TimeTrade study of C-level banking executives finds improving customer experience, expanding mobile and other technologies are top priorities

BOSTON – August 10, 2016 — TimeTrade, the leading provider of appointment-driven personalization, today announced the results of a new study—The State of Retail Banking 2016: A Survey of C-level Banking Executives—which show that while bank executives are focused on providing personalized customer experience, consumers feel there is more work to be done.

The survey of 100 C-level banking executives in the U.S. finds that industry leaders are fully aware that consumers expect more from their banks, which is why they are looking to roll out new products and services that appeal to customers’ rapidly evolving needs. But while more than half (52 percent) of the executives surveyed said they provide a “high level of personalization” and another 40 percent believe their bank provides an “acceptable level of personalization,” those numbers don’t jibe with how customers actually feel.

More than half of 2,000 consumers surveyed for a Q2 2016 TimeTrade study indicated they do not feel their local bank branch knows them as a customer.

On the positive side, 50 percent of the C-level bankers surveyed said customer experience solutions are the top investment area for their bank over the next 18 months.

Beyond the disagreement between banking executives and consumers about the quality of the customer experience, other key survey findings include:

• Nearly half (44 percent) of bank executives report that providing new products and services are their top in-branch priority. Others include providing wireless devices and Wi-Fi for customer use (32 percent), changing branch design (26 percent), improving wait times (22 percent), and providing more specialists to serve customers (21 percent).
• The majority of consumers (69 percent), however, said the ability to bank outside of typical business hours was the service enhancement they want most, followed by the ability to schedule appointments (46 percent).
• Half of bank executives see improving their social (51 percent) and mobile (50 percent) channels as the best way to enhance interaction with customers.
• Though café-style branches have generated industry buzz for a few years, survey results reveal that less than one-third (29 percent) of bank executives plan on introducing them.
• More than half of executive respondents (60 percent) provide a customer survey after an in-branch visit.

The full State of Retail Banking 2016: A Survey of C-level Banking Executives can be downloaded here.

“It’s really no surprise that while the vast majority of executives feel their banks provide an acceptable to high level of personalization, their customers feel quite differently,” said Gary Ambrosino, CEO of TimeTrade. “It’s critical for banks to facilitate the face-to-face experience that customers crave. Banks that deliver the highest level of personalization will earn their customers’ trust and will have a distinct advantage over banks that don’t.”

About TimeTrade
TimeTrade creates conversations that drive business. The company provides an omnichannel appointment-driven personalization solution to leading retail banking, health and wellness, higher education, consumer retail, and telecom organizations. TimeTrade’s SaaS-based, appointment-centric customer experience solution enables customers to convert digital first touch interactions into a high-value, in-person meeting. TimeTrade has driven 400 million connections between consumers and businesses, directly translating into more than $3 billion in commerce every year.

TimeTrade is a registered trademark of TimeTrade Systems, Inc. All other company or product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE: TimeTrade