CONTINUE TO SITE »
or wait 15 seconds

Innovation

Digital self service for payments in a post-pandemic world

What will customers think about post-pandemic when it comes to the payments industry? Adam Crighton from NCR gives his take on the future.

Digital self service for payments in a post-pandemic worldphoto provided by iStock


| by Pat Shea — Editor, NetworldMedia

ATM Marketplace recently spoke with Adam Crighton, senior vice president and general manager, digital-first self-service banking, NCR Corp. Adam discussed how digital technology has become more of a priority for customers due to COVID-19, and what the future may look like in terms of technology in the financial landscape.

Q. In light of COVID-19, how has the payments landscape changed?

A. We feel strongly that the time is now for financial institutions to shift focus to more of a digital-first mindset. At a time when bankers and tellers are unable to service customers face-to-face, digital experiences really have become a lifeline for many people. The pandemic proved that people are digitally banking from home and as we move forward, there will be increasing engagement in contactless commerce.

Q. Why do you think the digital shift is happening now?

A.There is a need for customers and businesses to connect but connect remotely. The pandemic only accelerated the shift to digital, we have seen many customers, 63% from a recent poll, that were not using digital but are now much more inclined to use a digital app or self-service kiosk.

Q. Do you think the public feels that self-service is safer than face-to-face?

A. The digital self-service channel has always been safe and trusted from our perspective. The situation and circumstance from the pandemic only reinforced the strategic value of how it can support our customers who in turn, can support their customers.

Q. How has your company adapted doing business during the pandemic?

A.We obviously managed from a solution point of view. We set up a task force early and we were determined to put the well-being of our staff and customers above everything else.

It's fair to say we continually work on collaborating with our customers and listening to their feedback so we can develop new solutions including software and hardware. One of these solutions that was developed in the early stages of the pandemic was the sharing of best practices. We felt it was important to share best practices during the pandemic interactively across our large customer base. We facilitated virtual town hall that allowed our customers to share information and we had over 300 attendees digitally sharing on how to create and maintain a safe environment.

In regard to our own team, the vast majority of our staff worked from home and our IT team did a fantastic job of seamlessly moving services from our office to our homes. We were also diligent in reviewing the government guidelines in terms of redefining working processes and we continually review to make sure we are complying. It was incredible from a service point of view how our teams responded and how appreciative our customers have been.

Q. As the lockdown is beginning to lift across the country, what do you think will be your customers' priority?

A. Definitely technology. Many of our customers are investing in technology platforms like digital banking and turn to us because we have the enterprise knowledge and experience to provide these solutions. Now with the concern for safety and customers having limited access to bank staff and some bank branches still closed due to the pandemic, or possibly closed for good in some cases, there is a need for high-performing, high availability of digital services that are easy for customers to use and extends accessibility on an ongoing basis.

Q. How will self-service factor in post-pandemic?

A. Historically, self-service has been extremely focused on the end customer for obvious reasons. From our perspective it now has broader implications and applications for all of us, in particular, from the branch perspective and from the technology that enables it. Our goal is to help our customers evolve. The pendulum is swinging more toward a combined digital and self-service interaction so that processes are more seamless moving forward. The focus will be on creating a seamless customer experience regardless of the channel that the transactions starts and finishes on.

Q. Were there challenges you encountered due to the pandemic or ahead that concern you?

A. I don't really see it as a challenge per se, I think of it more as an opportunity to learn and be thoughtful regarding how we can use our knowledge and expertise to help adapt and create a new environment for our customers. It's fair to say we are moving at different paces depending on geography and local guidelines, but post-pandemic we need to be thoughtful as to what customer behaviors will remain long-term and how can we add value in terms of how branches are created and operate in the future.

Q. What does the future look like?

A. From a solution perspective we are looking at experiences, things like touchless for self-service and we are constantly looking at how to evolve our roadmaps from a software, services and hardware perspective with our customers.

Overall, we will see continued growth in the digital capabilities offered and consumer adoption of those, supported by complementary enhancements in self-service technology to create a seamless consumer experience.


Pat Shea

Pat Shea is the editor of ATM Marketplace. Pat has been an editor and writer in mass market and trade publishing for more than 25 years. She has won press awards for her newspaper reporting and feature writing in corporate communication publications.

Connect with Pat:  

KEEP UP WITH ATM AND DIGITAL BANKING NEWS AND TRENDS

Sign up now for the ATM Marketplace newsletter and get the top stories delivered straight to your inbox.

Privacy Policy

Already a member? Sign in below.

  or register now

Forgot your password?


You may sign into this site using your login credentials
from any of these Networld Media Group sites:

b'S2-NEW'