Let’s Chat: Banking Customer Service Is Going Digital

Can banks chat their way to happier customers? The opportunity is quickly growing: In the past year, the number of banking customers using digital chat for checking and savings account interactions has doubled. Digital banks continued to see the highest level of adoption in online or mobile messaging with representatives or chatbots, but national and regional bank adoption is increasing at the same pace.

More than 10% of customers initially use digital chat for “episodes”—interactions that fulfill a need—such as disputing charges and fees, addressing a point-of-sale decline, opening and setting up a new account, replacing or turning off a lost credit card, resolving a fraud alert, and resolving a web or mobile login issue. While these may seem like standard, everyday interactions, they are actually “moments of truth”—emotive episodes with a high likelihood to either delight or annoy customers—meaning it’s especially important to get digital chat right.

A good chat experience will differ by generation. Younger, digital native consumers hold companies to high standards across industries. They want early transparency on which issues can be resolved by chat. And failure to meet their universal expectations can quickly turn an opportunity to generate loyalty into an annoying interaction that hurts customer sentiment.

Early investments in seamless, frustration-free digital interactions, particularly for routine episodes, could help companies proactively meet shifting expectations and delight customers. A flawless chat experience will be especially important as generative AI becomes increasingly prevalent in consumers’ lives.

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