Customer experience in financial services: Strategies for CX improvement

Customer experience (CX) is one of the strongest differentiators in financial services. Learn how financial institutions can deliver fast, personalized, and connected experiences across every stage of the customer journey.

88% of banking customers say CX is as important as (or more important than) products and services when choosing a bank. At the same time, expectations can be unforgiving. Customers interact with their bank every three days on average, and 13% say they’re likely to switch institutions within the next 12 months. With so many frequent touchpoints, every interaction carries weight.

Digital banking and artificial intelligence (AI) help reduce friction, improve self-service experiences, and enable better support across channels.

In this article, we’ll dive into what makes a great customer experience in financial services and the steps organizations can take to improve their CX.

What is customer experience in financial services?

Customer experience in financial services refers to the perception and satisfaction customers have with a financial institution. It spans digital touchpoints like mobile apps and online banking, as well as human support via phone, chat, email, and in-branch interactions. These touchpoints include routine transactions like transfers and payments, as well as complex service events such as fraud disputes, loan approvals, and claims processing.

Why is CX in finance important?

Customers trust financial institutions with their money, identity, and long-term security. Plus, financial services cast a wider net than banking alone, covering lending, insurance, and wealth management. This means financial institutions need to deliver fast, secure, and consistent experiences across channels.

Customer experience management is one of the few competitive differentiators and one of the fastest ways to build consistent trust. Providing a superior customer experience leads to higher satisfaction, operational performance, and long-term growth.

36% of customers who switched providers cited better service as the top reason, making it clear that CX plays an important role in customer loyalty and retention. Without it, customers are more likely to take their business elsewhere.

Five CX priorities for financial institutions.

Financial services are more digital and customer-driven than ever. To keep up, institutions need to focus on what matters most to customers. These five priorities are shaping better customer experiences across financial services.

1. Selectively deploy artificial intelligence.

AI is transforming the customer experience, but many are still hesitant to engage with it. In fact, 90% of consumers prefer human support over chatbots. Their hesitation is understandable, especially in financial services, where conversations often involve sensitive information like fraud alerts and loan applications.

AI can help financial institutions move quickly and accurately in these high-stakes interactions. For example, it can streamline identity verification and authentication, detect unusual transaction patterns and trigger proactive outreach, and surface real-time compliance assistance for agents during conversations with customers.

When financial institutions deploy AI to support their agents and customers, it can help reduce risk, improve security, and deliver better customer service.

2. Keep customers top of mind.

Poor customer service can quickly hurt a financial institution’s reputation, reduce revenue, and even increase employee turnover. Organizations that deliver strong CX take the time to understand pain points, anticipate common questions, and remove unnecessary friction from the customer journey. Whether someone is opening an account or disputing a charge, the experience should feel simple, intuitive, and relevant. That requires consistent omnichannel support, clear communication, and easy self-service tools.

3. Customer feedback channels that lead to better, faster, safer banking.

Collecting customer feedback does more than show customers their voices are heard. It also helps financial institutions identify service gaps, reduce risk, and improve performance.

However, organizations need to make it as easy as possible to share feedback across channels. Customers don’t want to jump through hoops to share their thoughts, especially after a frustrating experience. Post-interaction surveys, in-app prompts, and follow-up emails or texts help capture real-time customer sentiment.

Asking for feedback matters, but acting on it matters more. Customers want proof that their concerns lead to real change. Financial institutions can translate insights into measurable growth by identifying recurring issues, improving workflows, and refining agent training.

4. Support omnichannel customer service.

Instead of simply offering one way to communicate or disconnected channels, omnichannel customer service ensures every interaction is connected, consistent, and informed by what came before. In financial services, customers may move between mobile apps, websites, phone support, live chat, and in-branch visits—sometimes with the same issue. If those channels aren’t connected, frustration builds quickly. Repeating account details, re-explaining problems, or receiving conflicting information frustrates customers and increases the likelihood they’ll abandon the interaction entirely.

An omnichannel approach creates a unified view of the customer. Agents can see conversation history, past transactions, and previous touchpoints in one place. With the full context, they can resolve issues faster and support personalization at scale.

5. Self-service options that help more customers help themselves.

42% of customers say they want more self-service options. However, simple FAQ pages or basic chatbots are no longer enough.

Virtual agents enable self-service tools that can understand intent, hold natural conversations, and fully resolve customer requests across voice and digital channels. Instead of just answering a question, they can complete tasks, such as updating account information, checking loan status, processing payments, or guiding customers through multi-step requests.

Self-service must still be simple and human-centered. Navigation should be intuitive, language should be clear and jargon-free, and customers should always have an easy way to escalate to a live agent.

What are the challenges to successful CX in financial services?

Some of the biggest challenges to efficient customer experience for financial services include:

• Long wait times. Customers often face delays when calling for support, disputing transactions, or trying to get help with time-sensitive issues. High call volumes, inefficient routing, and limited staffing all contribute to slow response times that frustrate customers and increase churn risk.

• Conflicting customer journeys. Financial services customers move between mobile apps, websites, phone calls, online chats, and in-person visits. When these touchpoints aren’t connected, they are forced to repeat the same issue multiple times to multiple agents.

