The financial services industry is diverse, spanning sectors such as consumer banking, investment banking and wealth management. Financial services companies are largely driven by their technology investments. Some even describe their businesses as a “tech company with a bank attached.” Now, as these institutions grow and expand, they’re adopting advanced customer experience (CX) technologies to drive business growth and meet changing customer expectations.

As financial services organisations evaluate Contact Centre as a Service platforms, they must consider factors like AI-powered personalisation, workforce engagement management (WEM) and regulatory compliance. To stay competitive and relevant, financial service providers must choose the right CX technology to elevate customer experience and improve efficiency.

A Shift in Customer Expectations

With technology brands like Apple, Google and Microsoft creating more self-service, frictionless customer experiences, customers have also raised their expectations for financial service experiences. For example, we’ve seen that the demand for frictionless, digital-first interactions in banking services has reduced traffic to ATMs, physical branches and even websites — while mobile usage continues to rise.

Findings from the 2024 Genesys “Generational dynamics and experience”  report reflect this change in consumer preferences. According to the report, 53% of Gen Z and 63% of millennials surveyed favour self-service tools like chatbots, surpassing Gen X and boomer respondents by 15 percentage points.

To meet changing customer expectations, segment-based service preferences are important. Consider servicing that is geared toward younger, tech-savvy customers who prefer interacting through digital experiences such as virtual agents and bots.

This increase in digital service allows employees to focus on another segment, which prefers a hybrid approach. This segment doesn’t leave behind digital experiences. Instead, it combines digital experiences with support from live agents to answer and engage with complex questions and concerns.

Consider how customer service needs vary depending on the situation. A customer with a simple question about account fees might opt for a quick chat with an agent through the bank’s mobile app. In contrast, a customer seeking advice on retirement savings may prefer a video call with their financial advisor.

Using a platform that supports these service models can help financial services organisations provide flexible, personalised experiences that can improve customer satisfaction, loyalty and business outcomes.

Convergence of CX Channels Can Boost ROI

While in-person customer service remains an important part of the financial sector, the line between in-person and digital experiences is blurring. This convergence of channels gives financial institutions the opportunity to streamline customer experiences, enhance employee productivity and drive positive business outcomes.

Financial institutions are adopting omnichannel communication strategies by integrating contact centre technology into their branches. For example, a financial advisor or banker with downtime in between client meetings can use the branch’s contact centre platform to become an available expert for customer inquiries. And with AI-powered predictive routing, the organisation can ensure that complex issues are directed to the right staff based on their expertise, availability and workload. This can enhance both customer and employee satisfaction.

An effective way to support this integration of channels is with a consumption-based pricing model that charges organisations only for the time their staff spends interacting with clients. This model enables financial service organisations to better leverage employee resources, deliver more seamless customer experiences and reduce unnecessary costs.

Improving Staff Engagement in Financial Service Institutions

Improving staff engagement has been a longstanding priority in the financial services industry. And with the rise of AI technologies, there’s growing interest in tools that support workforce optimisation (WFO) strategies.

Effectively training staff to manage client relationships is essential to a financial organisation’s success. But the training process can be lengthy, especially for roles that require specific licensing or regulatory registration.

Workforce engagement management plays a pivotal role in enhancing staff engagement and retention in customer-facing roles. To empower financial services staff to continuously develop their skills, WEM provides gamified experiences that enable employees to set, monitor and visualise their performance against personalised objectives and key business goals. This continuous learning can help to improve motivation and on-the-job knowledge, which could reduce attrition rates and improve job satisfaction.

As new employees begin interacting with customers, the right contact centre software helps ensure they have relevant context at their fingertips. Native AI capabilities provide real-time customer insights, guiding staff to the next-best action and equipping them with the knowledge they need to deliver exceptional customer services every time.

Regulatory Impact on AI in Financial Services

While the rapid adoption of AI in banking works to elevate customer experiences in that industry, it has also raised important questions about disaster recovery, business resilience and regulatory compliance. Financial institutions must ensure they have the right technology and processes in place to meet the growing regulatory demands designed to protect both the organisation and its customers.

Notable legislation, such as the Digital Operational Resiliency Act (DORA) and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act introduced by the European Union (EU), highlight the importance of regulatory adherence. And as similar legislation emerges globally, it will be increasingly important for financial services organisations to leverage technology that aligns with global and local compliance certifications and regulations. A platform built with ethical AI helps ensure customer data is:

  • Collected only with explicit customer consent.
  • Anonymised and never shared without permission.
  • Human validated before being used in training models.
  • Rigorously tested to strengthen accuracy and reliability.

By adopting a contact centre platform that’s built with robust compliance features, financial services organisations can navigate complex regulatory landscape, allowing them to remain both innovative and fully compliant as their AI-powered customer experience use cases evolve.

Meeting the Future of CX in Financial Services

As customer expectations continue to evolve and digital channel interactions become standard, financial service organisations should embrace new ways to enhance their CX strategies. By leveraging AI-driven technologies, hybrid service models and workforce engagement management tools, institutions can streamline operations, enhance customer engagements, increase employee productivity and reduce costs. And they can do this while meeting regulatory compliance.

Contact centre platforms that offer AI-powered personalisation, flexibility in service delivery and robust compliance features enable organisations to stay ahead of the curve, and allow them to innovate responsibly. By investing in the right customer experience technology, these organisations can not only improve the customer journey in banking but also position themselves for success in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

To learn more about the key contact centre platform features and key questions to ask during the buying process, download our 2025 contact centre buyer’s guide.