Customer’s companion – Vietcombank and the Customer Experience Award 2024 winner, WebRTC API solution 

Customer-centricity and enhancing customer satisfaction are the goals that create a competitive edge for banks.

In recent years, the Vietnamese banking and financial services market has witnessed fierce competition amongst banks to shift their products and services to digital channels, replacing traditional ones. Advanced technology solutions have enabled banks to create a competitive advantage based on product differentiation and service quality, adhering to the principle of being customer-centric.

Electronic banking applications are becoming increasingly familiar to the Vietnamese people and the proportion of transactions conducted through digital channels has rapidly increased. With the gradual penetration of banking applications, the demand from existing and potential customers for banks' hotline services has also surged. Customers call the hotline with a diverse range of requests: seeking product advice, checking transactions, filing complaints, or needing assistance in emergency situations.

As a critical touchpoint in the customer journey, customer service centres fully understand their role in improving service quality and increasing customer satisfaction. To achieve this goal, one solution worth considering is leveraging technology solutions to understand customers and their needs even before bank staff answer the calls to assist them.

Obstacles customers face when contacting bank hotlines

Difficulty in reaching the hotline is the first and most pressing obstacle for customers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when all traditional transaction channels were no longer operational. When banks launch new products and services or new policies (especially those related to finance), when transaction systems experience malfunctions, or when banks have unfavourable information, these are the primary reasons leading to a substantial rise in the demand for hotline contact. This demand often exceeds pre-estimated predictions and current human resources. There have been times when the drop-off rate has consistently remained at 40%, and it has sometimes reached 80%, with the number of calls needing to be forwarded to agents soaring to 60,000 calls per day.

When transacting through the hotline, customers are often required to provide extensive identification information for verification before receiving support services, especially for inquiries, transaction complaints, or interventions regarding account status, bank cards, and electronic banking applications. In a context where customers need quick information assistance, the requirement to share information as requested is one of the main factors that leads to customers being unable to achieve a high level of satisfaction when transacting through this channel.

Moreover, to optimise human resources, banks often prioritise investing manpower in their core business areas that directly generate profits for the bank. Operational activities typically receive lower priority. As a result, the resources of contact centres, including both in-house and outsourced personnel, are often insufficient in many situations arising from unexpected events.

The pressure on personnel to handle a high volume of incoming calls for extended periods is also a reason why service quality has not met expectations.

Necessary solution to address resource issues and obstacles for customer

In line with VCB's strategic goal of being the number one bank in retail banking, leading in customer satisfaction, and excelling in digital banking transformation, the research team at VCB has explored the trend of contact centres integrating customer support channels directly into mobile banking applications/electronic banking services to enhance the operational efficiency of the VCC, improve service quality, and enhance customer experience. Given that adding resources is not a feasible solution, particularly under the stringent risk management practices prevalent in state-owned banks, the research team at Vietcombank has invested in finding and implementing technological solutions to quickly optimise the connection with customers and identify their needs.

Vietcombank's Call API solution allows customers to call directly from the VCB Digibank app to Vietcombank's hotline via the internet, providing effective assistance for customer requests. Additionally, customers can request a callback when hotline agents are unavailable or automatically redirect their calls to a chatbot.

This is enabled by WebRTC technology that is integrated with the bank’s existing VoIP call center system.

Moreover, it allows customers to update their issues directly on the digital banking application, and the customer's transaction journey is fully conveyed to the agent during the call. This improves work efficiency by reducing the average call handling time, including the time spent on verifying customer identification, identifying the customer's issue, and recording the post-call report. The average total call handling time can be reduced by about 30%.

This pioneering solution stands out in the Vietnamese market, marking a significant breakthrough in contact centre services at this time.

Customer satisfaction is the main goal and driving force behind Vietcombank's relentless efforts over the years and into the future.

Customers making internet calls using Vietcombank’s mobile app, VCB Digibank, are authenticated through their account and password. As a result, customers no longer have to answer all the usual authentication questions required for traditional calls. This provides them with a new and reassuring experience when transacting with the bank via the contact centre.

With this solution, Vietcombank customers now have an extremely convenient channel to reach the contact centre that incurs no additional costs and, importantly, does not require them to worry when travelling on business or vacationing abroad.

Survey results from the initial phase of launching the service indicate that over 85% of customers are satisfied with the service quality when contacting through the Call API channel, notably higher than the average for traditional call channels. In-depth surveys have also revealed that 94% of customers are satisfied with the quality of the call connection, as well as the easy recognition of this feature on digital banking applications, and over 80% are willing to recommend this feature to relatives, friends, and colleagues.

With these established marks in the Vietnamese market and positive feedback regarding customer experience, the Call API solution has been highly regarded by the Asian Experience Awards evaluation committee and has received the Vietnam Customer Experience of the Year - Banking.

The Asian Experience Awards is presented by Asian Business Review Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2025 awards programme and be acclaimed for providing meaningful brand experiences to stakeholders, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].