Our research into conversational banking shows that financial institutions are turning to third-party solutions such as WhatsApp Business or WeChat for secure messaging. It may seem like the obvious choice to communicate with customers on channels that they’re already using, but this trend is just a stepping stone. The future lies in banks delivering their own digital chat within a secure banking app or online banking solution. Our role at CREALOGIX is not just to meet the demand today for secure APIs to integrate with these tools but to look ahead to where customers expect these communications channels to develop.
Addressing the need for trust and security
At the moment, the adoption of services such as WhatsApp Business within financial services are based on the wider popularity of the channel – but popularity can wane and habits can change. It’s quite likely this will happen in banking as customers expect more sophisticated communication channels with greater functionality. There is value in integrating with these platforms, but a wider foundation is required. Another issue to consider is regulation. Regulatory requirements for an audit trail on some communications mean that a solution that is fully integrated with the digital banking service will give the channel a wider scope and the audit trail much easier to achieve. In addition, there is the issue of trust – many customers may not wish to have any communication about their finances carried out on a different platform or with a third party provider. Having a secure, branded digital chat delivered by CREALOGIX that is fully integrated with existing digital banking services can resolve both of these issues.
AI ensures conversational banking has a key role in personalised, hybrid banking services
We recently took a look at how to overcome some of the challenges of implementing conversational banking. While third party services are a part of the current trend and play a role in conversational banking, it’s clear that there is more to this solution than messaging services can provide. One example would be the use of AI to support intelligent, personalised and automated messaging to deliver 24/7 support to customers. AI tools aren’t just applicable for automated services such as notifications and marketing messages. Advisors can use AI concierge tools to access the most up-to-date and relevant information during live chats with customers. This improves service levels and integrates digital and in-person services for a truly personalised hybrid solution.
The future of conversational banking
There’s no doubt that the third-party services such as WhatsApp are playing a valuable role in the delivery of the first phase of conversational banking. The longer-term future is the application of tools that are designed to address the full opportunity that this channel can provide. Our conversational tools can be put to a range of uses, starting at a simple FAQ-bot and expanding to deliver everything from a secure channel with a full audit trail for advisors to speak with customers over chat, voice and video to B2B applications such as professional and timely communications between mortgage brokers and banks. Conversational banking is just in its first phase and as with digital banking, the organisations that show vision and ambition will benefit from quickly addressing customer demand and delivering a next generation solution today.
