Stop Right There, Thank You Very Much: Consumers Need Banks with the Human Touch
At BankChampaign, located in Champaign, Ill. bank president Mark Ballard has an interesting stance on customer interaction: he wants to be the first person his clients see when they walk into the 25-year-old financial institution.
"From the beginning, we have focused the organization on developing a personal relationship with our customers," Ballard says. "In fact, we designed the bank so that either myself, as president of the bank, or our chairman are on either side of the front door."
In doing so, customers see BankChampaign as a bank where they can walk in and talk to the ultimate decision makers about a loan, deposit or investment issue, Ballard says. "Quite a few customers take advantage of that accessibility, but most also realize that in our value statements we vest in our front line staff the authority to make binding decisions in customers' favor if the situation so dictates," he says.
Of course, that doesn't mean BankChampaign is soft on digital or online technology to meet customer needs - it relies on tech tools, just not at the expense of the human touch.
"All of the high tech additions to banking in recent years are really just tools that support the face-to-face experience customers desire," he says.
Ballard looks like he's on to something.
In a new survey from U.S. Bank entitled "The Balancing Act: U.S. Bank 2015 Outlook on People and Technology," 80% of Americans say when it matters most, human interaction is most valued; 63% of Americans believe they will never make all their financial transactions digitally; and 80% of Americans prefer to resolve issues with a professional banker, rather than a virtual one.
"American consumers want more from their banks than apps - they want advocates," says Gareth Gaston, executive vice president, Omnichannel at U.S. Bank. "Our role in that relationship is to discover what's possible for our customers, combine it with what they are aspiring to and guide them along the way."
Apparently, what's "possible" for customers means banks have to find a sweet spot between face-to-face interactions and digital ones.
"Consumers are challenging the industry to meet them where they are, and that requires a mastery of the delicate balance between convenience, security, and personalized engagement," says Dominic Venturo, chief innovation officer at U.S. Bank. "That is why we don't innovate for the sake of innovation; our products are developed with the sole intention of fulfilling a customer need. We know that consumers are not looking for technology to replace bankers, but to add convenience and security."
Venturo won't get an argument from Mike Arman, a mortgage broker in Oak Hill, Fla. and a long-time banking customer.
"I want a phone number and an email for a real live person for any bank I deal with anywhere in the world," says Arman. "Right now I am dealing with a major bank in the U.K. and their customer service department people and software rank with the worst customer service providers in the U.S. It's impossible to contact anyone in the U.K., it all goes to India or the Philippines - they're nice people, but they have no idea what I want as a banking customer."
"If I can't get a local phone number of a real live person, I'm going somewhere else where I can," Arman adds.
People depend on banks, but there are limits to their patience, says Chip Bell, a former banking executive and current customer service expert. As banks have come under heavy governmental scrutiny and regulation (due to the subprime debacle), the added bureaucracy trickles down to their customers.
"Bank fees have become very complex and constantly changing," Bell says. "Getting a loan is laborious even for those customers with obvious financial means and a long, great credit track record. It means a large percentage of customers do not like or trust banks. But, they can trust the relationship with a person who works for a bank. They are uncomfortable letting go of their link to a face, a name, a relationship."
Mobile banking apps create ease but they also create distance, he adds. "Customers feel already distanced from the good will and neighborly connection they once associated with their bank," Bell says.
Maybe that's why so many bank consumers still favor - and rely on - the human element at their financial institutions.
That doesn't mean they won't use online banking or mobile apps. It's just the more pressing their financial needs from their banks (like resolving a dispute or getting some quick advice on a loan), the more people still show up at their bank's front door, where some banking executives are waiting to greet them.