It should come as no surprise that banks with stronger digital capabilities will gain more than counterparts who may struggle to deal with banking during the lockdown. Customers are being compelled to use digital channels and may view banks negatively if their systems are slow, difficult, or overly complicated. 

Banks must ensure that consumers who use remote channels have a favorable experience during and after the crisis. 

Banks, regardless of their digital competence, should be using the last several months to absorb the data coming in from their digital channels. We are aware that several banks have been challenged by an increase in client inquiries, which has resulted in customers being unable to reach their bank. 

Customer intelligence, such as call center demand statistics, should be fed into bank plans to help them improve response times and serve customers better. To increase contact center capacity, for example, use chatbots or re-deploy branch workers. 

Regardless of the increased use of technology, with branches generally inaccessible, keeping consumers connected is critical – and we have seen banks do just that, utilizing apps, emails, and website messages to talk directly to individuals. 

Even for the digitally savvy customer, many are discovering that digital services are incapable of meeting their very precise, complex, and time-sensitive requirements. Banks should use the crisis to find areas where the present customer journey may be altered in order to improve the experience both during and after the crisis.