(3 November 2009 – Australia) Commonwealth Bank has made plans to widen the chat function on its website, hoping to replace up to a third of all calls to the service centre.Currently, customers can chat with employees over its internet banking platform Netbank to request information during the product application process.
The bank has also strengthened security for business customers through a five-year deal with IdenTrust, which will provide digital identities and authentication, and electronic signature capabilities for selected online applications.
Drew Unsworth, online banking general manager, CBA said that the chat function was in its infancy with only about 5-10 percent of customers using it during the application process.
Mr Unsworth added that the bank is looking to expand the chat functionality to other areas of their website.
The bank expects online chat to replace up to one-third of all calls to the service centre, Mr Unsworth highlighted.
If you look at the youth of today they would prefer to chat online than pick up the phone and people want to interact differently by taking some of the human emotion out of a discussion, Mr Unsworth added.
Mr Unworth said a useful application of the chat would be in loan origination or financial hardship, where customers may be embarrassed to discuss their financial situation in person or over the phone.