OPINION: Why financial brands must do more to support customers through digital change

Nicola Robertson, Head of Business Unit, Equator, looks at why financial services needs to focus more on accessibility in light of consumer duty.

As more brands move their products and services online they must not forget to bring customers along on the digital journey. Recognising that some consumers struggle to access information, support and services should be central to the operations of financial services firms. But that’s not always the case.

In July this year, the Financial Conduct Authority rolls out its Consumer Duty regulations. These are intended to bring in stricter standards around the clarity of communications and will be a good start in ensuring a better and more equitable customer experience.

Moving forward, this can no longer just be a case of running a brand website through an accessibility checker or sending a quick email: support must be comprehensive and ongoing.

The customer dilemma of going digital-first

Digitisation in financial services is progressing rapidly as firms move beyond face-to-face interaction and outdated processes, such as those that require in-person signatures.

The industry has spent a long time tackling and rethinking legacy systems. Traditional players, are also under threat from challenger brands that appear more agile; predominantly, according to their own positioning at least, when it comes to customer experience and service.

Regardless of size or status within the sector all financial services brands must up their game on accessibility, and clarity of customer communications and experience. This means accounting for people who point blank are not digital – and don’t want to be, or never can be.

All customers at some stage in their lives could be classed as vulnerable, whether it’s permanent, temporary or situational. When working with financial firms, we collaborate to understand the needs of all audiences – and individual customers within those – in detail.

That means finding out more about their interactions, challenges and lives. One of the main obstacles to this approach is that we all know financial products can be complex, yet customers don’t like to be thought of as vulnerable. It’s often challenging for banks to identify and service customers in that category, when they aren’t self-identified.

Strategies for closing the CX gap

Against this backdrop there are several strategies financial companies can pursue to offer vulnerable customers the experience they deserve and desire. Here are just a few of them:

• Single customer view – Financial firms can be vast and that means they hold a lot of data. As part of digital transformations it will be key to create one view of each individual; so that the business knows their needs, and whenever they come into contact with the firm their experience is as it should be.

• Customer-centricity – Firms must ensure the customer is placed firmly at the centre of everything they do. For us, when collaborating with clients, that means keeping the individual in focus whether during data analytics work, customer research or CX design.

• Trust by design – Leading on from the point above, digital transformation is not about designing a system, architecture or experience that shows how the organisation does business. It must reflect how the customer thinks, and hopes to interact. Trust is key, so that means delivering moments along the journey where companies can prepare, reassure and prompt customers where needed – without patronising them.

• User testing programmes – This is imperative to understanding how vulnerable customers want services and information to be available. It helps identify and engage with people, pinpointing factors that may result in vulnerability. In addition the programmes help to identify when people have become vulnerable, if they weren’t deemed to be previously.

• Customer journey mapping – Key to good CX is understanding the ‘as-is’ journey and associated challenges; and the creation of ‘to-be’ journeys, identifying the ideal journey and closing the gaps to help overcome challenges. We use our experience from non-FS industries to create better experiences for financial firms. For example, applying learnings from hotel booking engines to a credit card application process.

Following fintech’s lead on CX

Many of the fintech banks are supporting vulnerable customers by using digital. There’s evidence of these brands helping individuals make more informed decisions about their circumstances, or access support and help through connected channels; including in-app assistance.

As an example, Monzo leverages spending trends to guide users and help them make more informed decisions about their own expenditure. The bank is known to have helped one customer with ADHD control ‘emotional spending’ behaviour.

For their part, more established players are also rising to the challenge of supporting vulnerable customers. NatWest, for instance, has introduced its ‘Banking My Way’ service, which it has set up to make banking decisions easier for customers to understand.

Ultimately, it isn’t cynical to suggest that supporting vulnerable customers through a better experience, as financial firms go on their digital transformation journey, will deliver a halo effect that is also beneficial for the business. Trust is built, advocacy follows – and the bottom line gets a boost.