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Today’s banking customer journey has evolved into a complex chain of disparate touchpoints across multiple channels and devices. How can financial services companies connect the dots to deliver the seamless, Always-On, individualized omnichannel experience customers demand?
Here’s a look at omnichannel banking from a quality engineering perspective–where it is today, how it’s evolving and why one major shift in QE focus is essential.
In the old days, omnichannel was called multichannel. Customers could do transactions on the web, mobile or voice, but they could not pick up where they left off when they switched channels or devices.
Omnichannel unlocks the true potential of seamlessly switching across different interfaces. Customers can start a transaction on one channel or device and continue the same transaction on another. The state of the transaction and whatever progress was made is persisted and it actually reflects in real time across all these channels.
Customers no longer even need access to their physical computer or mobile devices. They can set up bill paying and do other transactions through their voice-activated virtual assistant, like Alexa, Google or Siri, and approve the transactions on their mobile or authorize them through texts or on their computer. So they can complete a transaction even if they are on the go or their hands are occupied. This makes banking more convenient and accessible for everyone.
For multichannel, quality engineering focused on individual transactions. Omnichannel shifts the focus to interactions–the overall experience of how customers interact with banking. What actions typically occur when you go to a banking center versus web channels, or whether you do transactions by mobile or virtual assistant, and how seamlessly you can switch between all of these platforms and still continue wherever you left off.
In terms of testing, gone are the days when we were focusing on a specific requirement. In today’s world we try to test a transaction right from intake all the way to the end of the life of a product, whether it’s a credit card application, a mortgage loan or a retail trade. We see it as one end-to-end entity, rather than one sliver of the capability we deliver to the marketplace.
This is where automation comes into play, because we have to replicate the whole nine yards of the full life cycle of a specific product or customer journey. Automation enables us to do that at scale and assure repeatability.
Omnichannel requires a unified automation framework that can validate the integrations across the continually evolving landscape of banking-focused applications, all the different channels and endpoints. Quality engineering can no longer depend only on the UI layer in terms of validating the user experience. Validation of the interface layers is essential.
We have to take into account the various form factors, such as size, dimensions and visual resolution. Mobile phone screens can vary from 4.5 inches to 6.8 inches. Tablets can range from 7 to 12 inches. Customers who launch an app on their mobile phone versus their tablet are going to see totally different visualizations. The functions change quite a bit too.
And it’s not just mobile devices. We have to bring in virtual assistants too–the virtual reality experience.
Customer journeys are evolving because a lot of innovation is happening in the marketplace. Banking today can mean a physical experience, a digital-only experience, a blended phygital experience, and, increasingly, a virtual experience. More people are moving toward a virtual journey in the metaverse–a 3-D virtual world where customers can have the experience of being in a physical bank, interacting with somebody physically. This immersive experience is delivered through newer devices, like headsets or AR glasses.
These are the kinds of trends that are going to catch up in the foreseeable future. Quality engineering solutions need to address all the devices and parts of the experience affected by these emerging technologies, as well as be repeatable and scalable, so every customer gets to choose their own journey every time and no customer is left behind.
According to predictions, a quarter of the population will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse for work, shopping, education, social and/or entertainment by 2026. No matter where customers’ banking paths may take them, successful BFSI companies need to stay one step ahead.
That means adopting and assuring next-gen technologies such as banking-focused robotics, virtual assistants, AI-based predictive models and AI-enabled analytics for improved customer awareness. It means automating every possible step in every process to save time for quality-focused innovation and keep pace with each customer’s evolving needs.
Qualitest is partnering with Sauce Labs to offer joint AI-led quality engineering banking solutions grounded in deep domain knowledge. Let us help you assure end-to-end quality across browsers, devices and systems and gain unique user insights from CX/UX journey analytics, crowd testing capabilities, mobile visual regression testing, enhanced beta testing and much more. Get in touch with one of our banking experts now.
