Is this really a bank? Or a cafe? Or a lounge? Is this the right place? Where are the counters? The cubicles?
Bankers and Leaders need to understand that the banking process is part of a service. From the moment the customer thinks of a bank or a financial product, or walks in or logs into a bank portal or app, or using a payment gateway, or using helplines or bots. Until he leaves the bank or logs out and later opts again to use the service.
Service design focuses on the overall experience and the design of the service delivery processes and strategy. It focuses on crucial points of contact with customers, such as initial interaction, whether virtual or physical, engagement phase, and post-consumption experiences. While planning a banking service experience, one also needs to find a balance between user needs, the business vision, underlying processes, technology intervention possibilities, and market scenarios.
According to a recent survey by PWC, there are 3 main trends in the state of the banking sector in 2020:
- Develop a customer-centric perspective and create a frictionless user journey
- Real-time intelligent data integration through artificial intelligence and cognitive computing
- Open banking solutions
One of the tools used in the planning of the service is the service blueprint. This is a macro planning tool that allows the service designer to see beyond the product or service. To have a clear picture of the entire system that brings the customer experience to life.
Compared to customer journey mapping, which primarily examines customers’ overall journey in using a banking product or a service. Service planning maps the behind-the-scenes interlinks between processes, tools, technology, and people. It thus provides a 360-degree overview of the entire service.
Trust, empathy, and commitment are additional aspects that a modern customer seeks when choosing their financial service provider. This means banks need to develop banking processes that allow customers to be open, honest and encourage them to voice their problems freely, build trust with their clients. The purpose of the service plan is to explore how the structures supporting customer journey work, the responsibilities, and the rules that determine what can and cannot be implemented.