• Broken communication. Customers may receive contradictory information if their institution’s systems aren’t integrated. Different teams may operate from different data sources, which can lead to confusion around policies, timelines, fees, or next steps.

• Legacy financial systems. Outdated infrastructure makes it difficult to modernize service workflows, unify customer data, and implement seamless omnichannel support. This can slow down basic processes and create unnecessary manual work for agents.

• Security and compliance issues. Strong security controls are essential in finance. But when identity verification and fraud prevention processes aren’t streamlined, they can quickly turn into points of frustration for customers.

• Limited self-service options. Customers increasingly expect to handle routine tasks on their own, like updating account details, checking status updates, or resetting passwords. Without easy self-service options, customers are forced into other channels for issues that should be quick and simple.

What’s trending in customer experience for financial services?

Institutions are responding to increased pressure for digital-first customer experiences by finding new ways to deliver speed, accuracy, and convenience. Here are some of the top CX trends in financial services:

Data-driven analytics for smarter support.

Financial institutions are moving beyond traditional customer service metrics like call volume and average handle time. While these KPIs still matter, they only show outcomes, not the reasons behind customer behavior or service issues. A growing CX trend is the use of advanced interaction analytics and real-time dashboards to uncover deeper insights.

With better insight into customer behavior and service patterns, institutions can see why customers reach out, where journeys break down, and which patterns signal frustration or churn risk. These insights help identify recurring issues, spot gaps in self-service, and understand which moments have the biggest impact on satisfaction and loyalty.

Security and compliance at every step.

In financial services, security and compliance are inseparable from customer experience. Customers share sensitive financial and identity data, and they expect strong, seamless protection.

Rather than treating security as a separate process, leading institutions are embedding it directly into their service workflows. Secure authentication, consistent identity verification, and standardized compliance procedures help ensure protection without disrupting the customer journey. These safeguards operate quietly in the background, allowing customers to move through interactions with confidence.

Customer service gets personal.

Personalization in banking and financial services is a major trend that responsibly leverages the data customers already provide, such as transaction history, product usage, milestones, and channel preferences. Instead of generic promotions or one-size-fits-all messaging, agents can recommend relevant products, proactively flag unusual activity, and tailor communications to each customer’s situation.

Digital customer service software blends automation and human support to elevate real-time service. AI can also support human agents by summarizing activity and surfacing the best next steps.

Exploring end-to-end customer experience in financial services.

Delivering a seamless financial services customer experience starts with understanding the full customer journey.

1. Awareness. The customer experience begins with research. Customers research financial institutions and their products to understand their options. Having clear, easy-to-find information is essential.

2. Consideration. Customers compare their options by reviewing product details, rates, fees, and reviews. Make all of these as transparent as possible to reduce uncertainty, prevent surprises, and reassure them that they’re making the right choice.

3. Application and onboarding. Once they’ve made their decision, it’s important to make the application and onboarding process as efficient and easy as possible. Pay attention to digital applications, identity verification, and onboarding processes to accelerate time to value.

4. Decisioning and approval. Dealing with financial services can feel stressful for customers. However, clear explanations, timely updates, and proactive communication go a long way toward setting expectations and building trust.

5. Account usage and servicing. Customers expect everyday account management to feel simple and reliable. Consistent, coordinated service combined with real-time updates helps them feel in control of their finances and confident in their institution.

6. Issue resolution and support. When something goes wrong—like a suspicious charge, a payment issue, or an account access problem—customers want fast, empathetic help. Clear next steps and seamless handoffs can minimize frustration and build trust.

7. Billing, fees, and payments. Transparent pricing, easy-to-understand statements, and intuitive payment options improve financial clarity and help customers feel supported.

8. Ongoing engagement and feedback. The relationship doesn’t end after onboarding. It’s important to proactively reach out, offer personalized financial insights, and provide simple feedback channels to help customers stay informed, engaged, and loyal over time.

Talkdesk can manage your financial institution’s entire CX workflow.

Meeting and exceeding customer service expectations requires the right technology and a deep understanding of what customers want. From onboarding and servicing to issue resolution and ongoing engagement, every interaction is an opportunity to build trust and long-term loyalty. Talkdesk helps institutions meet that challenge with Financial Services Experience Cloud, specifically designed for the financial services and insurance industries.

BankUnited.

BankUnited, a national bank serving customers across Florida, New York, and Texas, needed to improve efficiency and elevate its customer experience while maintaining high service standards. By implementing Talkdesk Financial Services Experience Cloud, their team automated routine interactions, improved call routing, and enhanced agent performance. As a result, BankUnited achieved a 16% self-service rate, increased IVR containment by 15–20%, and reduced call abandonment to 5.3%.

Arbella Insurance.

Arbella Insurance, a billion-dollar property and casualty insurance provider, faced the challenge of modernizing its customer experience. Arbella replaced its UCaaS, CCaaS, and CRM systems in a single rollout, implementing Talkdesk Financial Services Experience Cloud for Insurance powered by Talkdesk Customer Experience Automation (CXA). Arbella reduced average handle time by 45 seconds, increased customer satisfaction scores by 3%, and achieved a 20% improvement in service levels.

Explore how Talkdesk Financial Services Experience Cloud helps financial institutions deliver outstanding customer experiences. Request a demo today!