Humanizing banking technology

Technology and innovation can make banking easier, faster and more convenient but the human factor remains critical not only in keeping existing customers but also in attracting new ones.

Partners Union Bank of the Philippines and Infobip, a global cloud communications platform, agree that recent scientific advances are tools to supplement and complement banking practices, not to replace them completely.

They are also means to personalize and customize the banking experience for individual customers.

Clients, as they found out in their years of collaboration, expect to continue to interact with humans, no matter how smart machines have become.

In a recent roundtable, partners Infobip and UnionBank, note that while technology makes banking safer and more secure because of its exceptional capability to verify and authenticate in record time information provided, bank clients still prefer human interaction.

Infobip allows UnionBank to address and respond to individual concerns and problems, even personalize messages.

Ermin Hamzic, head of customer growth for Asia Pacific at Infobip, says their platform helps clients by allowing them to reach out to customers through whatever channels people are already using. “We do not want to introduce new channels,” he says. The platform is more about ease of use and access so people could painlessly and fearlessly adopt and move to new systems.

Financial inclusion

Through Infobip, Marc Angeles, head of low code development and automation at UnionBank, says they are able to reach both existing and prospective customers not just through e-mail, but also through social media, like Viber. “We are (reaching) social media account holders, including those outside (still not part of the UnionBank universe).”

Angeles says the versatility and agility afforded by Infobip are letting the bank advance the goal of financial inclusion, reaching the unbanked, unserved and/or underserved by financial institutions.

Financial inclusion is a prime objective of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the country’s monetary regulatory body, in its efforts to bring the benefits and convenience of institutional financial services to majority of Filipinos.

Not just about tech

Angeles says UnionBank’s digital transformation, which began in 2017, is “not just about technology, but also about people and culture.” Procedures were simplified and access was made easier, faster and more convenient, with customers able to connect with their bank through whatever platform they used or were most comfortable with, 24/7.

Hamzic says the Infobip platform has also adapted to the less than reliable connectivity in the Philippines. The use of artificial intelligence allows the platform to determine when clients are available and have digital access. It lets the bank know “the best time to deliver a message.” Angeles stresses that multiple backup systems, not just Infobip, enable UnionBank to connect with customers during the so-called downtime. UnionBank wants to make sure “no one gets left behind”, even those who could only access physical spaces.

Branches have been transformed to be able to provide more personal services. And, if branches were not accessible, “we partnered with remittance centers (and) used all available outlets” to allow customers to cash out from their accounts.

Customers are asked their preferred channel of communication where the bank could send notifications, Angeles adds. Infobip allows the bank to track if the message has been delivered and the customer reached.

Cecile Tizon, Asia-Pacific sales director at Infobip, says the bank has its own experts to align data with those of the customers for their protection. Angeles says security is one of the pillars of the banking industry.

UnionBank’s collaboration with Infobip helped increase the bank’s customer reach by five percent, resulting in a record-breaking 12 percent growth between June and July.

—Linda B. Bolido, Contributor