By Steve Ranger, 23 August 2007 12:46
NEWS
Despite the millions invested in online banking systems, it may still be quicker for customers to phone bank call-centres to find out basic information.
Bank websites could only provide answers for half of routine questions asked online, with the majority relying on static FAQ pages, according to research by customer service software company Transversal.
silicon.com Financial Services
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Its research claimed 30 per cent of bank websites struggled to answer more than two out of 10 product and service questions.
Nearly a third of banks don't offer the option of emailing questions, it found. For those that did, the average reply time was 30 hours for a response - eight hours longer than the average response time last year. And even then, only three out of 10 banks answered the question satisfactorily - less than last year - so customers would then still need to phone a contact centre for more information.
By contrast, the research said bank contact centre response times have improved "dramatically", with 60 per cent of calls answered within three minutes and the shortest wait times being just a few seconds.
Transversal said customers are being pushed towards the telephone channel, irrespective of their preferences, and this reflects a failure by many banks to adopt a "cohesive online customer interaction strategy".
Comments
There are 3 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
I was gobsmacked and very impressed when I was looking for a mortgage and could have an instant message chat with one of the HSBC advisers on the site.
I guess the service gets better when they are hoping you'll spend lots of money with them.
2. Dr. Aynur (Ina) Unal
Banks need to use the current state of art of secure communication and collaboration tools such as IMJACK of Amteus of UK; currently any chat line on any banking service is insecure.
Dr. Aynur (Ina) Unal
Palo Alto, CA, USA.
3. anonymous
But how secure is telephone conversation with the same bank?