Retail banking has begun to change rapidly even before COVID-19: customers did not like going to the office and got used to receiving services remotely. The coronavirus has made this trend sustainable. Banks need to rethink completely their customer service channels.

Frank Media reports that McKinsey analysts note that in the new review and highlight 4 points that the most successful banks notice.

Digital service

During the COVID-19 pandemic, banks served customers mostly remotely. Most clients are happy with it: in May 2020, about 60-85% of consumers in Western Europe were satisfied with the quality of remote services.

The leading banks have begun developing digital services even before the coronavirus. Most of their clients are active smartphone users, so over the past 5 years, banks have been developing and constantly improving their applications. However, and more importantly, high mobile usage has enabled these banks to generate more than a third of their digital sales through mobile apps.

Digital sales

Although the crisis has had a negative impact on the sales of banking products, at the same time, it has revealed the customers’ need to shop online. By 2019, the leading banks were already making 5 times more online sales than their competitors. The strategy allowed the leaders to compensate for the drop in branch sales through active online sales from 2015-2019. Leading European banks have also invested in cutting-edge analytics to enhance personalization, which has resulted in an almost 25% increase in sales.

Efficient communication

Leading banks use modern technologies to ensure that communication with the client is as effective as possible for both parties. For example, when a customer contacts the bank’s call center, the operator can quickly analyze the text and the mood of the caller. Accordingly, the consultation will be more productive. A bank in the U.S. has used these technologies to reduce the number of complaints per month and the indicator has dropped from more than 2 million to less than 150,000.

Physical channels

In March 2020, 25% of branches around the world were closed, and 15% remained closed by May. However, branches have long ceased to be the main channel for selling products, McKinsey underlines. While 75% of all sales were made in branches in 2015, the percentage stood at 55 in 2019.

At the same time, the market leaders did not rush to reduce their branch network. They have assessed the work of branches employees and come to the conclusion that branches should become universal (provide all types of banking services)․ Apart from large central branches, banks have started opening mini-branches with few employees and high level of self-service in low-traffic locations.

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