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The threat posed by Google's new Gmail money transmission feature will put the onus on banks to deliver the ultimate person-to-person payments experience, which only they can provide.
May 31 -
The technology fails to deliver a substantial difference in convenience for customers, resembling the struggles faced by the mobile payments industry.
April 30
With live web chat absent at most of the largest financial institutions in the U.S., the idea of offering a mobile-based live chat service seems unwise. However, given consumers' rising dependency on mobile banking and increasing usage of text messages, mobile chat addresses the two trends in one fell swoop and presents a win-win scenario for banks and their customers.
For customers, the benefits are clear. Mobile chat, which is essentially text messaging with a bank associate, is less formal than an email and less time-consuming than a phone call.
I don't want to make the trek to a branch and I dread the 15-minute hold to reach the right customer service representative. But, I always have my iPhone so I can log into the mobile banking application and start a mobile chat session.
RBS launched its in-app mobile chat feature in March, currently for business banking customers only, with the intention of reducing call-waiting and in-branch queue times.
Due to live chat being offered more and more by retailers, consumers have heightened expectations from other businesses. As Keynote Systems
For banks, mobile chat allows customer service agents to address multiple inquiries at once. And, if the feature is offered after the login phase, banks are able to offer a much more personalized experience as customer information, account history and past customer service interactions are readily available. As a result, these sessions are likely to be shorter and more effective.
As with every other form of communication, customer mobile chat is another channel to boost sales. In the rulebook of every online live chat rep, he or she is trained to ask customers if they would like any assistance with opening an account or signing up for a service. The same selling opportunity is made available through mobile chat, regardless of whether or not the feature can be accessed after logging in.
Furthermore, banks may consider improving mobile chat by connecting it to their secure customer-messaging platforms, if any is offered to begin with. The secure messaging platform can assist the mobile chat feature by continuing the conversation even after the chat has ended follow-up can play a major role in enhancing the customer service experience.
Other neat upgrades are definitely possible. For instance, San Diego County Credit Union's mobile chat service allows screen-sharing so that agents can show customers how to navigate the mobile apps and sites. The next stage of evolution of mobile chat may be live video chat (sort of a FaceTime for banking), but that may be in the distant future.
While larger financial institutions may not be in any hurry to implement mobile chat, new mobile-centric financial startups have the most to gain from providing a mobile chat service. Companies such as Simple, Moven and GoBank are positioned to act as catalysts for the adoption of mobile chat.
Simon Zhen is a financial writer and research analyst for
