Relaxing on vacation in Spain a few months ago, I was struck by the way exceptional customer service still has the power to "Wow!" the customer. Now, this wow factor wasn't anything to do with the service provided by the hotel staff, although this was faultless, it had to do with the activities of an organisation based thousands of miles away, in a different time zone, in a different land. It also served as a lesson to me that my expectations of the service provided by organisations have changed dramatically and most likely forever. My expectation is for multi-channel access, regardless of where I'm located, regardless of what device. I expect the service to be guaranteed and to be available when I want it.
For the record, I was trying to access was a brokerage account that I have (by the way I am an English resident) with an institution in the U.S. For these institutions the opening up of new services and channels for customers always brings with it potential risks - none more so than the potential for fraud. Given this risk, there are always going to be situations when the service may need to be withheld from the customer, particularly where the identification of the person cannot be absolutely verified.
Unbeknown to me this is exactly what happened when I tried to access my account via the web from the hotel PC. Apparently an anti-fraud process was operating in the background and determined that a web request for access to my account from Spain was unusual enough to be classified as "risky", so account access should be denied. I commend the brokerage for taking such steps. It means my money is safer.....but what about the stock trade I wanted to make??
What courses of action might the institution take to let me gain access to the site - and make that trade? Post a number I should call to gain authorisation to the account? Schedule a call centre agent to call me, identify me and allow me access to the site? How long was this going to take?
Happily for me, and the reason why I'm relating this story, the resolution was none of the above. What the institution had done was to "communication-enable" the authentication process, so that the system was able to automatically identify and validate me without the intervention of a human, thus completing the whole process in less then 20 seconds, allowing me to make that trade and get back to the more serious business of relaxing by the pool!
This is how it worked. Following my log on attempt, I was taken to a non-critical part of their web site and shown my personal profile in which I'd previously entered my contact phone numbers. I was asked if I was in a position to receive a phone call (a resounding yes!), then immediately my mobile phone rang and a speech engine spoke an authorisation code to me; which I entered into the security code box on the screen and presto I was able to access my account!
A great example of the power of communication-enabled business process that works for all parties. A way of providing superior customer satisfaction, satisfied risk management professionals and taking unnecessary calls from the call centre. When will other institutions make the leap?
