There exists a delicate equilibrium because, for certain consumers, the chance to interact face-to-face with their chosen financial services provider will always be the winning formula. Alternatively, creating an augmented or virtual reality environment extends the banking experience and brings us back to the idea that the branch or virtual branch is essentially a retail store to be maximized.
The virtual experience offers an enhanced view of banking, with sophisticated interactivity models allowing consumers to engage in virtual conversations that seamlessly blend the branch contact center experience. This also provides an environment to test and explore the flow of consumer conversations. The most optimized experiences will suggest products and services, but this will, of course, require regulatory scrutiny to ensure compliance with regulatory and consumer-centric guidelines in a programmable space.
By implementing an augmented or virtual channel, banks and financial institutions revisit an era similar to when online banking was being developed. In the case of virtual reality, there’s an opportunity to incorporate voice recognition for authenticating consumer conversations and transactions. However, such sophistication necessitates building trust in security identification measures and promoting adoption. Encouraging consumers to adopt a virtual channel requires careful thought and incentives, serving as a midway point between online platforms and remote call centers or local branches.
Drawing from years of experience in the financial services sector, the ability to create intuitive virtual worlds for transactions and purchases remains real but requires development with a focus on personalization. There’s also a societal impact of shifting consumers toward more computerized interactions, which naturally influences consumer behavior and employee morale as jobs center around the virtual world. Nevertheless, adopting a virtual technology channel opens opportunities for increased segmentation of the consumer base and value optimization by directing consumers to preferred channel-based packages for their financial service needs. (Grant, 2023).
Virtual reality and augmented reality have become increasingly popular and developed in recent years. With banks wanting to incorporate more technology and digital services in their business, it is not a surprise to see them tinker with the idea of VR and AR. I typically associate the use of VR with entertainment and games, so seeing the financial world exploring it is interesting. One of the unique things that article lists as features that VR in banking could include are voice recognition. This especially stood out to me because I believe providing and ensuring the security of a customer’s personal information can be considered a form of customer service. With voice recognition, the new way to authenticate the customers identity just further ensure security. Also, not only does it allow for more personalization in the customer’s experience, but it can motivate the users the move more towards digital services. Are there any rising technologies or features of those technologies that could be incorporated into new customer service ideas? What are some technologies that haven’t made its way into the financial world yet that I could further explore?
References.
Grant, D. (2023, December 11). How augmented reality and virtual reality are reshaping financial services. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2023/12/11/how-augmented-reality-and-virtual-reality-are-reshaping-financial-services/
