Customer experience (CX) has become the competitive battleground in modern banking. Banks and credit unions that excel at CX enjoy higher recommendations, greater wallet share, and more success cross-selling to existing customers. In fact, 93% of organizations consider customer experience a key differentiator in the market.
Both retail and business banking clients now expect seamless, efficient service and will readily switch if their experience falls short. While many financial institutions focus on large-scale transformation, meaningful gains can also come from practical, easy-to-implement improvements. Let's explore a few simple strategies that can improve banking CX and deliver measurable results.
Streamline Onboarding Processes
Long, cumbersome account opening processes can drive new customers away. According to Deloitte, 38% of new banking customers will abandon the account opening if it takes too long or asks for information they aren’t ready to provide. Streamlining this process not only improves the customer experience but also leads to higher completion rates and a faster path to revenue for your institution. Here are a few practical tips to streamline onboarding:
- Digitize and Simplify Forms: Replace static PDF or paper forms with dynamic online versions. Use clear, plain language and request only the essential information.
- Enable “Save and Resume” Options: Allow applicants to pause and return to their application without losing progress, reducing friction for more complex account openings.
- Automate ID Checks: Leverage AI or third-party verification tools to confirm identity and documentation quickly, eliminating the need for in-branch visits.
- Communicate Status Transparently: Update applicants on their progress via email or SMS and clearly outline the next steps to reduce uncertainty.
By making onboarding easy, fast, and transparent, you set a positive tone for the customer relationship from day one, increasing the chances they'll stay and deepen that relationship over time.
Increase Transparency in Digital Channels
Trust is the foundation of banking, and transparency is key to building that trust. Customers today demand clearer communication about fees, processes, and especially how their data is used. If an institution isn’t forthcoming, customers (and even employees) will gravitate to one that is. Here are several practical ways to increase transparency in your digital experience:
- Be Upfront About Fees and Terms: Clearly display fee schedules, interest rates, and product terms on your website and mobile app. Use plain language and avoid legal jargon or fine print that could confuse customers.
- Use Tools to Clarify Costs: Include real-time calculators or visual examples within product pages and applications to show how fees, payments, or rates are calculated.
- Make Your Data Privacy Practices Visible: Communicate how customer data is collected, stored, and used. Offer an easy-to-understand privacy policy and empower users to manage their data sharing preferences.
- Be Transparent During Outages or Errors: If a service issue or error occurs, notify customers proactively with a brief explanation and update them on resolution progress. Transparency in difficult moments builds long-term credibility and trust.
Improve Accessibility for All Customers
Accessibility is vital to delivering an inclusive and seamless customer experience. It ensures that people with disabilities, older customers, and individuals who prefer different languages or communication methods can all interact comfortably with your institution.
Improving accessibility is not just about compliance or social responsibility; it’s also a smart business move that can expand your customer base and improve overall usability for everyone. Here are a few practical ways to improve accessibility across your banking experience:
- Honor Communication Preferences: Allow customers to choose how they want to receive communications—email, text, phone call, or mailed documents. Supporting a range of preferences makes interactions more convenient and accessible for everyone, especially those with sensory or cognitive challenges.
- Follow WCAG Guidelines for Digital Platforms: Ensure your website and mobile app meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This includes high-contrast text, alt text for images, compatibility with screen readers, and keyboard-only navigation.
- Avoid PDF-Only Content: PDFs often hinder users relying on assistive technology. Offer critical information, such as statements, disclosures, or forms, in accessible HTML formats, or ensure PDFs are tagged adequately for screen reader compatibility.
- Improve Physical Branch Accessibility: Make sure all locations meet ADA standards, with features like ramps, wide doorways, and accessible restrooms. Offer printed materials in braille or large print upon request.
- Make Phone Support Inclusive: Provide TTY/TDD services or access to third-party relay services for customers with hearing impairments. Some banks have also adopted video call support with sign language interpretation for American Sign Language (ASL) users.
Adopt Conversational Banking Tools
We live in an age of instant answers, and conversational banking tools like AI chatbots and virtual assistants meet that need while boosting efficiency. Modern consumers increasingly prefer to get information via chat or voice assistant rather than waiting on hold. Chatbots can provide 24/7 support, instant responses, and personalized guidance without requiring a massive support team.
A prime example is Bank of America’s virtual assistant Erica®, which has seen tremendous adoption. Clients now engage with Erica about two million times per day for help with everything from simple balance queries to complex transactions. To successfully implement conversational banking tools, keep these best practices in mind:
- Ensure Seamless Handoff to Humans: Design your chatbot to escalate to a live agent when a question becomes too complex or a customer shows signs of frustration—passing along relevant context to avoid making them repeat themselves.
- Deploy on Preferred Channels: Make your assistant available where customers already engage—like your mobile app, website chat, SMS, or even popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp.
- Focus on High-Impact Use Cases: Use chatbots to answer FAQs, provide account information, initiate transactions, or deliver real-time alerts (e.g., fraud notifications or low balance warnings).
- Keep It Simple and Conversational: Use natural language and avoid overly technical language or rigid scripts. Make it feel like a helpful, friendly guide—not a corporate form letter.
Elevate the Experience with a Banking CRM
Improving customer experience isn’t just about frontline service—it’s also about what happens behind the scenes. A CRM platform designed specifically for banks and credit unions, like 360 View, helps enhance CX by centralizing customer data and making it actionable. Banking CRMs provide the workflows, insights, and integrations needed to deliver consistently exceptional service across channels.
When used intentionally, a purpose-built CRM becomes more than a database—it becomes the engine behind personalized, proactive, and high-quality service at every touchpoint. Financial institutions can use CRM software to:
- Gain a 360-degree view of every customer, including accounts, relationships, services, interactions, referrals, and profitability data.
- Capture and maintain detailed interaction notes to provide continuity across touchpoints and avoid making customers repeat themselves.
- Automate follow-up tasks and reminders to ensure timely responses and prevent dropped service opportunities.
- Segment audiences and launch personalized marketing campaigns based on life events, product usage, or behavioral triggers.
- Equip teams with performance dashboards to drive coaching, consistency, and quality across all service channels.
Deliver an Exceptional Banking Customer Experience with 360 View
Enhancing the customer experience doesn’t always require sweeping changes. As these strategies show, small, intentional improvements—like simplifying onboarding, streamlining communication, and personalizing service—can make a big impact. At the heart of it all is a focus on convenience and care: making it easy for customers to do business with you, and showing that you value their time, needs, and feedback.
In a competitive industry where switching banks is easier than ever, delivering an exceptional customer experience is one of the most effective ways to build lasting loyalty. It transforms satisfied customers into long-term advocates—and in many cases, turns one relationship into a multi-generational connection.
Providing that kind of high-touch service is far more achievable with the right technology in place. Built specifically for banks and credit unions, 360 View helps you strengthen relationships, streamline service, and put customers first. Request a demo today to discover how 360 View can help you delight customers and achieve measurable CX results.
