Wells Fargo is seeking to maximise customer use of branches and ATMs while deploying omnichannel technology to integrate them with its digital offerings. Fusing retail banking distribution with its digital platform ensures an enhanced customer experience, Wells Fargo claims. Robin Arnfield investigates
Mobile is at the heart of Wells Fargo’s omnichannel strategy, as the bank believes mobile’s real power is its ability to interact and integrate with other channels.
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According to David Albertazzi, senior analyst at US-based consultancy Aite Group, Wells Fargo’s investment in mobile is in line with its two main US rivals, Bank of America and Chase.
“All three are focusing on mobile banking delivery and growth,” he says.
“The emphasis is on usability and customer experience across all digital channels, online and mobile. The three banks’ goal is to offer a consistent experience across their digital platform for the different devices that people use. They are all implementing responsive design, which adapts well to different screen sizes and device types.”
Feedback
To develop its mobile offering, Wells Fargo listens to its customers and takes its cue from developments in mobile services outside banking.
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By GlobalData“We enhance our digital properties using customer feedback and data, as well as through an understanding of what other mobile experiences our customers have on a regular basis,” says Brett Pitts, Wells Fargo’s head of digital.
“Our main objective is to update and improve the customer experience. So looking at customer patterns in terms of general mobile app behaviour is key for us. We also look at how other successful companies outside the financial services industry create and manage their online and mobile customer experiences.”
This strategy is paying off in terms of mobile banking customer growth. As of November 2015, Wells Fargo had 16.2 million active mobile customers, up 14% year-on-year.
Enhancements
During the first quarter of 2016, Wells Fargo is redesigning its mobile app to provide an improved experience for customers who manage finances on their smartphone.
“From the app’s homepage, or ‘Front Porch’, to the account information displayed after login, customers will see information that is easier to read, presented more intuitively, and provides educational content focusing on their financial health,” Pitts says.
“This mobile redesign is part of a larger effort to continue to create and evolve a more consistent digital experience across customers’ devices.”
Pitts believes Wells Fargo’s mobile app redesign will ‘continue to give the bank’s customers an experience that remains one of the best among its peers, while also being much more intuitive and user-friendly’.
He said: The emphasis on consumer financial education makes it easier for customers to access information that makes them better informed about their options as Wells Fargo customers.”
Another planned enhancement for 2016 is Touch ID.
“Wells Fargo began integrating Touch ID into the iPhone user experience beginning in March, and will enable fingerprint authentication for more devices later this year,” says Hilary O’Byrne, associate vice-president, corporate communications at Wells Fargo’s Digital Channels Group.
PFM tool
The Wells Fargo app includes a My Spending Report feature that allows customers to track their spending on the go. The personal financial management (PFM) tool was first launched in 1995 for Wells Fargo Online, providing a daily consolidated overview of transactions from a customer’s debit card, credit card, chequeing account and bill payments.
My Spending Report can be accessed via Wells Fargo’s iPhone and Android apps as well as on its mobile website. Transactions are organised by categories such as food/drink, health, travel, automobile/transportation, travel, and ATM withdrawals.
Call centre integration
A key feature of Wells Fargo’s app is the ease with which it hands off the customer to the call centre.
“We know that many of our customers like to begin interactions with us in a self-service mode like mobile, but may want to shift into assisted or full-service mode for more complex needs,” O’Byrne says.
To help customers do this, the app contains a Click for Care feature that allows them to chat with a call centre agent without re-authenticating themselves.
Albertazzi is impressed by this feature. “The app provides a true omnichannel experience through Click for Care,” he says. “It’s all about reducing friction between the different channels.”
Branches
While JPMorgan Chase has been closing branches, Wells Fargo, which has the largest branch network in the US, is committed to its physical locations.
“Our branches will look and be different in the future, but will always be part of the mix,” O’Byrne says.
“We know it’s important to our customers to be able to speak with a banker who can help them with their financial needs.”
