4 Banking Customer Experience Trends
Banking doesn’t get too many second chances these days. If something feels slow, confusing, or off, customers will move on — fast. This means financial institutions have to rethink how they show up each day, not just when a customer walks into a branch.
This post will look at four shifts shaping banking right now that need to be a focus.
Banking in your Pocket
Banking has become part of people’s everyday phone habits, and now billions of people worldwide go to their banks from an app on their phones instead of driving across towns and cities to conduct business in person.
People like to know what is going on with their money the moment they think of it. A transfer here, checking a balance there. Done with ease in seconds, no fuss, no calls, no queuing up at a counter. And with this shift, banks are discovering scale doesn’t require more staff or square footage. In fact, Tanzania’s CRDB Bank saw most of its new accounts come through digital self-onboarding once it revamped its app — real growth, no queues.
Banks still need physical branches, but they don’t need them to be the default anymore.
AI Support
AI can sort fraud alerts faster than any team. It can answer quick questions instantly — the kind customers don’t want to call you about anyway. But here is the thing: when a customer spots something amiss — a transaction they didn’t make or a missing payment — they don’t want to be stuck in an endless robotic loop.
This is why financial institutions are carefully integrating AI. A financial services AI chatbot can handle everyday needs and hand over the more complicated issues to a human, so the customer isn’t panicking and is getting the right level of support.
DBS Bank in Singapore cut query times by a third simply by giving AI simpler work so the humans could focus on where judgment and reassurance matter.
Banking That Knows Them
Customers don’t want offers thrown at them randomly. They want carefully curated nudges that are applicable and beneficial to them. It’s this personal help that makes the difference and the right impression.
Take Erica, the virtual assistant at Bank of America — it gives people reminders about spending habits or subscriptions before they become problems. And other banks are following this approach and putting tools in place that offer the same type of help and support.
It is when people feel like their bank “sees” them that they stay.
Seamless Experience
The thing customers want more than anything is for things to feel connected. They won’t mind being passed from the app to live chat to a call if everything feels seamless and connected. If it all falls apart at different points, this is where things will go wrong.
The goal for banks is to make it one story, told once, carried forward. Studies are already finding that those who achieve this have higher retention rates than those who neglect this aspect of customer service. People remember and want to use the path that doesn’t waste their time.
