There seems to be no turning back to the old way of doing things, as businesses are making a major push towards digitalisation.
And as far as banking solutions are concerned, consumers and businesses are expected to progressively shift to digital accounts for simple banking products such as personal loans, credit cards and deposits.
Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd has found from its survey that two-thirds of its customers prefer using online channels to open accounts.
In addition, 60% of the respondents mentioned that they were less inclined to visit bank branches to perform their banking transactions, given the current pandemic.
As such, Alliance Bank has prioritised the rollout of its new e-Know Your Customer (eKYC) solution for its suite of simple banking products via its collaboration with CTOS Holdings Sdn Bhd.
According to Alliance Bank group CEO Joel Kornreich, the digital eKYC solution enables individuals to open and activate a savings account, or obtain a loan conveniently and securely anywhere, anytime on their own without needing to visit a bank branch or be visited by a bank officer.
“We believe in giving our customers various options to interact with us, and digitisation allows us to open up more channels for them to do so. Even if a customer interacts with us fully remotely, we can still provide assistance over the phone, video call or web chat if they need help.
“The key is in providing what makes the customer comfortable, so they can complete their banking transaction in a simple and convenient manner, ” he said, adding that Alliance Bank had allocated more than RM30mil as capital expenditure for its digitisation efforts in the financial year ending March 31,2021.
During the movement control order (MCO) period, Alliance Bank experienced a decline in branch transactions. However, its call volumes at the contact centre have increased significantly.
“We redeployed some of those branch resources to the contact centre then. As we offer more fully digital banking solutions to cater to the customer behaviour shift to online banking, the roles of our front-line staff will also evolve.
“For example, we are continually upskilling our contact centre staff so they can provide assistance to our customers who may need help during their digital banking transactions or digital loan applications, ” said Kornreich.
Since 2018, Alliance Bank has embarked on digital solutions to make interactions with customers simpler, faster and more responsive.
For one, there is no need for consumers to fill up any forms, as most of the information is automatically populated from taking a photo of their documents like MyKad, or obtained directly from validated external sources.
CTOS group CEO Dennis Martin (pic) highlighted that CTOS eKYC is the only eKYC solution to have user testing and tech validation in the Bank Negara Sandbox, adhering to the highest standards in regulatory compliance.
“The resulting CTOS eKYC is the product of a stringent, robust year-long testing process with seven leading banks - the most extensive of any solution in the market today.
CTOS is the largest and oldest credit reporting agency in Malaysia, commanding an estimated 75% of the market.
