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How Omnichannel Messaging Can Enhance Customer Experience in Banking

Marko Pernarčić

Content Writer

Today, what sets banks apart from each other is how they treat their customers. Providing exceptional customer experience isn’t just about making people happy; it directly contributes to a business’ overall success. In finance, omnichannel banking is important because banks that prioritize customer satisfaction are more likely to receive recommendations, retain more business from their customers, and maximize their revenue potential.

Elevate Your Omnichannel Banking Strategy With Messaging

The banking industry has also undergone a significant transformation with the rise of digitalization. The availability of smart devices has made banking convenient and effortless for customers on the go. Disruptive forces within the industry have simplified every customer interaction, entirely changing the way customers manage their money — both physically and digitally.

This change has pushed traditional banks to adjust to new trends and customer needs, as fintechs and other financial institutions leveraging new technologies have emerged. In an increasingly crowded market, where customer loyalty rates have declined in recent years, banks face new challenges such as:

• Customer service not fully addressing all customer needs
• Decline in new customer acquisition
• Concerns over security measures
• Unsatisfactory mobile banking user experience

To address these challenges, banks and other financial institutions are under pressure to prioritize a mobile-first customer experience strategy. As a solution, they are increasingly adopting an omnichannel banking approach to ensure brand loyalty and meet the ever-growing expectations of their customers.

Let’s be honest, traditional methods like push notifications just aren’t cutting it anymore. Research shows that most customers don’t even bother enabling them, let alone keeping them on. And these days, every app out there is bombarding users with so many notifications that people just tune them out, treating them like background noise rather than something important. As a result, they miss out on important updates and offers. Banks need a more effective solution, one that enables them to connect with customers on the channels they actually use and engage with.

Enter omnichannel messaging: an innovative way of engagement through every customers’ preferred channel like WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook Messenger, SMS, Telegram, WeChat, and others. Here, the focus is on connecting with customers on their chosen platforms and facilitating smooth transitions between channels, creating a seamless experience that boosts loyalty and keeps customers coming back for more. However, many companies still have yet to fully embrace the potential of these conversational channels for engagement.

Implementing modern conversational channels opens up a new level of interaction and engagement, offering customers a visual and interactive banking experience where they can take immediate action within the conversation.

How Messaging Solutions Can Improve Omnichannel Banking

1. Eliminating Disjointed Communication

One of the most significant pain points for both banks and customers is the fragmented nature of communication channels. Customers often find themselves repeating information when switching between phone calls, emails, and in-person visits. Without a doubt, this results in massive levels of frustration and huge amounts of time wasted. With an omnichannel messaging strategy, financial institutions can break down these barriers, allowing customers to transition effortlessly between channels while maintaining a continuous conversation. This unified experience ensures that customers feel understood, valued, and heard at every step.

An omnichannel banking strategy can also lead to cost savings for banks. By streamlining communication channels and reducing the need for manual data input or redundant interactions, banks can achieve greater operational efficiency and lower running costs. This leads to improved financial performance as a result.

2. Strengthening Security and Trust

Security breaches and fraud attempts pose significant threats to both banks and their customers. Establishing robust security measures and promptly notifying customers of potential risks is crucial for maintaining trust in the digital age. An omnichannel banking strategy provides banks with the ability to quickly send security alerts and notifications to customers across various channels. Whether it’s warning about suspicious activities or educating customers about best security practices, these services help with building confidence, while demonstrating a commitment to protecting your customers’ financial well-being.

Financial institutions can further safeguard their customers’ transactions by implementing two-factor authentication (2FA) and one-time SMS codes. By requiring customers to provide a second layer of verification, such as a unique code sent via SMS, financial institutions enhance the security of their customers’ accounts and ensure that only authorized individuals can access and complete transactions. This added layer of security boosts customers’ confidence and reinforces the institution’s commitment to protecting their sensitive information.

Another important security measure is data anonymization, which means removing personal info from customer transaction data. This measure is essential for preserving customer privacy during data analysis, while safeguarding institutions from potential market loss. Data anonymization allows businesses to find important insights in customer behavior, quickly detect fraud, and create effective marketing campaigns while keeping customer information private.

3. Enhancing Real-Time Support

In an era where instant gratification is everything, customers expect fast responses and immediate assistance when interacting with their financial institutions. However, long wait times on phone calls or delayed email responses can leave customers feeling neglected and undervalued.

By leveraging an omnichannel strategy, banks can introduce real-time support options such as chatbots, live chat, and messaging apps. These solutions empower customers to seek assistance whenever they need it, receiving prompt and accurate responses that address their queries or concerns. The result is a seamless and efficient support experience that significantly improves customer satisfaction and builds trust.

4. Delivering Personalized Interactions

In today’s era of hyper-personalization, customers expect tailored experiences that meet their unique needs and preferences. However, traditional banking communication strategies often overlook the importance of incorporating the essential human touch in every customer interaction. Omnichannel banking presents a transformative solution by enabling banks to gather and analyze data from various touchpoints.

By partnering with a provider equipped with advanced analytics capabilities, financial institutions can gain deep insights into customer behavior, transaction history, and preferences. With this knowledge, banks can offer personalized recommendations, targeted offers, and customized advice that resonates with each customer, guaranteeing them a sense of loyalty and satisfaction.

As an omnichannel messaging provider, NTH is capable of offering advanced insights through our custom CRM platform or by connecting with partners’ internal platforms through an API for automatic data pooling. This can benefit financial institutions by providing accurate customer insights, personalized offerings, streamlined processes, and improved risk management.

