Managing finances can often be a stressful task for many, with the complexity of some banking tasks leading to many questions and a lot of pressure to get them right. With busy work schedules pushing a lot of people to handle their money-related tasks after normal business hours, consumers often find themselves with questions when no human reps are available to answer their inquiry. As much as financial institutions want to, they can’t always be there right at the moment of need for every single situation: branches have to close, and contact centers have hours too, so there are times when live support won’t be available. How can a financial institution provide peace-of-mind no matter when a user has a need?
While being served by a human rep after hours isn’t always possible, there is still comfort in knowing that someone will be there to help you as soon as they can and starting the process towards assistance immediately. That’s why a secure messaging system is a key piece of the support experience: When a user is having an issue, instead of needing to wait until 9:00 AM the next business day to then get in line or get in a virtual queue to wait even longer to receive help, a secure message can instantly be sent when it’s convenient for the consumer and they will receive assurance that a representative will help them as soon as one is available. Even something as simple as seeing ‘Your message has been received, and someone will respond within 24 hours’ can provide a great deal of relief.
However, it’s likely that either you or your users have had negative experiences with most secure messaging systems. The secure inbox that many financial institutions are using today are known for slow response times, awkward functionality, and having no easy way to escalate to a different communication channel once a response is given. These drawbacks can unfortunately limit how willing a consumer is to utilize the channel, even if the comfort of 24/7 secure messaging could drastically improve their overall experience.
Many secure messaging systems come pre-built into the digital banking system, and can often be legacy systems that lack many of the features that make current support channels enticing for users. Without major updates to the infrastructure, secure messaging will continue to be a sore spot for the service experience. This is why the real value of secure messaging can come out when the channel is replaced with a modern system that is integrated with the rest of your digital service platform.
While secure messaging has a less than stellar reputation, it’s not the fault of the method itself: the real fault lies in the outdated technology behind it. If you can smooth out the flaws of secure messaging and offer communication options with all the benefits with none of the pain points, it will drastically improve the consumer experience. The ability to immediately reach out for assistance the moment an issue arises is a powerful tool to have, so making sure that consumers aren’t discouraged from using it due to poor reputations is paramount.
Want to learn more about Glia’s own Secure Conversations platform? Check out this eBook to read about how to greatly improve the secure messaging experience.
