In 1990, consultants talked about business process re-engineering (BPR), total quality management (TQM) and customer care (now CRM). Since then, there have been many innovations stimulated by a global economy, mobile telephony and the internet, and yet some bankers still do not understand one of the simple lessons of 1990.
My bank offers an account for which a customer pays a large annual fee to be overdrawn without notice and without charges. That facility is the main feature that keeps me with my bank. So I was surprised when I could not get cash at an ATM because I was “overdrawn”, even though I was in credit according to the same ATM.
I rang the bank. The call centre was apologetic but could not do anything because it could not contact my account manager. My account manager was the only person who could reset my account and would not return for three days. He also inadvertently caused the problem by changing my overdraft limit six months earlier to a new temporary three-month limit. What he and I had not realised is that when the account reset three months later, it would reset to a zero overdraft. The call centre then said the account was in credit but could not provide withdrawal facilities until a large deposit, from an account within the same bank group, had cleared.
As a customer, all I saw were major errors.
The first is a system error. The system reset to a zero overdraft, even though that is not the product I believe I was sold. The system also saw the account as overdrawn, even though it was in credit, because it took more than two days to transfer intra-bank funds.
Another error is a process error dating back to 1990. BPR, TQM and CRM all held that staff must be empowered to make a decision to achieve a decent service. When customers are on the telephone, the more staff say, “I understand but cannot do anything”, the angrier customers become. If staff say, “I understand and can clear this up for you”, the happier customers become.
The real issue with my bank is that it does not see things from the customer’s view. For example, it lost my wife’s business last year after charging her £50 for being overdrawn for 24 hours for the first time in 30 years. The overdrawn status was an error, again, but the bank did not listen and lost her account.
How many more customers can banks such as these lose before it affects shareholder value?
Chris Skinner is an independent financial commentator (www.balatroltd.com)
