Conversational Banking: Is a Virtual Queue the Future of Banking?
Since Covid-19 kicked all of our doors at the beginning of 2020, businesses immediately started to come up with plans and procedures to transfer their operations online, which also involves a virtual queue management system. Let’s face it: nothing saps our energy more than standing in endless queues for literally a 5-minute conversation at a bank. Thank heavens there is already a solution to it: a virtual queue.
Many companies have already started to implement this way back in the past decade, but Covid-19 has kind of made the issue as relevant as never before. Moreover, huge developments are now being carried out to ensure a full virtual experience with banks. It looks like we are very close to seeing a time, where you not only hold a virtual queue but also have a video conference with a specialist or just chat with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) bot. True, this is not going to be the same as before. It is going to be much quicker and more hassle-free. We’re definitely betting our odds on this!
The Journey and Where We Are Now
The invention of the ATM machine back in the 1960s was already revolutionary. The banking industry kept evolving, as new milestones were being reached. We witnessed the creations of telephone banking, online banking, and then the 21st century introduced us to mobile banking. This is all in the past though. We’re currently being served the newest upgrade in the banking industry, which is called conversational banking. This is when the bots and other hi-tech technologies help you with your queries through a system of voice, text, or visual interface.
Just as mobile banking has given the opportunity to exchange real-life queues with a more pleasant alternative, a virtual queue, conversational banking takes it to another level. Companies like Earlyone work specifically on this, giving you the opportunity to book a time slot for visiting the bank, thus putting you into a virtual queue. You’re also engaging with a virtual queue when you want to talk to a specialist or maybe a bot when you access the live chat option, usually available on most banks’ websites. It usually tells you that you’re “Number X in the queue”, which means that the specialists are busy taking care of other customers and will get to you once they finish with everyone waiting in line before you.
Virtual Queue: Where We’re Headed to
Here is a visual representation of how a virtual queue changes the customer’s life:
As we move forward in time, a virtual queue will be something as ordinary as making a phone call all over the world. Yet, it will be a foundation for a more effortless customer experience. Current technologies and Artificial Intelligence will pave the way for more options, such as video conferencing with the representatives of the bank. Those cases, where the customer would eventually be obliged to visit the bank will most likely be avoided as well. Just as mobile banking was unimaginable 40 years ago, so is the possibility that one day customers will be able to sign a contract virtually and be done with a certain deal right from their computers at home. If we look more optimistically, a virtual queue also has a chance to disappear in the very long run. But let’s not get too excited now, as we’ve come to see that not everything is that predictable in this world.
