How Viber Business Messages Are Enabling Retail Banking to Get More Personal
Retail banking is committed to creating deeper, more personalized 1:1 experiences with customers — here's how the Viber Business Messages service is playing a critical role in addressing this ambitious goal.
The retail banking sector is going through seismic change, its use of fintech moving consumers away from making in-branch visits or relying on call centers to accessing banking services online or in-app. Data shows the majority of consumers are embracing this shift too: 51% of all U.S. adults with a bank account use mobile banking and in Europe, that figure is nearer 70%.
While there were signs that customer acceptance of digitization was beginning to plateau, the pandemic has acted as a huge catalyst for digital adoption because of global lockdowns. In Europe alone, there has been a 72% rise in the use of fintech apps according to research by deVere Group.
But there is always a risk with digitization: That retail banking could end up becoming sterile, impersonal, and distant. It's why some retail banks are exploring private messaging platforms. The aim? To create truly personalized 1:1 experiences within the digital space.
Why Viber Business Messages is vital in this new digital push
One of the best suited platforms for delivering on this goal is Viber, the private messaging platform that has 1.1 billion users in 193-plus countries, including a particularly strong presence across Asia, CIS, CEE, and the Middle East. With seven million interactions on Viber every minute, it's perhaps not surprising that enterprise — including retail banking — is turning to Viber Business Messages to enhance CX on a platform that many customers already know, trust, and use in their everyday lives.
Not only does Viber enable companies to communicate 1:1 with customers, it also allows retail banking to leverage powerful functionality including images, interactive buttons, stickers — even advanced chatbot technology — and more besides. All this plus messaging that is encrypted end-to-end, and meets the regulatory demands of both PSD2 and GDPR; such strong security standards are essential within a sector where fostering consumer trust is so vital.
How Viber is already transforming CX in banking
Importantly, Viber's Business Messages strategies have already been successfully deployed by several major banks worldwide, enabling them to forge deeper relations with their customers:
Covering all the banking basics
Viber is being used to offer a range of essential banking services that customers rely on day in, day out. For instance, First Ukrainian International Bank and Nepal-based Sunrise Bank allow their customers to use the messaging platform to:
• Check account balances • Receive mini-statements • Request information about nearby ATMs • View current interest rates on loans/account types • Display bank opening hours and locations • And more.
Creating happier customers (and reducing complaints)
As well as providing simple services, banks are also using Viber Business Messages to connect more deeply with customers via two-way comms. For instance, VTB Bank in Belarus switched to Viber Business Messages to reduce paper-based comms, which in turn drove up engagement rates.
By choosing to deliver promotions, services, and selected customer services using the platform, the bank has seen half of all its customers use Viber to engage in two-way conversations with the brand. Subsequently, this has led to complaint levels falling by 80% as customers enjoyed more personalized experiences and faster resolutions to issues.
What's good for the customer is also good for the bank
Viber Business Messages are proving to be beneficial for bottom lines too. For instance, NLB Banka AD Podgorica serves Southeast Europe, and turned to Viber to push out promotional campaigns (bear in mind the Viber platform allows direct marketing messaging unlike rivals such as WhatsApp Business). This saw NLB's sales of select products increase by up to 15%, and a 30% conversion rate for an 'arrange a meeting' offer.
How to make Viber Business Messages part of a bank's CX strategy
From banking services to customer care, the Viber platform is proving itself to be a vital ally in retail banking by supporting personalized conversations at every stage of the customer's journey. And this ability will only become more important in a post-pandemic world.
While Viber Business Messages are potentially transformative, the platform itself is simple to roll out when partnered with an official provider. These specialists can have a Viber Business Profile up and running within two business days, which in turn can be integrated with existing enterprise systems via a developer-friendly API. Alternatively, a provider can provide a dedicated Conversations Inbox to help manage Viber conversations if suitable dev talent isn't available within a banking organization.
To increase efficiency further, chatbots can also be deployed to automate simple conversations and queries, while offering the ability to hand over to a live agent in an instant for more complex customer issues. Importantly, any Viber-based bot can be integrated with existing enterprise software via the provider's specialist API. This ensures the bot is able to stream data into and from existing CRM, ERP and contact center systems, making sure all customer-facing conversations remain coordinated, centralized, and available for essential analytics work.
By teaming up with an established provider, retail banking can ensure its investment in Viber Business Messages delivers on its full potential — and all-important ROI — while giving banking operations the best possible chance of providing customers with the experience they are increasingly want — and expect — now and in an uncertain future.
To learn more about how the banking sector can benefit from the messaging platform, request access from leading official Viber Business Messages provider tyntec by clicking here.
