Voice Tech: A Major Opportunity for Banks | Investera | Investment Portfolio Management Platform

Voice Tech: A Major Opportunity for Banks

10July, 2019

Financial technology has been on the headlines of new banking innovations, arguably for its success. A recent breakthrough in banking introduced voice-assisted technologies, which on one side of the coin has been reducing costs for banks, while increasing customer satisfaction. Should the banking industry employees expect voice-assisted technologies to take over their functions?  

Modern voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa have been around for many years, but are still considered to be in their budding stages, as they only emerged less than ten years ago. Yet, their growth is insurmountable, as MEDICI research estimates that the number of voice-enabled assistants will reach 1.83 billion by 2025. [1]

Voice technology engages customers

For many years, consumers have been paying their bills, transferring money, and checking their balance online. In fact, 8 in 10 consumers did a financial activity through a digital platform in the previous year, according to PwC’s 2019 Global Consumer Insights Survey. [2]

While 32% of consumers are already using voice technology to do their shopping according to the same survey, around 80% are satisfied with their experience, in a separate PwC report. [3]

Although digital banking is on the rise, banks may begin to lose their ‘personal touch’ or connection with their customers, which sheds light on the role of voice tech in reviving this connection. 

Voice-assisted technology in banks can be used to gather data and resolve customers’ queries. While banks are notorious for long waiting times on the phone to reach a call assistant, voice-assisted technology can significantly improve customer loyalty, as voice-enabled tech instantly responds to customers’ queries. 

Leveraging data with voice technology

Most queries at call centers in financial institutions tackle customer assistance issues. According to estimates by PwC, integrating voice technology with AI and robotic process automation in banks can reduce the cost of servicing these queries by up to 40% and reduce human error by 30%. [4]

Manually entering information has always been a dreaded hassle for sales and customer service professionals, and voice-assisted technology can eliminate this task entirely. 

Voice tech can convert human commands and conversations into data and automatically insert this information into the customer’s file – which saves both the customer and bank time, eventually allowing customers to receive a personalized and quick service. 

Previous interactions through voice made by the customer to the bank can be recognized and verified against their bank details, automating and integrating all processes from end-to-end – which, previously, would need to be entered manually, leaving space for human error and taking significantly more time.

All in all, voice-assisted technology has the potential to be one of the main mediums of communication with financial institutions, as it enables efficiency and accuracy for customers and businesses. 

Interested to know more about fintech’s role in automating financial institutions and major industries? Read more here.

Sources: 

[1] MEDICI, Usage of Voice-Enabled Digital Assistants in Financial Services, 11 Feb 2019

[2] PwC, Global Consumer Insights Survey 2019

[3] PwC, Consumer Intelligence Series:  Prepare for the voice revolution, Feb 2018

[4] strategy+business, Banking on voice, 21 May 2019

 

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