Retail Banking Contact Centers: Strategic Considerations

Boston, MA – July 17 – 2012 Anemic macroeconomic conditions and tight credit standards have stunted growth opportunities for banks and other financial institutions. Executives therefore are exploring new means of generating revenue and including the contact center in these efforts. Many FIs are finding that the process of redeploying the contact center as a strategic asset, rather than a cost center, unlocks revenue opportunities and also enables representatives to deliver higher quality customer service.

Mercator Advisory Group's latest report, Retail Banking Contact Centers: Strategic Considerations, examines how a contact center that is aligned with the financial institution’s objectives and integrated with other banking channels can support organic growth. The report describes best practices at retail banking contact centers regarding performance measurement and communication channel strategies, highlighting recent customer satisfaction studies of several retail banking segments and contact center communication channels.

Michael Misasi, research analyst at Mercator Advisory Group and author of the report, comments, "Retail banks and credit unions are now embracing the notion that operating a successful contact center may require expanding its function beyond basic, low-cost customer service. Financial institutions are returning contact centers to the U.S. and managing them like other banking channels. This means integrating the contact center with branch and Web-based customer management applications and relying on the center to generate enough revenue for internal profitability.”

The report is 24 pages long and contains 12 exhibits.

Companies mentioned in this report include: PSCU, CFCU, Fiserv, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase

Members of Mercator Advisory Group have access to this report as well as the upcoming research for the year ahead, presentations, analyst access, and other membership benefits.