bank, with almost three quarters wanting to request the format in which they receive information from their bank (72%) and also at a time that suits them (74%). As a result, banks need to listen to consumers to deliver the services they need. But only 19% of consumers really believe banks understand how to deliver memorable customer experiences.
The research of 4,032 consumers looked at what consumers really think about their bank's customer experience and how they are valued. It offers insight into how banks can improve their relationship with customers by listening and providing the right information, at the right time, via the right, optimized channel with a particular focus on online and mobile.
Just 6% of consumers in France believe that their bank really values them as a customer. Elsewhere, the banking industry doesn’t fare much better with 10% in Great Britain, 20% in Great Britain; 20% in Germany; and 27% in the U.S.
To improve the banking customer experience, the top three points for each country are friendly and knowledgeable staff (U.S. 60%; France 50%; Germany 45%; and Great Britain 45%); enabling customers to bank when and how they want (France 56%; U.S. 45%; Great Britain 49%; and Germany 42%); easy access to the branch (Great Britain 39%; Germany 34%; France 31%; and U.S. 49%).
“It’s time the banks started to show that they value their customers by listening and allowing customers to be involved in decisions that affect the banking experience,” Bill Parker, chief marketing officer, GMC Software Technology, said in a press release. “Banks should provide multiple channels of communication, but they should ask consumers which ones they want to use, not tell them.”
There is a large demand for online banking. Online-only is already the most common way to view bank statements -- 36% of all bank customers have online-only statements. All age groups are using online-only statements. Of the under 31-year-olds, 37% use online-only statements as are 33% of the 55-70-year-olds.
Despite the popularity of current online and mobile banking services, they do have considerable constraints. Two thirds (65%) of respondents do not believe their online banking delivers an effective level of customer service, while just 29% feel it’s truly interactive.
Mobile banking fares a bit better, with only 23% of banking customers finding the service satisfactory.
The mass adoption of online statements is driven by customers appreciating its convenience (80%), environmental benefits (71%) and increased security compared to paper (39%). Revealing the level of skepticism toward banks, 67% of bank customers suspect banks are pushing online statements in order to save money.
“The number of ways by which a consumer can interact with their bank is increasing, with traditional bricks and mortar giving way to call centers, internet and mobile banking as well as social media,” Parker added. “It is now time to close the customer experience gap. The research reveals that there is a time and place for each channel, and banks need to adopt the technologies and strategies that will help them engage effectively with each customer through the optimized channel that each customer chooses.”