O’Byrne notes that the majority of Wells Fargo customers use all the bank’s channels. “In a recent six-month period, over 75% of our customers, including millennials, interacted with a teller or banker in a physical store,” she says.
Aggressive approach to digital
“Wells Fargo is very aggressive about using digital channels and technologies, and that focus is seen in a number of offerings,” says Ron Shevlin, Director of Research at US consultancy Cornerstone Advisors.
“To increase awareness about its introduction of Apple Pay, Wells Fargo used pop-up branches to generate traffic and provide training.
“In its redesigned website, the link farm was replaced with an interactive ribbon structured around life needs. Also, Wells Fargo is very active on social media channels, and developed an online discussion forum to engage college-bound students and their parents in student loan discussions.”
ATMs
Wells Fargo is integrating its ATMs into its digital technology platform. “We’ve begun to connect our full-service teller and self-service ATM experiences,” says O’Byrne.
“At a growing number of Wells Fargo stores, customers can begin their transaction at an ATM, but, if they need more assistance or if a transaction requires approval, a store team member is alerted on a wireless tablet and provides in-person assistance to complete the transaction.”
Another feature is ATM personalisation.
“Using predictive analytics, Wells Fargo’s ATMs present customers with touchscreen buttons based on their previous transactions and preferences,” says Shevlin.
Wells Fargo: key data for year-end 31 December 2015
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Mobile cardless ATM access
Wells Fargo plans to provide its customers with the ability to carry out mobile cardless ATM withdrawals, says Jonathan Velline, head of Wells Fargo’s ATM and store strategy.
The bank plans two methods for cardless ATM access, one using near-field communication (NFC) and the other using access codes generated by Wells Fargo’s mobile app.
To use their NFC-enabled smartphones for cash withdrawals, customers will need to load a debit or ATM card into the mobile wallet stored on their phone. They then authenticate themselves on their phone using a thumbprint or passcode. Once authenticated, customers hold their phone near the NFC-enabled ATM terminal, which displays the main menu and asks for them to enter their ATM PIN. This feature will start rolling out in the second quarter of 2016, Velline says.
A different mobile ATM withdrawal system, using one-time passcodes, will pilot at the end of 2016, Velline says. Customers will authenticate themselves by logging into the Wells Fargo mobile app. They will then select an account and request an access code, which arrives in the form of an eight-digit token. Once at the ATM, they have to type in their access code and ATM PIN and proceed to the main menu to perform their transactions.
Digital for financial advisors
Wells Fargo is enabling its wealth management staff to visit customers at their homes and offices fully equipped with digital connections.
In June 2015, Wells Fargo Advisors launched the Smart2Go app for tablets for the benefit of its 15,000 advisors. The app, an extension of Wells Fargo’s desktop SmartStation program, allows advisors to provide reviews, compare asset allocation models, read research reports and review customers’ account holdings and activity.
It also gives advisors direct access to support staff who can take immediate action on the client’s investments while the advisor is away from the office.
“Smart2Go is now available to all financial advisors who have personal devices equipped with the Good mobile app,” O’Byrne says. “Currently, we have some 1,600 active Smart2Go users with around 4,000-5,000 logins per month.”
Alerts
Wells Fargo customers can sign up via their Wells Fargo Online account for a dozen different types of alerts from the bank, specifying whether they want to receive alerts via email or on their mobile device. Millions of customers have signed up for alerts, according to Pitts.
Between January 2015 and September 2015, Wells Fargo sent out over 500 million text and email alerts, the most popular being updates on deposits or withdrawals, daily and weekly account balance summaries, and alerts notifying customers when balances are above or below a pre-determined amount.
“The purpose of Wells Fargo’s alerts is to engage customers, and this is what tends to happen,” says Albertazzi. “Wells Fargo has a focus on customer engagement and consistently trying to bring its customers back to the mobile app.”
