Last week TSB lost around 16,000 customers following a serious IT meltdown. This event serves as a display to how important customer service and customer experience are in the commercial banking sector.

In light of TSB’s recent customer service blunder, Jonny Davis, vice-president of global client management partnerships at Fraedom, comments on how banks can enhance their solutions and services delivery.

The TSB story should serve as a reminder of the importance of customer service and the customer experience. Times have changed – businesses have more choice in who they bank with and can switch banks relatively easily, as we have seen from TSB’s customer losses. In this day and age, it’s unacceptable for banks to have faults on this scale.

Over the last decade, customers have come to expect more from their banks, largely thanks to technological innovation which provides seamless mobile transactions, generally responsive customer service and fast transaction times. These services are now seen as a given and banks, whether consumer or commercial, falling short of these expectations is seen as a failure. With ever-growing customer expectation banks must adapt or innovate in these changing times.

A recent survey conducted by Fraedom found that account management and customer service are priorities for 71% of commercial clients. Ultimately, people want more from their banks and this often means more automation, a focus on online banking and a more personalised service. Customers are looking for the banking system to change and up their game when it comes to customer service. In fact, we discovered that 95% of commercial banking clients want their providers to supply the same aggregated account views and real-time transactional information that their personal apps do. This is one area where commercial banks must innovate to keep up with customer expectations.

The recent development and adoption of technology within the banking sector has certainly given way to an increase in our expectations, as consumers, both in the personal and commercial sphere. We have now come to realise that we can do more and more without ever having to step foot inside a bank or even talk to another human being – and we now expect it. With more than 70% of consumers willing to receive computer-generated banking advice according to Accenture, this is a great way for banks to offer the 24/7 service customers have come to expect. Nowadays, customers see no reason for an adherence to ‘office hours’ when chatbots can provide a solution to this thanks to their 24/7 availability and intelligent access to customer information.

Chatbots are just one area in which banks can innovate beyond the basic banking apps to provide a better customer experience, with other areas including biometrics, security and AI. For instance, banks can provide an added value service by incorporating AI into their existing services for spend analysis or risk identification. This would raise banking services above the level of a commodity, improving brand consideration and customer loyalty and cementing their relationships with clients.

TSB’s experience should be a lesson to its peers about the power of their customers. If customers aren’t happy with the service they are being provided, then it is highly likely they will take their banking elsewhere. It’s therefore up to banks to innovate and use technology to provide faster, safer and more intuitive solutions for their customers.