Just as banks have begun to know very well what makes millennials tick, the entrance from the digital native Generation Z into the marketplace has brought an enormous transfer of customer behaviours and expectations. These individuals have never known life without digital technologies like smartphones and social networking, which has transformed the way businesses must work to communicate and connect with them.
This is a generation that makes no among the online and offline worlds. They might drop a brandname or service due to a poorly designed mobile app or a limited number of channels. With Amazon and Google delivering new, automated and personalised banking experiences to Gen Z's fingertips, traditional banks face the risk of losing them as clients unless they deliver more authentic experiences.
Gen Z already have a spending power globally of $140bn and have been found to be more financially conscious and independent than their X and Y predecessors. Just how do banks focus on among the fastest growing consumer markets on the planet when their demands are not only different, but more volatile?
A personalised banking experience
Being able to manage finances online or via apps was a great solution for millennials . Gen Z, on the other hand, have an attention length of only 8 seconds, so will show little patience for digital apps that complicate their resides in in whatever way, or aren't available on the go. In fact, 69% of them don't find value in most apps.
Gen Z have to be given immediate access to information on the channels they use most. With a quarter spending more than five hours per day on their own phones and over half using messaging apps for almost all this time, financial organisations must make the most of how a mobile phone is being used to generate a quick, seamless, and personalised banking experience.
The advantages of WhatsApp Business for banks
A recent study on Facebook discovered that in the UK, 57% of Gen Z wished they might message more businesses, indicating that younger customers want to connect with businesses on a familiar platform that is fast and reliable.
This is how WhatsApp Business is necessary, which enables businesses to send real-time alerts and notifications and will be offering always-on support through a chatbot or live agent. Providing services over WhatsApp will increase the probability of customer loyalty and engagement because of convenience, trust, and knowledge of the app. Additionally, bank profiles could be verified and messages are end-to-end encrypted, so clients and banks feel secure using the platform.
One of the main benefits is an on-demand service, where banks can deliver instant interactive communication with rich content capabilities. For example, customers could quickly open accounts via WhatsApp, students could talk to their banks to discover their nearest ATM and bank statements might be provided in seconds.
The same applies for customer care, where chatbots may be used to manage more straightforward queries like bank opening times or balance updates. The ones that require more complex care can be diverted to contact centre agents for convenient conversational support, resolving issues in one-to-one conversations that feel human.
A new trend of messenger banks
A disruptive breed of messenger banks have already realised the opportunity of interactive banking. Zelf, for instance, is a “messenger bank” which uses an encrypted chatbot to handle users' finances. It sends money via Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber, taking out the hassle of having to move from one app to another to transfer funds.
One from the key elements of Zelf is speed, where it takes just a few seconds to spread out an account. After clicking on a launch link, a new conversation with Zelf pops open on WhatsApp or Facebook and promptly issues users their own IBAN account number and virtual card, which they can transfer money to and 'top up'.
The benefits speak for themselves. It's a service which meets consumers on the apps they spend most of their time on – WhatsApp and social networking – while making sending and receiving money as simple as sending a note.
Final words
Zelf can be a new player to the market, but there's pointless why traditional banks can't also adopt WhatsApp Business, especially if they partner using the right solution provider to provide the best use cases for purchasers.