Banking on the future: 4 contact centre trends that will change financial services

Brace yourself – a transformative tsunami of technological advancement is about to crash into the banking industry and reinvent the way we manage our money. 

Nearly three decades after telephone banking shook up the way customers interact with Australian financial institutions, a new wave of technological advancement promises to further disrupt the fast-evolving sector. 

Artificial intelligence, natural language processing, cloud computing and digital custody services are set to revolutionise the way we interact with our banks, from customer service to payments and cash transfers, as well as mortgage and credit applications.

Artificial Intelligence

AI is already filtering into banking, but its capabilities are rapidly expanding. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants provide 24/7 customer service via phone, web chat, and mobile apps, reducing wait times and giving account holders instant access to their information.  

TSA Group project manager Cazna Makirere said AI can also analyse customer data to provide personalised product recommendations and predict their future needs. Ms Makirere said AI also has the potential to supercharge auditing and quality assurance, helping banks reduce their headcounts, and their overhead costs, significantly. 

“Having something such as speech analytics in place to audit hundreds of calls allows banks to use that data to ensure their agents are meeting customer needs,” Ms Makirere said.  

“There’s also a huge shift in today’s climate with mortgage rates going through the roof, so one of the big areas banks are focusing on is being able to leverage predictive data to support their collections space. 

“The utopia for most people when you think about using AI is to create an experience for a customer where everything is easy, they have access to everything they need, and the technology is smart enough to know the reason that they’re trying to contact the bank.”

And it’s the same for contact centre agents, AI is probably going to have more of an impact from an agent’s perspective than anything else. The knowledge that AI can give an agent straight off the bat when a customer’s contacting them without having to do any of the hard work is ultimately what you would be trying to achieve when implementing AI.”   

But while AI promises to enhance the banking experience, Ms Makirere said hesitancy in the financial services space was slowing widespread adoption. 

“Everyone is talking about AI, but AI is really hard to implement in any environment, and some businesses underestimate just how difficult it can be to implement,” Ms Makirere said.

“In a space like banking, where compliance is a top priority, there has to be a more considered and informed approach compared to something else like retail, which doesn’t have a need for as strong security as the banking sector.” 

Natural Language Processing

Made famous by the rapid rise to prominence of ChatGPT, natural language processing (NLP) is set to dramatically alter the way customers communicate with banks. Instead of having to memorise a list of rigid commands or keywords, customers will be able to use everyday language to make enquiries and complete transactions through virtual agents rather than humans. Smart NLP systems also understand slang and colloquialisms and are able to interpret imprecise phrasing based on sentence structure, context and meaning.

This means customers will be able to get an instant response to questions like ‘What was my biggest purchase last month?’ or ‘How much did I spend on groceries last week?’. 

Ms Makirere said NLP will also enable virtual assistants to engage in complex conversations. If a customer needs help finding the right mortgage product or credit card, she said the virtual agent is able to ask qualifying questions, provide explanations and guide the customer through their options. 

“With NLP, the days of customers having to figure out how to interact with an AI system are over,” Ms Makirere said.

“The technology meets customers on their terms for truly natural conversations, which means fewer frustrating menus to navigate and an overall enhanced interaction. And together with our team members, NLP gives us the productivity boost we need to better serve customers.”

The banking experience of the future will feel seamless and intuitive from the customer’s perspective thanks to NLP. We believe it’s the missing piece that will make conversational AI truly effective for both customers and our operations.”  

Cloud-Based Platforms

Traditionally, banks and their contact centre operations have relied on local data centres and hardware located on-premises. But an ongoing shift towards cloud-based platforms is accelerating in financial services. Across all industries, the global cloud-based contact centre market is expanding rapidly. In 2021, research showed the market was valued at $US14.5 billion. By 2030, that value is expected to rise to more than $US82 billion, driven by a compound annual growth rate of 21.3 per cent from 2022 to 2030.  

Ms Makirere said there were several advantages of storing data and running applications in the cloud, including greater flexibility, increased scalability and improved cost efficiency.  

“New communication channels such as chatbots can be deployed rapidly on cloud platforms, reducing the requirement for lengthy on-site installations,” Ms Makirere said.  

“Going to the cloud means we can integrate with most other platforms and create a seamless agent interaction with the customer.”  

Ms Makirere said cloud-based platforms also provided advantages specific to the banking sector.  

“Cloud technology allows processor-intensive operations such as fraud monitoring and data analytics to run more efficiently at scale,” she said.  

“Banks can also leverage the latest AI innovations through cloud services instead of developing them in-house. The security of cloud platforms has also improved greatly in recent years to meet finance industry standards. Leading cloud providers offer robust security capabilities exceeding most banks’ established defences. This makes the cloud increasingly attractive for core banking functions.”

Digital Custody Services

Some of the world’s biggest banks are exploring digital custody solutions built on blockchain technology. This would securely store assets like cash and cryptocurrency digitally, accessible through online banking and apps.  

Among the adopters is HSBC, which recently announced it had become the first financial institution worldwide to offer tokenised gold to investors. America’s oldest bank, BNY Mellon, last year launched a digital custody and administration platform for cryptocurrency assets and other digital securities, while in 2020, Goldman Sachs secured a patent for a crypto settlement system. 

By reducing reliance on physical bank branches, digital custody can lower costs while giving customers 24-hour account access.

While telephone banking was innovative 30 years ago, it will soon seem antiquated compared to what’s coming. AI, natural language processing, cloud platforms, and digital custody are poised to drive the next evolution in banking.  

Financial institutions and contact centres that capitalise on these emerging technologies will gain a competitive advantage by offering the superior customer service and efficiency that modern consumers expect. 

TSA are Australia’s market leading specialists in CX Consultancy and Contact Centre Services. We are passionate about revolutionising the way brands connect with Australians. How? By combining our local expertise with the most sophisticated customer experience technology on earth, and delivering with an expert team of customer service consultants who know exactly how to help brands care for their customers.