Our relationship with financial institutions has changed a lot in recent years. Have you had a trusted manager for years and in the same branch? A person who accompanied you from the moment you opened your first account to the moment you took out your mortgage? The time when a customer could go to a branch and feel involved is long gone. 

The current situation is that the customer, in general, is deeply dissatisfied with the financial system. The system has evolved a lot in recent years and has not known how to (or wanted to) explain this change to the customer. Thus, year after year, the customer has only seen how the institution of which he or she was a part changed shape, colours and staff without really understanding what was going on. The new fintechs are picking up on this unease and are born precisely from the perspective of giving customers back what they lost years ago: a relationship of trust with the financial institution.

Digitalisation fosters a new interaction

We come from a society marked by social interaction, and the irruption of new technologies has revolutionised everything: another form of communication is possible, including with financial institutions. This change in mentality can be interpreted in many ways, but, if used correctly, the benefits can be manifold for customers and institutions.

To speak of financial digitalisation is to speak of fintech. In terms of communication, they have a lot to say. They are the first financial institutions to change the way they communicate with customers. They have brought about an entirely digital system of interaction, which has left traditional banking lagging behind.

At first glance, it may seem that many customers, especially those who were not born in the digital era, will not embrace this change, no matter how many advantages it brings them, and that they will therefore maintain face-to-face and direct service as their main means of contact. But to what extent can this be an advantage for them? 

A digital experience with human quality

The first thing a user looks for when accessing a financial institution is instant attention. No one wants to spend the morning standing in endless queues only to be dealt with in a matter of minutes. Every problem requires an investment of time on both sides. A fintech like 11Onze, which has already been born with digitalisation, will maintain this principle in all interactions with the user, who will have the tools to ask and get an answer to any query. Automatic chats have made it possible to improve the experience in this aspect, providing the user with information based on keywords. Some even go further and offer personal and human attention from these chats. Email or telephone support are the other two ways.

Another requirement is quick understanding, and this is where machines still have room for improvement. For most customers, receiving human telephone support will be more satisfactory than a call with a robot, where a lot of time can be wasted without getting any concrete answer. Although digital entities are working to improve in this aspect, it will be the fintechs with personalised customer service that will gain ground.

Along the same lines, branch service also allows users to have the certainty that they will be able to clear up any doubts they may have. This is a point that is not always satisfactorily resolved, as it requires an investment of time for the customer that not all institutions are currently willing to offer. If they do, it is not always with clarity and transparency.

In this sense, fintechs are still committed to personal and personalised attention, placing special emphasis on this second point. Being aware that each person has different needs and concerns and requires more or less time to acquire information. Respecting each person’s time is a key value that differentiates a good experience from a bad one, both in the digital environment and in person.

Finally, the last and most decisive factor that a customer looks for in an office is trust; knowing that there is a person who will inform us properly and will work for us with honesty and professionalism. But what if all the employees in the branch or in the entire institution were like your favourite manager, and what if they all looked after the customer’s needs and informed him or her honestly and professionally? Then a personal assignment would no longer be necessary, because the trust would not be with a single person but with an entity. This is the real change in the mindset of fintech.

Customer experience marks the future

In fintech, customer service time does not prevail, nor does customer allocation, sales pressure or the number of customers served. In fintech, attention is constant and permanent, from any channel or device. People prevail over products; their needs prevail over those of the entity; and work is done every day to evolve and improve this experience. To bring the financial world closer to users and offer them, for the first time, everything they may need at a single click. 

In short, a fintech means going back to the origins of financial institutions and offering the customer a relationship of trust based on respect and mutual benefit. A relationship to which all the technological advances and facilities that this can offer are added, and those face-to-face practices that, instead of making life easier for the customer, complicate it, are subtracted. Convenience is just a click away. Welcome to the new financial era.

11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!