DBS Bank Ltd - Best Use of Technology in Customer Service
Company: DBS Bank Ltd, Singapore
Company Description: DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 18 markets. We are one of Asia’s leading banks, operating in the most dynamic region of the world. We provide a full range of services in consumer banking, wealth management and institutional banking. We are focused on leveraging digital technology to reimagine banking, so our customers can live more and bank less.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Use of Technology in Customer Service - Financial Services Industries
Nomination Title: DBS Chatbot - Personalised IVR and Guided Conversations
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 18 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, DBS is in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Recognised for its global leadership, DBS has been named “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney, “Global Bank of the Year” by The Banker and “Best Bank in the World” by Global Finance. The bank is at the forefront of leveraging digital technology to shape the future of banking, having been named “World’s Best Digital Bank” by Euromoney. In addition, DBS has been accorded the “Safest Bank in Asia” award by Global Finance from 2009 to 2020.
DBS Customer Centre is a fully in-house contact centre with over 400 seats, serving DBS’ Consumer Banking customers. We service customers through various channels including voice, email, chat, video teller machine, online messaging, and social media. We have received numerous industry recognitions for customer service excellence, with numerous wins in the CCAS (Contact Centre Association of Singapore) Regional Contact Centre Awards. Most notably, we won 6 Golds and 2 Silvers in the Best In-House Contact Centre (Above 100 seats) category over the past 8 years.
Outline the nominated achievement since July 1 2019 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Guided Conversation (GC) digibot is part ofDBS’ Digital Servicing Model. Our strategy aims to seamlesslymigrate our customers from calls to digital channelswhile fulfilling theirneedsthrough conversational interfaces.The in-house solution not only serves as a chatbot, it enables fulfilment of customers’ bankingrequests within the same channel via STP (Straight Through Processing) digitally. Customers can performover 60services in a structured, conversational style, such as card replacement, reporting of lost card, checking latest transactions.
We launchedHyper-Personalisation GC in July 2019 (Phase 2) to use a data-driven process to improve digital adoption. This is enabled by applying a neural network model on customers’ online and offline footprint topredict their service needs. Thesepersonalised services are then embedded throughout the call-to-digital journey. Customer Segmentation by their digital capabilities allows an additional dimensionofpersonalisation.E.g.customers who are digital natives would have a different journey compared to those who are less digitally-savvy.We saw over 20% improvement in digital fulfilment since we incorporated hyper-personalisation.
Through demand management, we reduced our call volume and ultimately achieved a lower overall servicing cost. We saw an increase in the number of calls saved by 32% in 2019 compared to 2018.
In April 2020,the Bankrolled out Covid-19 Relief Loans Packages for Unsecured & Mortgage Loan customers who were suffering financially during the pandemic. The team pivoted the GC model for application purposes, with the necessary product validations and eligibility conditions. A majority of the Covid-19 Relief Package applications received by DBS were processed via GC.
Explain why the achievement you have highlighted is unique or significant. If possible compare the achievement to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words)
As governments imposed movement restrictions requiring citizens to stay indoors during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the nature of work, and of banking, has had to undergo transformation. Customers can no longer visit a bank branch to carry out transactions. DBS’ leadership in digital has enabled us to implement various processes to minimise interruptions to our businesses, such as digitalising the process of applying for Covid-19 relief schemes through GC within 1 week.
GC enabled the system to validate customers’ loan eligibility before application submission, with minimal input and documents to be submitted. This is efficient and fuss-free, compared to the typical process of filling in physical forms and providing extensive documentation. By capturing digital data at source and leveraging the bank’s technological prowess to automate loans processing, we shortened the processing turnaround time by half. Customers are notified of their application status faster.
With most of the industry using chatbots as an FAQ service or an order-take channel, DBS GC is truly a differentiated service channel. It was capable of servicing 90% of Covid-19 relief scheme enquiries digitally. This can be seen by a significant increase in GC attempts between April-June 2020, compared to pre-pandemic times. It has freed up our call centre staff to focus on more complex calls in need of human intervention.
Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
New-York based publisher Global Finance named DBS its choice for the “Best Bank in the World” for 2020. In its award citation, Global Finance highlighted that DBS has been well-positioned to cater for the increased demand for digital banking services during the pandemic, having begun our digital transformation ahead of many of our peers.
“In many cases, banks went beyond what was required.. to extend payment deadlines and distribute financial aid.. DBS Bank... was exemplary in this respect; it was ready for the sharp rise in demand for digital banking services during the pandemic… Those investments are paying off at a time of economic uncertainty and increased credit risks, strengthening the bank’s resilience and helping it step up at a time of heightened customer need.” – Global Finance, 2020
The Guided Conversations model is an efficient and customer-friendly solution, simplifying the application process for Covid-19 Relief Loans at a time when customers needed support the most. It is an excellent showcase of the versatility of the GC model and how it can be used in real time.
The project has received the following awards:
-Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards 2019 (Digital Banking Initiative of the Year)
-CCAS International Contact Centre Awards 2019 (Most Innovative Productivity Solution in a Contact Centre - Gold)
-Customer Contact Week Awards 2020 (Most Innovative Contact Centre, Best In-Class Digital Contact Centre, Best In-Class In-House Contact Centre – All Gold)
-Customer Experience Asia Excellence Awards 2020 (Best Contact Centre - Gold)