AIBP Networking: Building TX Where Customers and Employees Collide (In a Good Way!)
In AIBP's recent discussions across Southeast Asia, several pivotal themes have emerged, these include:
Digital Adoption: Despite the tools available, adoption remains a challenge. Solutions must be tailored to Southeast Asia’s diverse needs.
Personalisation vs Simplification: While customised offerings are in demand, simplicity is key. The goal? Demystify offerings without compromising on relevance.
Data-Driven Collaboration: Marketing and insights teams must unite to leverage lifestyle data, ensuring campaigns and products meet evolving consumer needs.
Customer and Employee Experience: A crucial insight emerged regarding the equal importance of customer and employee experiences. Satisfied employees are more likely to deliver exceptional customer service, creating a positive feedback loop that benefits the entire organisation.
For more context, explore resources from our recent discussions on Redefining the Insurance Customer Experience in Thailand here.
Building on these insights, AIBP hosted a closed-door workshop on Total Experience (TX) strategy in the Philippines’ Financial Services sector, focusing on:
AI and Data Analytics for Personalization
Omnichannel and Integrated Journeys
Measuring ROI and Scaling
Innovation and Inclusion
These focus areas reflect the sector's commitment to leveraging technology and data to create more personalised, efficient, and inclusive financial services. By addressing these key components, financial institutions aim to develop comprehensive TX strategies that not only meet current customer expectations but also position them for future success in an increasingly competitive and digital landscape.
AI and Data Analytics for Personalization
The 2024 ASEAN Enterprise Innovation Survey highlights a notable trend in the Philippines regarding investment priorities in emerging technologies. 79.3% of enterprises intend to invest in AI&ML, while 62.9% are looking to invest in data analytics within the next 2-4 years.
These findings from the ASEAN Enterprise Innovation Survey align with the growing recognition of AI's transformative potential in the financial sector. As Philippine enterprises prioritise investments in AI, machine learning, and data analytics, financial institutions are poised to leverage these technologies to enhance their services and operations. However, the path from investment intention to successful implementation is challenging and filled with challenges.
To overcome these hurdles, it's crucial to foster AI literacy across all levels of the organization and involve all stakeholders in the decision-making process, creating a culture that embraces technological innovation.
Implementing AI comes with its own set of challenges:
Alignment of Business and IT Strategies: Successful AI implementation requires a harmonious integration of business objectives and technological capabilities.
Data Management: Financial institutions face challenges in managing vast amounts of data effectively for AI initiatives.
AI Literacy: There's a growing need for AI literacy across all levels of banking organizations, involving all stakeholders in the AI journey.
“Our present CEO, Eugene Acevedo, mandated that all our managers across all business units, operations, including audit, fraud, support team etcetera to have an AI certification. You have to have that buy-in across the organisation… in fact, all members of the board, for the past two years, their annual board training is on AI.”
Omnichannel and Integrated Journeys
The ASEAN Enterprise Innovation Survey not only highlights the growing emphasis on AI and data analytics investments but also underscores the critical importance of customer experience in digital transformation initiatives. With 59.1% of enterprises in the Philippines prioritising customer experience in their digital projects, it's clear that businesses recognise the intrinsic link between technological advancements and enhanced customer interactions.
Bridging the gap between AI implementation and customer experience, financial institutions are focusing on creating seamless omnichannel experiences. Consistency across all touchpoints is vital for creating frictionless experiences and maintaining a unified customer view. This includes physical branches, digital platforms, kiosks, and call centers. Financial institutions are leveraging AI to enhance these experiences:
ATM Cash Management: Predictive AI models using camera data to forecast ATM cash depletion.
Query Management: Development of generative AI tools to streamline customer inquiries.
Financial institutions are increasingly recognizing that employee experience is a key enabler of customer experience. By involving employees in co-creating CX initiatives, financial institutions can ensure alignment between internal processes and customer-facing strategies. For example, leveraging human-centered design techniques—such as journey mapping for both employees and customers—can illuminate challenges and opportunities that impact both experiences.
Moreover, investing in employee wellbeing, skill development, and providing intuitive tools for their roles not only boosts morale but also enhances their ability to serve customers effectively. In this way, employee experience becomes a cornerstone of TX strategies, bridging the gap between internal operations and external customer satisfaction. This placement ties employee experience directly to TX while reinforcing its importance in achieving seamless omnichannel journeys, innovation, and measurable Return on Investment (ROI).
Measuring ROI and Scaling
As financial institutions invest in AI and omnichannel strategies, measuring ROI and scaling initiatives become crucial for ensuring sustainable growth in their TX strategies. By linking TX initiatives to strategic performance metrics, financial institutions can drive both operational and financial success. This approach allows for a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of TX investments on the overall business performance.
Key performance indicators include:
Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend the bank's services.
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Evaluates customers' happiness and satisfaction with specific products, services, or interactions.
Customer Effort Score: Assesses the ease with which customers can interact with the bank across various touchpoints.
Operational Efficiency: Evaluates the bank's ability to optimize resources and streamline processes.
Investment Gain Ratio: Calculates the return relative to the initial investment in TX initiatives.
Risk-Adjusted Return on Capital (RAROC): Helps compare investments by adjusting returns based on associated risks.
“As you define your business metrics, you can definitely map onto your IT metrics. For example, if someone is calling up a call center in a bank about certain things, the call center agents can use AI which can connect to so many discrete sources to provide a first call of resolution. IT Metrics can be easily mapped onto this, so that IT can deliver those business metrics.”
Innovation and Inclusion
While measuring ROI is essential, financial institutions must also focus on innovation to stay competitive. Innovation in banking should be purpose-driven and passionate, focusing on creating value through integrated experiences and cutting-edge technology. This approach not only enhances customer satisfaction but also drives financial inclusion and transformation in the industry.
Some key areas of innovation brought up include:
Digital Payments Transformation: Implementing advanced payment solutions to improve transaction speed and security.
Sustainable Financial Inclusion: Developing products and services that cater to underserved populations.
Open Finance Initiatives: Promoting data sharing and collaboration within the financial ecosystem.
Gig Economy Solutions: Creating tailored financial services for the growing freelance and gig worker market.
Data-Driven Financial Services: Leveraging big data and analytics to offer personalized financial products
Future Considerations
Looking ahead, financial institutions must adapt to evolving customer expectations and technological advancements. As financial institutions continue to evolve their TX strategies, they must focus on long-term sustainability and balance technological advancements with human-centered experiences. This forward-thinking approach ensures that financial institutions remain competitive and relevant in an ever-changing financial landscape.
“What is going to be key is: what kind of projects do you specifically want to provide for, modelling those cases using something known as a desirability feasibility. What is does is basically project your use cases, depending on how feasible, how viable, and then we manage that along with the entire underlying cognitive infrastructure calculation of making that a reality.”
