A new survey has revealed insights into what financial leaders from major banks are investing in when it comes to customer experience – and their concerns with live agents post-pandemic.
The poll, by KPMG Banking Pulse Quarterly, included insights from 60 bank CEOs from around the world and found business leaders in this sector are shifting their efforts to new CX technologies.
The survey also indicated that 45% of CEOs globally envision their companies’ return to normality happening sometime in 2022.
All participants agreed a successful vaccine roll-out is the most important factor in bringing back a sense of normality.
Added to that, nine out of 10 CEOs are keen to ensure their staff’s safety by asking employees to notify them when they’ve been vaccinated while 50% of bank leaders are concerned that not all employees will have access to the Covid-19 vaccines, which could potentially jeopardize their operations and competitive advantage.
Furthermore, the survey found that 56% of bank CEOs have a newfound appetite for M&A – and the recently concluded merger between SAMBA and NCB may pave the way for further consolidation in the Kingdom’s banking sector.
The top drivers for investment have shifted into the digital realm to transform the customer experience and value proposition while increasing market share and transforming business models at a significantly faster pace.
The pandemic has shifted their investments to customer-centricity and CX technologies are now at the forefront of their minds, alongside investments in data security measures, digital communications and cloud computing.
Ovais Shahab, Head of Financial Services at KPMG, said: “Among the positive performance indicators across various fronts, Saudi banks have shown stellar growth in the real estate finance division over the past two years in particular.
“With an astounding increase of approximately 100% since FY 2018, and the total financing on this front fast approaching the SAR 500 billion ($133.3 million) mark. In fact, statistics show the number of new residential mortgage contracts being written have grown almost ten times over the last three years, to approximately 300,000.”
The survey also highlighted 88% of bank CEOs are looking to lock in the gains in sustainability and climate change which were brought about by the pandemic as opposed to 55% in the previous year.
Finally, in terms of diversity, the report noted 62% of bank leaders believe that progress has moved too slowly, with an overwhelming majority of 85% of leaders agreeing that there is still much to be done with gender in the field.
