Many banking services have had a tech leap, in terms of transforming to digital services that cater to the needs of customer remotely, thus saving them time and effort. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the banking sector, as well as the global economy in general, leaving some changes to the daily transactions between customers and banks.
This article attempts to summarizes areas of change on banking services as a result of the pandemic as follows:
Set up online gates
Many banks have opted for establishing electronic gates through their official websites in order to remotely respond to personalized customer requests, including extension or repayment of loans, whether personal or car financing, or credit card transactions. The gates offer an alternative for in-person banking procedures.
Phone transactions
There are some banking transactions that require a direct connection between a customer service employee and a client, therefore some procedures were enabled via phone calls . In spite of the huge demand on phone-based banking services, banks are still able to cater to all. Nonetheless, customers need to have patience while using call service, as it takes time to gather information and get the full details regarding the conditions and provisions of requested transactions.
More financial facilities
Amid the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting social distancing procedures, more customers have been requesting electronic financial transactions and different ATM procedures. In order to provide facilities to customers, many banks have dropped some online transaction fees that customers used to be charged for before the pandemic as to lift the financial burden off customers during the pandemic. In addition, a number of banks has made it available for people to postpone due loan payments up to four months without incurring any penalty as a result of limited cash and increasing expenses due to the covid crisis that affected bank customers and caused them to be completely or partially unable to repay personal, vehicle or housing loans.
A new perspective for assessing customer service
In light of the circumstances witnessed by the banking sector in conjunction with the covid crisis and with many banking services being delivered remotely, some banks stood out from other competitors, in terms of customer service, the ability to build customer trust via online banking, notifying customers of the amended terms and conditions relating to banking services, flexibility and effective communication between customer service employees and customers themselves, and the amount of self-serve digital services, in addition to the financial and banking consultations offered to customers. Those criteria represent the assessment benchmarks of banking customer service during the time of crisis, based on what a bank can provide to customers and the benefits that customers can reap as well as the aspirations they can achieve as a result