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Hi Michael, 

thank you for your comment. I think your observation si generally spot-on: if your communication is not clear, the phone won’t make it better but will become another channel for uncertainty. But what if the demand for personal communication is not unclarity but the nature of business and peculiarity of human behaivor?

In our case, many customers called to postpone their regular payments. A basic action that could be done (and had been, before COVID-19) online. But after the first lay-offs took place, customers became more sensitive and uncertain about their financial future. They could not afford any room for mistakes and had to make sure their payments indeed were postponed. All this could be done online via an app, email or live chat. But in the attempt to reduce the amount of uncertainty in their lives, people decided to call and get a confirmation of their action from another human. 

A study by Genesys about the role of empathy in customer service indicates that people use the phone to contact customer service when they are in a heightened emotional state much more (in 56% of cases) than live chat (15%) or email (10%). Why? Because a conversation with a representative brings the feeling of personal accountability, reassurance and guarantee. It also allows customers to express their feelings and get a required level of empathy from representatives.

My point for the article was that fintech deals with a very sensitive topic of money. It’s something that makes people worry and double check everything. The level in anxiety among fintech customers is higher than for many other industries. Hence, fintech needs to address customers’ requirements for the level of empathy and desirable channels of communication. Phone is a direct channel that gives an opportunity for an immediate two-ways communication. No matter how technically enhanced our systems may be, many people still want to talk and hear from another real person on that side of the line. 

Ketharaman, thank you for your feedback! 

I think your point is very interesting and applies to some companies, not only in fintech. However, sooner or later businesses face a challenge of customer retention. That’s when customer support kicks in as a great tool and a real necessity. 

Are there companies out there who still don’t care about supporting their customers? Definitely. 

But we have plenty of clients, from fintech as well, who prioritize their customers and invest in their positive experience. They see great returns on those investments and, I believe, with a growing competition in fintech industry, CX and support will become a major competitive advantage. 

It’s fascinating to see what’s happening in the industry and how different businesses apply different strategies. Let’s see which one proves to be more successful!