CUSTOMER STORY
We live in the 21st century
and technology should
make access to banking
easier for clients. The
banking experience needs
to change and banks must
take ownership of helping
clients manage their
financial lives better.
access to banking easier for clients. The banking experience
Technology and data are the engine on which this drive for
needs to change and banks must take ownership of helping
innovation is based and blessed as they are with deep data wells;
clients manage their financial lives better. Top management
banks are in a prime position to be leaders of change.
must be regularly available in the forecourt of branches to better
The immediacy of the internet and social networking enables
understand how to address the service requirements and needs
banks to forge a much closer relationship with customers, with
of customers,’ Stassen says.
interaction literally a couple of key-presses away. The rise of
Stassen says that Capitec stresses personal interaction and
online consumer watchdogs like Hello Peter is another potent
support to consumers, at a time when banks were
outlet for customers to voice their complaints and receive
moving online and in danger of losing their human
attention. Twitter service handles – with banks’ CEOs
touch. He adds that the presence of the manager
and chief economists communicating directly
in the bank forecourt and use of the vernacular
with customers alongside dedicated service
are key ingredients in the 2013 customer
professionals – form key components of the
service mix.
banking sector’s customer advocacy policy.
of South
The banking sector has made great strides
Even the call centre, long seen by customers
A
banking frican
in improving customer service over the past
as a weak link in the chain, has evolved to
25 years. However, according to South African
complain clients
meet the demands of customers who want to
about th
Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) founder
communicate through a variety of electronic
quality o
f produc e
and CEO, Andre Schreuder, the local banking
channels, such as web, e-mail, social media,
ts
and serv
industry has room for improvement in responding
and of course, the telephone. Sophisticated voice
ices
to customer complaints. ‘Around 12 to 23% of South
biometric security systems, cloud computing and
African banking clients complain about the quality of
other transformative technologies have altered the
products and services,’ explains Schreuder.
face of the customer service centre. In-house call centres, like
The Deloitte 2013 Banking Industry Outlook holds that
ABSA’s massive operation, are now seen as a central part of customer
technological innovation and an increased focus on customer
retention and revenue protection strategies, rather than only for
service, despite the economic downturn and spiraling costs, will
customer acquisition. And although there is a move towards selfhelp retain and grow customer bases in an increasingly wellservice centres, the face remains essentially a human one.
informed and demand driven market where customer churn is
Capitec Bank CEO, Riaan Stassen, notes that recurring issues
becoming more prevalent. The idea is for customer service to move
concerning bank service are still raised by the public, including
beyond ease of access to the manager or CEO, to the point where
confusing fee structures, lack of transparency, inaccessible bank
consumers are effectively managing their own affairs, becoming
managers and short working hours.
bank managers themselves. By Ebrahim Moolla ■
‘We live in the 21st century and technology should make
12 to
23%
Edition 6
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2013/07/17 3:08 PM