Bankinter offers its online service users the chance to consult an operator via web cam to answer any queries they may have. The bank’s project has produced an increase of 35% in operations completed through the internet.
Bankinter is Europe’s fourth largest online bank. Approximately 60% of the bank’s active customers use its web page and currently 66% of transactions are carried out via remote channels; 55% through internet and 5% by mobile phone.
In 2005 the bank explored the possibility of using videoconferencing to communicate with customers. “We wanted to combine the efficiency of communications through internet with the ability to obtain information from a real person,” said Jorge Andreo, head of Innovation Projects at Bankinter. “It’s about connecting a customer with a specific question with the right person at the right time.
Since October 2007 Bankinter has offered a video call service which clients can access by clicking on a link which appears at the top of the bank’s webpage.
The service, based on Dialcom Network’s Spontania Unified Communications (UC) software, makes use of the pre-existing Bankinter contact centre infrastructure to avoid disruptions and reduce the required investment. “The integration capacities of Spontania eliminated the additional time and cost which would have been needed to replace some of these systems”, says Andreo.
Use
Bankinter designed the implementation to provide access to the video call service in three ways. Buttons are provided for on-line video call support on web pages where there is frequent need for customer assistance due to the complexity of the product or transaction.
Video call pop-ups are used to deliver specific offers to specific clients. Custom access to the video call service can also be provided in other situations either at the customer’s request or the bank’s initiative.
The video call service is very simple for customers to use. When customers select the video calling feature, an Active X control is automatically installed, which performs a multimedia test and automatically configures the customer’s sound card. The entire installation process takes less than one minute.
The client application then appears in the lower part of the customer’s screen including video of the Bankinter representative and controls for text chat and volume adjustment. When the Bankinter representative wishes to share an application or send a file, a window appears in the customer’s PC requesting permission to do so.
Customer response was very positive. In the first six months almost 30,000 video calls were made between the bank and its customers. Approximately 25% of these calls resulted in a product sale compared to 18% for existing channels.
Response
In the first six months, the income generated by the new video channel far exceeded the bank’s predictions and it became an important profit source for the company.
“The adoption rate of the new service has been very fast from both customers and employees, Andreo claimed. “The sales conversion rate was almost one and half times the rate of similar alternatives that were available before this channel was launched. The volume of sales completed through the new channel in six months has already exceeded our investment and has grown steadily through this period,” he concluded.
The Spontania application has reduced Bankinter’s business process cycle time, in this case specifically the selling process. The new video call service has been included in Bankinter’s monthly customer satisfaction surveys and results available so far show 85% of customers are happy with this service, which is about 10% higher than the average rating for the bank’s services.
With regard to technological investment, it has been a considerable economic advantage that the new platform integrates fully with the complete existing architecture including; the PBX telephone systems for automated call distribution, computer telephony integration (CTI) and the CRM management application.