Automatic data pooling also enables end-users to connect their various financial accounts (bank accounts, investment portfolios, credit cards, etc.) to the CRM platform. Every day, the data pooling feature automatically fetches updated financial data from the connected accounts.

5. Customer-Centric Feedback Collection

Omnichannel messaging transforms how brands communicate with end-users, going beyond the usual one-way approach. By using OTT messaging platforms like Viber and WhatsApp, this modern strategy empowers end-users to actively participate. This allows them to share information, answer questions, and interact with brands to build stronger, more personalized relationships.

A customer-centered approach allows financial institutions to collect feedback and conduct surveys from customers across different touchpoints. By doing so, they can gather insights into customer satisfaction, preferences, and pain points, enabling them to make data-driven improvements. Listening to customer feedback helps banks refine their products, services, and processes to meet customer expectations better.

6. Trustworthy Notifications, Engaged Customers

Financial institutions can utilize omnichannel to send time-critical notifications and alerts to customers. These can include account updates, payment reminders, fraud alerts, personalized offers, and more. By doing so, they keep their customers informed and engaged, which provides them with a sense of trust and reliability.

7. Seamless Account Management

With omnichannel, customers can easily access and manage their accounts through different channels. They can check balances, transfer funds, pay bills, and perform other transactions through messaging platforms. This convenience improves the overall banking experience and encourages self-service.

Messaging Use Cases in Omnichannel Banking

By adopting an omnichannel strategy, banks and financial institutions can effectively meet their customers’ specific needs while keeping a close eye on their preferences. One of the significant advantages of omnichannel banking is its flexibility, offering various ways to improve customer experience, increase engagement, and build stronger relationships with customers. 

Let’s explore some practical use cases that showcase how omnichannel messaging can be applied across different customer touchpoints:

1. Account Opening and Onboarding

Banks can use omnichannel messaging to simplify and streamline the account opening process. Customers can initiate the account opening through a website or mobile app and seamlessly continue the process through messaging channels. They can submit required documents, receive status updates, and clarify any doubts in real-time, enhancing convenience and reducing friction.

2. Timely Notifications and Alerts

Financial institutions can send transaction notifications and alerts to customers through various messaging channels. These can include real-time updates on account balances, transaction confirmations, payment reminders, and security alerts. Customers can stay informed about their financial activities without the need to log in to their accounts, ensuring transparency and security.

3. Personalized Recommendations and Offers

By analyzing customer data and behavior, banks can deliver personalized recommendations and offers through omnichannel messaging. They can send tailored product suggestions, investment opportunities, loan offers, or insurance options based on individual needs and preferences. This level of personalization helps customers make informed financial decisions and increases engagement.

4. Customer Support and Query Resolution

Omnichannel messaging provides customers with convenient options to seek support and resolve queries. Banks can offer live chat, chatbots, or messaging support on their websites, mobile apps, or social media platforms. Customers can receive immediate assistance, get answers to their questions, and resolve issues without having to visit a branch or make a phone call.

5. Loan Applications and Status Updates

Banks can simplify the loan application process by allowing customers to initiate applications through digital channels and continue the process through messaging. Customers can submit required documents, track the progress of their applications, and receive updates on loan approvals or rejections. This reduces paperwork, improves transparency, and enhances the overall loan experience.

6. Fraud Prevention and Security Alerts

Financial institutions can leverage omnichannel messaging to enhance fraud prevention and security measures. They can proactively send alerts to customers about suspicious activities, potential fraud attempts, or security breaches. Customers can then take immediate action to safeguard their accounts, such as blocking cards or changing passwords, improving trust and security.

7. Financial Education and Tips

Omnichannel messaging can be used to educate customers about financial literacy, provide money management tips, and offer guidance on financial planning. Banks can send bite-sized educational content, tutorials, or links to resources through messaging channels. This empowers customers to make informed financial decisions and strengthens their relationship with the bank.

Looking to Improve your Omnichannel Banking Strategy with Messaging Solutions?

Selecting the right channel at the right moment is crucial for effectively engaging customers. To maximize success, financial institutions must prioritize top-notch quality and security for their customers, all while striving to meet the ever-evolving needs of the industry. For this reason, it’s crucial for them to partner with a reliable omnichannel messaging provider, who can adapt to their business standards and understand the needs of financial institutions and their customers.

NTH’s messaging solutions enable communication with customers in a more personalized and convenient way, while protecting their sensitive information and building a maximum level of trust. With more than 20 years of experience in developing messaging solutions for various corporate verticals—including the financial industry—NTH has established strong and long-lasting relationships with many partners and clients.

Due to NTH’s complete technological infrastructure, which includes data centers and server farms, we can offer solutions independently without relying on subcontractors. This means we have full control over the entire service, ensuring top-notch quality and quick support. Also, since 2017, NTH has had a direct connection with Viber, allowing guaranteed end-to-end control over message delivery and capability of providing exceptional service.

Our awarded certificates for information security ISO 27001 and quality implementation ISO 9001 guarantee that all the services provided by NTH meet the highest standards of security and quality.

NTH has achieved compliance with EU PSD2 regulations through the harmonization of all business processes for policies and procedures such as:

• Information system security management policy
• Data backup management policy
• Incident management policy
• Physical security management policy
• Data management policy
• Data encryption management policy
• Password management policy
• Operational and system records management policy
• Software change management policy
• Risk management policy
• Business continuity plan

Step into the future of banking with NTH. Reach out to us on LinkedIn or via email today and let us transform your omnichannel mesaging strategy.