Customer service is always a bottleneck for banks. After the mandatory quarantine, the face-to-face channel in branches was deactivated at the same time that inquiries through other channels multiplied.
In this framework, the entities that have assistance via WhatsApp registered an abrupt jump in the number of questions. Customer contacts through that channel doubled and even tripled in March and April compared to the previous months.
The attention for this modality is carried out with virtual assistants, also called chatbots, programmed to answer the most frequently asked questions and learn from the requirements that they are making, in order to respond better and better.
Although the offer varies according to the entity, in most cases this communication route resolves doubts about balances, cards, investments, PIN laundering or instructions to operate remotely.
Banco Galicia was the first entity in Argentina to launch customer service through WhatsApp in 2018. Responses are made by the virtual assistant Gala, who attends every day, 24 hours a day.
"In this context, the extended hours greatly facilitated closeness with customers," Romina Bernater, product owner of Gala, told iProUP. And he highlights: "In the current situation, Gala exploded, in a good way. We had a monthly average of 60,000 contacts and, since isolation was imposed, we went to 170,000 conversations in just 10 days. More than tripled the average volume."
At Banco Comafi, WhatsApp messages are answered by Sofía, a virtual assistant designed to look as much as possible (in personality and responses) to a human. It has been available for a year and a half and responds every day, 24 hours a day.
"We have grown 276% since the quarantine began. Queries skyrocketed in March. At first, it was the only channel of contact, until all operations were organized remotely," Fabián Mealla, banking manager, reveals to iProUP Comafi digital.
Unlike Gala or Sofía, who are human, in Banco Macro they created eMe, represented by a pair of eyes behind glasses. For a year now, this virtual assistant has been behind the responses that customers receive on WhatsApp.
"During the COVID-19 pandemic, we received 525,000 conversations in April. Prior to this situation, we received 100,000 contacts on average per month. Thus, growth was 425%", highlights Milagro Medrano, manager of institutional relations and attention to client.
Itaú also added the instant messaging app to its service channels. With a simple "Hello," the client initiates the conversation and receives responses and video tutorials to help them perform operations remotely while the isolation lasts.
"It is growing exponentially. In March we doubled customers compared to February and in April we tripled them compared to March. We understand that this trend will continue and will even accelerate as we will be incorporating new functions that further facilitate interaction," he says. iProUP Lionel Baragaño, manager of digital bank and transformation of Itaú.
Several of the entities not only use the assistant on WhatsApp but also on social networks or on their website. Little by little, they automate customer service and unzipping the rest of the contact channels, which also allows them to lower their cost structure.
Milagro Medrano, from Macro, acknowledges that it is difficult to calculate the impact of virtual assistance during the pandemic, but stresses: "The number of calls arriving at our call center grew 700%, but within that universe, those corresponding to queries due to the interference of eMe, mainly, and social networks. "
Meanwhile, Baragaño indicates that his Itaú WhatsApp channel "receives 16% more balance inquiries and five times more summary requests than the contact center, which provides telephone assistance."
More than 80% of the queries that are being made to Sofia in times of pandemic are resolved satisfactorily, without the need to refer the client to another service channel.
In this regard, Mealla, from Comafi, maintains: "We dropped the referral to other channels by 30%. It is not necessary to go to the branch to launder the PIN, nor to have the debit card to get money or call to get a shift. All it is done through Sofia. "
In Galicia, the level of referral is also maintained at levels prior to quarantine. "We are holding the same percentages as before. Gala's effectiveness in responding is quite high. Technologically, we were prepared to respond to such a large number of inquiries through this channel," says Bernater.
At the entity, in addition to the automated attention provided by WhatsApp, a "Conecta" officers' project was launched, so that the bank's executives stay close to customers. The initiative was available with 100 officers prior to quarantine, but was carried out on a large scale during isolation.
"Conecta was a model that did not exist in Argentina. A way to interact with customers by WhatsApp, telephone or email. We designed it for those who had a digital profile. Today, the branch network operates remotely and we have 2,100 officers working from their addresses: they answer queries and provide advice ", highlights iProUP Diego Bacchini, manager of the Galicia branch network.
Currently, within the banking clientele, digital natives coexist with those who attend the branch to renew a fixed term or request the printing of the account summary. However, the spokespersons consulted agree that the form of care will change forever after the mandatory isolation.
For Bernater, "there will be a before and an after." "At some point, the current situation collaborated with the digital transformation of the entire market. There are clients who are more digital and already had contact with Gala. Others began to look for how to contact the bank. Perhaps they did not know about the existence of Gala, now they discovered it and saw that it serves them ", adds the executive from Galicia. And it completes: "In addition, it is also a first contact with non-customers, who can find it and obtain information to make decisions."
From Macro, Medrano affirms that "eMe responds to individuals, companies and non-customers, without identifying the segment to which it belongs. However, the number of inquiries made to us about products and services aimed at the individual segment is greater."
The eternal queues to collect retirement or social assistance showed that the segment that receives benefits from Anses is more reluctant to technology. At Comafi, they point to the growth of the WhatsApp channel to assist them, since those customers are already used to using the application.
"The retiree always had a resistance to homebanking. Sofia is going to be the service channel for that segment because they are more open to using WhatsApp. In addition, they avoid having to remember a user and password. We are going to position Sofia for primary care", Mealla explains.
Baragaño has the same vision on the use of the messaging application. "The channel presents greater use by customers who exclusively have a credit card compared to other digital channels. In any case, adoption is very high in all customers because WhatsApp is a commonly used application," he says. .
And he adds: "In this way, Itaú becomes one more contact who can intuitively consult the information needed simply by chatting."
With the isolation test passed in customer service, entities are already thinking about the next steps and aspire to add functionality to their interactions via WhatsApp.
The focus will be transactionality. Galicia, for example, has already launched the sale of foreign currency by this means; while Comafi works to offer its products in the near future. The goal is the same as that proposed by fintech companies: that each cell phone becomes a branch.