Financial institutions tend to react to customer needs, and then work to serve those needs as best as possible. A request for a new loan results in a timely response and a competitively low rate. If a customer overdrafts, a bank may transition money into their account to notify them of the overdraft after it happens.
Despite this history of reactionary correspondence, financial institutions of the future will proactively reach out to customers with opportunities and offers, flipping the script.
Balancing Security With Convenience
Most customers want security around their accounts, including safety of their passwords and notifications of fraudulent activity. In 2021 and beyond, preventing issues such as these will be a core standard for financial institutions.
However, most of the actions banks can take to proactively prevent security threats require intervention. This includes steps such a preventing potentially fraudulent action from happening by denying the charge, or sending short term PINs via email/text when a customer logs into an account from an unfamiliar source. In both of these situations, prompt communication is key, especially when there is a chance the interaction isn’t fraudulent.
- Always communicate.When you’re taking an intervening action, let your customer know via text. They need to know right away, and they need to have an option to override if their request isn’t fraudulent.
- Listen and learn. Understand the types of transactions your customer conducts. Fraud prevention is good, but if it happens regularly during a routine purchase, they’ll become frustrated.
- Communicate when you prevent fraudulent activity. If your technology is working correctly by preventing fraud, let your customer know! They’ll appreciate your care and concern, and you should use the prevented problem as an opportunity to boast about your brand and attention to detail.
Communicate Ways to Save Money
Millennials and Gen Z are open to changing brands, including financial institutions, and you can rest assured that even if you’ve successfully acquired a customer, there are competitors getting marketing materials in front of their eyes every chance they get. As such, it’s important to continue to court your customers once they’re acquired. Perhaps counterintuitively, you should be thinking about ways your brand can communicate savings opportunities to your long-term customers. Interest rates on accounts lower rates for mortgages, waived fees, and new offers are all ways to have your customers’ best interests in mind.
Even if it means a hit in revenue for your organization, providing customers with savings opportunities lets them know you’re doing everything in your power to save them money. Plus, this has a hidden benefit: Your customers will be more receptive to future offers (additional accounts, loans, etc.) if they’re used to you providing opportunities that bring them genuine value.
Guide New Technology
If your financial institution regularly updates your mobile banking app, chances are you’re internally excited about new features and fixes. However, even if these new features seem obvious to your team, your customers might not know about how to properly use them. Make sure to guide your customers through new features and updates, finding ways to overcome the learning barrier in order to get them understanding and using all of the wonderful ways you’ve invested in your technology. Updated guides, pop-up buttons and online support are all ways you can aid your customers and make sure they get the most out of what you put in.
