Let’s start with the positive: digital banking adoption is at an all-time high. In fact, it’s penetrating the Asia-Pacific markets like a hot knife through butter.

It’s no secret that digital banking adoption rates in Asia-Pacific have leapfrogged countries in both developed and emerging markets. In a survey with over 20,000 respondents, McKinsey & Company reported:

  • A jump in digital banking adoption, from 55% in 2017 to 88% in 2021, across emerging Asian markets, including Malaysia, India, and the Philippines
  • 9 in 10 people are using digital banking services in developed Asian countries, including Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan
  • Day to day, respondents reported using cash for only 30% of their transactions

But, despite these impressive numbers, it’s also a fact that trust in banks is eroding.

According to Accenture, post-pandemic, only 29% of customers trust banks to have their long-term interests in mind, as opposed to 43% prior to the pandemic.

We must remember that the high digital banking numbers have been significantly buoyed by the rampant digitalization caused by the pandemic. Enforced social distancing resulted in limited access to physical branches, and for many customers, the switch to digital banking was therefore born out of necessity, not choice.

This explains why confidence in banks is low, despite the high adoption rates. But what exactly is it about digital banking that makes customers so skeptical? The short answer is human touch, or rather, the lack thereof.

Banking customers still want to speak to a person

Tapping buttons on a phone may be faster and more convenient, but it also means having to navigate unfamiliar banking terms and making transactions without the assurance of a professional banker by your side. Couple that with trying economic times and constant bombardment of new reports about online fraud, and you’ll have yourself some cynical customers.

According to a global survey conducted by banking software company Temenos, access to humans, not robots or websites, is what people want during times of uncertainty. In fact, it was their top demand!

Even with the surge of self-service options available, banking customers still want the option of reaching out to a human for assistance with complex matters. This is supported by a digital banking customer survey by PwC across Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia.  This survey confirms that: customers very much prefer human assistance when it comes to high value, complex transactions, as well as emergency situations.

For over 50% of customers, human interactions were deemed important for transactions involving insurance, mortgages, wealth management, lost cards, or fraud.

The bottom line is, human connection in the banking sector is in high demand.

Rebuild trust with embeddable voice solutions

We must accept that the human and digital experiences are complementary, not contradictory. While human interaction and technology might appear like opposing forces, the banking industry needs to find a way to connect them in order to help customers regain trust. And, that’s where embeddable voice solutions can make a difference.

Take app-to-app calling, for instance. You can embed voice calls directly into your banking app, so it fits into your existing user experience. This means that your customers can get access to support without having to leave your platform. On top of that, an app-to-app call allows customers to use their data to contact you, instead of consuming their valuable mobile minutes.

What’s unique about 8x8’s App-to-App Calling is the ability to set up PSTN fallbacks with built-in number masking. This not only allows calls to be made without internet access, but it also protects customers’ phone numbers.

Voice messaging is another great example of how banks can put the human element back into customer communications. This text-to-speech technology comes with a range of customizable settings, so that banks can automate communications using unique, human-like voices. There’s even the option to tailor voice profiles to suit different situations, further replicating the physical banking experience. With no call length limit, and the ability to reach landlines, this improves the odds that passwords, notifications, and other sensitive data will be received.

Using 8x8 Connect, our low-code multi-channel campaign manager, banks are able to configure any voice message in a language of choice from a range of voice profiles, and even adjust the playback speed.

8x8 Inc.

More than just an accessory feature, voice messaging has practical applications in helping businesses reach out to the visually impaired and even send out announcements, notifications, and reminders in bulk. By circumventing the limits of text, voice messaging allows marketers to say more words and reach more customers.

Technology cannot replace human interaction

The sooner the banking industry acknowledges that technology cannot replace human interaction, but rather support and enable it to be better, the quicker consumers will regain trust in the sector.

This is more important than ever as it’s never been easier for banking customers to take their business elsewhere. Once upon a time customers would usually stay with a particular bank out of familiarity. Today, globalization and the rise of Big Tech have given consumers access to a wider number of financial services. Customers are realizing the availability of options and how quick and easy it can be to shift between providers.

Sure, there’s a lot of “revolutionary” and “cutting-edge” technology out there to help improve digital banking solutions, but there are few solutions that understand that there’s a human sitting on the other side of the screen.As the industry evolves, cloud adoption in financial services is becoming increasingly crucial, offering scalable solutions that seamlessly integrate technology with the human touch. If you are a financial services company looking for digital solutions with a human touch, 8x8 is here to help.

We are a global cloud communication solution providing embeddable APIs across voice, messaging, and video. Whether you are looking for a quick start with low-code tools or to automate complex communication workflows, our scalable and flexible APIs fit all banking use cases.

Give your bank a voice that engages your customers. Email hello-cpaas@8x8.com to see how our embeddable voice solutions can help you rebuild trust.