Customer Experience At Eco Bank

As individuals, saving money at a bank curbs our spending habits and allows our funds to grow over time while offering us opportunities to invest and receive high interest rates on deposits.

What you would expect from your bank at the end of the day with the above needs in mind is a bank that;

1. Makes it easy for you to access information about how it meets all of your needs i.e. saving and growing savings/wealth
2. Makes it easy for you to deposit money/savings per time
3. Makes it easy for you to access information about amount of savings you have accumulated
4. Makes it easy for you to access information and updates that will impact your ability to seamlessly operate account (CASE SPECIFIC COMPLAINT)
5. Makes it easy for you to access updates about opportunities where you can invest and grow your savings 
6. Makes it easy for you to access your savings should you want to draw down on it

STORY SHARED
In the case of this experience shared on talk to deBBie, Eco Bank customer had this to say;

"A lien was placed on my savings account by external auditors for a year without me being alerted. No reason was given and it was not warranted because my BVN was  linked to the account. I had however been paying in monies with no hassels for over a year. When I needed to withdraw, I was in limbo for 2 days because they could not ascertain who placed the lien on my account and why. My argument was, why was I not informed for a full year about the development. A simple text message or email would have sufficed. It was later resolved because the name on the BVN did not follow the same sequence as my name on the account... which was not a problem before, but a request for me to update my details would have spared me the embarrassment of having to placate a vendor I needed to pay some monies to urgently"

MY PERSPECTIVE

One of the very crucial elements of managing a customer's experience overall is engagement i.e. communication and there are various information you need to pass across periodically to make sure your customer enjoys using the financial service that you provide. These information range from information your customers need to open accounts, operate accounts, resolving issues impacting their ability to operate their accounts and in the case of financial services, general information of other products/services that will optimize their overall service experience.

The experience shared here in my view points to an inability to engage the customer from an update required to optimize service experience in line with regulatory requirement perspective. Yes businesses are guided by in-state or in-country regulations and in this case - the BVN; Bank Verification Number is no exception. To provide some context, the BVN is a biometric identification system implemented by the central bank of Nigeria to curb or reduce illegal transactions in Nigeria and it is also a security measure in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria Act of 1958 to reduce fraud in the banking system. (Source: Wikipedia ) With this background in view, it is apparent and in the best interest of both the Nigerian economy, banks and Nigeria citizens that it is adhered to as we work towards developing the Nigerian economy. 

Is the BVN requirement therefore something that banks need to meet? Absolutely! Should every Nigerian with a bank account comply and get a BVN? Absolutely! Should this negatively impact a customer's service experience? Absolutely Not!

In this case, ECO  bank has done well to spot the difference in the name which may also be described as a discrepancy in customer data but how did Eco Bank handle this discrepancy? Is it right to lien the account without informing the customer to regularize on discrepancy? Absolutely Not! Especially when customer still has the option to deposit money for over 12 months so Eco Bank should expect that customer will need access to these money? The lien may also be a way to get customer to come in and regularize discrepancy but is that the best approach? 

WHAT COULD Eco BANK HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY? MY 2 CENTS..

In future, Eco Bank prevent customer dissatisfaction in this regard by;

• Informing customer about the discrepancy in BVN and bank account information  via telephone, sms or email
• Communication should contain; 

1. Customer's name (optional but will create some personalization)
2. Information/summary about the discrepancy
3. Why discrepancy needs to be rectified (in the interest of the customer and their experience operating the account)
4. Where customer can rectify it (go through customer's records and provide information about the bank branch closest to customer or is there a way customer can update record remotely i.e. self service?)
5. Timeline/window available for verification (if required)
6. Apologize for any inconvenience 
7. Provide a contact number if customer requires more information about the personal data discrepancy  

• Following up with customer to regularize and if customer fails to do so within timeline provided, inform customer that account has been liened and follow up with customer to unlien account is also strongly advised so you keep the relationship. Every customer relationship is important

Post doing this to address this customer dissatisfaction, it is now VERY IMPORTANT for Eco Bank and other banks that may have experienced this to review overall customer engagement/communication map, create processes around this and share with all stakeholders in the bank so if a similar situation arises, everyone knows what the process is. In the end, customer is not dissatisfied, bank keeps customer and bank adheres to regulatory requirement and not fined by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). 

For more information about how to implement a review your customer engagement and communication strategy , please send an email to talktodebbie6@gmail.com 

Have a good one!

deBBie