All posts tagged IVR

Fino-mitra Leading The Way In Mobile Banking

By blogger on

Transactions through mobile:

FINO-MITRA:

FINO-MITRA (Mobile Based Information and Transactions), a comprehensive set of end-to-end offerings for enabling microfinance initiatives leveraging mobile as a platform for better mobile banking services to customers.

Services:

* Covers the entire range of services starting from operational tasks such as enrollment to complex transactions such as mobile commerce.

* Caters to the needs of the agents/ middlemen as well as the end users.

* Agents are offered Mobile Based Enrolment as well as Mobile Based POT.

* End users are offered Mobile Banking, Mobile e-wallet, M-commerce thus completing the solution ecosystem for enabling financial inclusion using mobile as a platform.

Your browser may not support display of this image.

Mobile Banking Strategy and Approaches:

The mobile banking strategy has 2 approaches

* Mobile banking for agent.

* Mobile banking for customers.

Your browser may not support display of this image. Your browser may not support display of this image. Your browser may not support display of this image.

Your browser may not support display of this image.

Sustainability of Mobile Banking among the pyramid customers:

Initiatives to be seen to create a sustainable model are:

Your browser may not support display of this image.

* Robust Partnership:

o Using mobile phone as a channel for financial inclusion is definitely the way ahead due to the vast reach of the telcos irrespective of varied geographical locations and diversities

o A Telco-Business Correspondent alliance will go a long way in developing banking and financial solutions for the unbanked customer

o The private sector and government too needs to come ahead and support the Business Correspondents in their initiatives

o Once the market is tapped and the model of financial inclusion becomes scalable, all the stakeholders would benefit in the form of new revenue channels

* Innovative models:

o Since conventional modes of communication like a text sms do not work for base of the pyramid customers, newer modes of communication like voice alerts and IVR need to be looked at

o Since the customer already knows how to receive a call, receiving a voice alert on his mobile phone will be easier for him

o Further sending a voice alert in a regional language will be a value addition and help in building the trust of the customer

o IVR, being a self help channel, the customer can inquire/transact using his mobile phone/landline/PCO at his convenience

o The customer can choose to communicate in his preferred language while using the IVR solution

* Simple and Cost Effective Solution:

o Developing solutions for the base of the pyramid customers is no rocket science.

o The above information can be leveraged in developing a simple user experience for the end customer using mobile phone as a channel. Partnerships with educational institutions/research organizations can further enable organizations to strengthen their understanding of base of the pyramid customers

o Further it is important to understand that base of the pyramid customers do not have the ability to pay for expensive solutions, given the fact that they lead a hand to mouth existence. However they have a good savings habit, even thought the savings amount may be a meagre Rs.5/- to Rs10/-

* Training and Financial Literacy:

o Once it is known what works for the bottom of the pyramid customers a business correspondent can use its existing agent network to train the customer on the use of mobile technologies

o Financial literacy in terms of giving information about banking products and saving and investing can be carried out using voice technology and IVR, in addition to agent as a medium

Also, note that there always exists a financial need for the financially excluded customer, however difficult to match a banking product to address that need. This brings out the fact that more and more products tailor-made for financially excluded customer need to be in place. (For eg: No Frills savings account).

The Challenges of Banking Outsourcing

By blogger on

Banking has been a very traditional and conservative sector in any country. For ages, generations after generations, have been loyal to a particular bank that their families have been associated with. Whether it is the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB in the UK or American Express and Capital One in the US, people stay loyal to their banking partners.

The banking industry in the west took a huge risk in the last decade by using countries like India, China and the Philippines to outsource their banking and financial services. For banks, it was a step in the right direction to reduce the number of customers walking into their branches, the number of calls taken by banking executives at the branch and reduce the work load on their existing call centres.

They wanted to reduce costs of employing more people to cater to their ever increasing base of customers and provide better services to their customers besides gaining a competitive edge. For customers who have been used to traditional methods of banking such as visiting their nearest branch, were exposed to new and state of the art technologies. IT and IT enabled banking services were the new age success mantra for most banks in Europe and the Americas.

The focus of banks that outsourced parts of their business to other countries was to reduce costs and increase profits. Though their approach was cautious, there were loop holes in their strategy. AMEX was one of the first banks to set shop in India in the late 90s. Theirs was a captive centre. However over the years, more and more BPOs have shown their capability in handling banking and financial services with greater efficiency and effectiveness.

For customers of these banks, the challenge was conquering their fears of a stranger in a distant country having access to their account information and the mistrust in their ability to provide solutions. Besides, there were language and accent issues.

Some customers generally called their banks and surpassed the IVR to speak to an agent as they were not very comfortable dealing with a machine and others demanded speaking to their branch in their own country. Such issues lead to delays in service. This led to dissatisfaction amongst customers and forced many to choose banks that hadnt outsourced their work and catered to their needs from within the country.

Data security was also one the major concerns for banks. More than customers, banks have found themselves living on the edge with account details made accessible to BPOs in other countries. With data theft being a reality in countries like India, China and Japan, it was a proven fact that banking outsourcing wasnt foolproof.

For banks it may result in large law suits and a decrease in their customer base. Banks also had their reputation at stake. The third party vendors may follow practices that may be inconsistent with the policies and practices of the bank. Besides the political, social, legal and physical climate of the outsourcing country may impact banking services.