With social distancing still in full effect during the
developing COVID-19 situation, bank branches are understandably witnessing a
decrease in physical traffic, as their digital counterparts and/or third-party
applications are seeing much more interest these days. However branches are
still operational in many parts of the world and some financial matters need
one’s physical presence at a bank. On that note, safety & precautionary
measures are being taken by banks that operate during specific work hours, and
scheduling apps are now rising to the occasion to support these measures by
helping people book their appointments.
As banks and financial institutions adapt their strategies
to the unforeseen global situation, they shifted their operations fully or partially
to the online world in a very short time. This led to some confusion by
customers in the beginning, especially those that need walk-services at
branches. The first measure was to limit these interactions to specific times,
hence the need for scheduling appointments to separate customers one at a time.
This greatly helped in easing the customers’ concerns while reducing health
risks and ensuring that their needs are met.
As more banks applied this approach, the benefits of
appointment scheduling quickly started to show, such as management of bank
traffic and optimizing meeting the customer’s demands. When people schedule
appointments in advance and state the nature of their business, the virtual
queue becomes more manageable in terms of matching staff skillsets and customer
needs while adhering to social distancing requirements.
The financial institutions that wish to eliminate physical
branches altogether have a wide array of secure and easy-to-use digital
services to choose from. Personalization becomes key here, and custom solutions
are in demand by different demographics of the community, each with their
different needs and challenges in terms of user experience and adaptability to
new technology. Intuitive and easy-to-use digital applications are needed for
the elderly that shouldn’t go to any bank branches, while more complex FinTech
apps are needed for enterprising banking, for instance. Innovation will also play
a big role in scheduling and appointment-making digital channels, and we are
bound to see a significant shift in the spectrum of digital services as we know
them today. This is where a personalized approach becomes critical for
retaining customers and also acquiring new ones, as a bank’s reputation during
this tough period will also define it later in the post-coronavirus world.
Tags
Coronavirus, COVID19, scheduling, appointments, apps, digital
banking, banks, retail banking, video, customer service, customer support,
personalization
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