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CASE STUDY
CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MESSAGING
In meeting the challenges of an increasingly competitive banking landscape, Standard Bank seeksto differentiate itself by providing the highest levels of service to its customer base. An integral partof achieving this goal has been its partnership with Clickatell to deliver personalized and relevantmessaging to bank customers via their mobile phones."While Clickatell was initially only lookingafter the international leg, their quality ofAN INCREASINGLY DYNAMIC MARKETservice has seen them evolve into one ofOnce the domain of staid financial institutions, the world of modern banking is undergoing a spurtour primary service providers looking afterof change and innovation. Products and services have transformed, offering a plethora of optionsmany other areas of the overall solution,"to match the needs of a wide variety of individuals. In addition, new channels such as InternetLouis Blom, Head of Internet banking at Standard Bankbanking, call centers, and mobile banking are evolving rapidly to enable convenient interactionanytime, anywhere, on any device.
At the same time, new competitors - international institutions, niche players, and entrants from otherindustry sectors - are emerging every month, making it increasingly difficult for one bank to separateitself from the rest. "New products are quickly copied or improved by others, so the only real routeSharing the Benefitsto sustainable competitive advantage is through differentiating based on service," explains LouisWhen used appropriately, mobile messagingBlom, head of Internet banking at Standard Bank. "To achieve this, most banks are focusing heavilyprovides significant value to the recipient,on customer centricity, with a particular focus on delivering personalized communications via thebeing both immediate and less intrusive thancustomer's channel of choice."other communication channels. But it's notjust customers who benefit. Using Clickatell'sMOVING FORWARD WITH SMS BANKINGSMS gateway, Standard Bank has realizedOne customer-centric area of focus for Standard Bank has been the mobile channel. The bank usesthe following benefits within its ownit to deliver personalized and relevant messaging services to its customers' mobile phones.operations:Mobile phones are an increasingly indispensable communications device for many segments ofsociety, and the mobile channel cannot be ignored when considering customer relationships. "In.Ensuring that communication is readilythis regard, mobile messaging is a mature and highly relevant technology, but it needs to bereceived and understood through the approached with caution," says Blom. "It has already become a bit of a 'hygiene factor' in bankinguse of pervasive mobile networks and - it's a nice-to-have, but you wouldn't leave your bank if you didn't have it - and needs to be usedthe low complexity of SMSappropriately to the customers' preferences.".Increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty through the immediate and With such a fine line between delivering a valuable communications service and becoming intrusive,proactive communication of relevant Standard Bank chose to adopt mobile messaging a few years ago in a gradual, phased approach.informationInitially, the service was to offer opt-in mobile Short Message Service (SMS) alerts on transactions,.Reducing costs, both by channeling as well as SMS-based marketing messages that would be used sparingly and only when they wouldcommunication through the lower-costprovide value to the recipient. The bank contracted a number of mobile service providers to manageSMS medium, and by relieving pressureits messaging locally, but with extensive operations around the world, it also required a serviceprovider that could manage communications effectively at a global level.on high-cost channels such as contactcentersFINDING THE RIGHT FIT WITH CLICKATELL.Driving accuracy and reliability in its In this regard, one service provider stood out above the rest. As a global leader in mobile messaging,communication efforts through direct Clickatell specializes in providing business-class end-to-end SMS solutions. It operates one of theintegration into back-end systems and world's largest SMS gateways, spanning almost 700 networks in over 200 countries. Thesebeing able to track the delivery of eachcapabilities amply met Standard Bank's needs, and it promptly designated Clickatell as a preferredmessage sentservice provider with a specific foc... [download for more]
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