Bank of America recently did a u-turn on its decision to tell customers that they would be charged $5 a month to use their debit cards. This is but one example of how ready that market is for someone to determine, develop and deliver an extraordinary customer experience, regardless of their net worth. That doesn’t mean everyone will get the same experience, but customers deserve much better experiences than they are getting now.
Could this also mean that Bank of America and other giants also do not understand the increasing power of social media and communications platforms like smartphones and tablets? The speed, power and importance of social media and communications platforms in decision and the customer experience should not be underestimated during such a volatile economic time.
If big banks don’t understand the new world they will have to learn through trial and error that this is not the old school days. Instead of having people, social media and communications platforms doing things for their business, they run the risk that they will do things to their business.
Banks will do much better if they engage prospects and customers in their decision making much earlier than after they announce a new fee. J.P Morgan Chase & co. also retracted their plans to demand debit card fees at about the same time B of A did, according to the Wall Street Journal on November 2, 2011. The Journal also reported that Wells Fargo, Suntrust and others banks were dropping either plans or fee programs too.
There is opportunity for ‘an experience maker’ to easily best the low benchmark of what customers are experiencing. After seeing companies in other industries transform their markets and change peoples’ lives for the better, I am convinced that the banking industry is ripe for a customer experience makeover. Will it come from one of the traditional financial institutions or a new player in banking? Either way, it will have to come from an organization where the Chief Executive is also the Chief Customer Advocate.
