Automation isn’t an easy button for banking problems
If your customer service gives speedy, instant access without actually solving problems, it is doomed to fail your customers.
The relationship between financial institutions and convenience is complicated. Sure, customers want convenient access to their bank and credit union. Over 50% of banking customers last year said that speed of response is the most critical factor in service quality. But it’s easy for financial institutions to conflate speed with convenience. In other words, end users don’t want a fast response for the sake of a response. They want their problems solved and solved quickly.
Are banks or credit unions providing end users with quick and speedy service, or are they merely providing them with a quick and speedy automated response that doesn’t get the end user any closer to their desired destination? Automation isn’t an easy button for banking problems, and financial institutions must be able to see the difference between an instant response and a truly convenient solution.
When Speed Becomes a Substitute for Service
Banking is faster than ever. Customers can interact with financial institutions instantly through mobile apps and chatbots. And to be clear, that’s how customers want to interact with financial institutions on a day-to-day basis. Speed isn’t the enemy.
But speed can be misleading.
Take chatbots, for instance. Financial institutions that offer 24/7 live chat support see a 15% increase in customer satisfaction compared to chatbots without. Why? Because chatbots are limited in scope and specialize in simple tasks. Customers are more likely to get frustrated at a chatbot that can’t actually help them than to be impressed with an immediate response.
Customers aren’t measuring how quickly they receive an automated response. They are measuring how quickly their problems get solved. The vast majority of people who favor chatbots over human representatives do so because of their ability to handle simple queries, not more complicated problems.
The Difference Between Interaction and Outcome
With that said, there is no denying that automation can and does save financial institutions money. It isn’t that automation or speed is bad. They just need to be deployed in a way that provides real value, and not just perceived value.
Many digital experiences are built around interaction metrics. That is, response times, engagement rates, and system efficiency.
But the real measure of success is the outcome.
→ Did the customer get a clear answer?
→ Did they understand what to do next?
→ Did they leave the interaction closer to a resolution?
In banking, those outcomes often require more than a scripted response. To put it bluntly, your automation strategies must have easy off-ramps to human interactions if your digital solutions aren’t able to provide those successful outcomes.
Otherwise, the true outcome of those automated interactions will be frustration. Here is good evidence for that fact. According to a recent study on AI chatbots, 30% of people said they have used a chatbot to inquire about new products and services. Of that group, though, a whopping 82% said they would not use a chatbot for that sort of inquiry again, with nearly half saying they would come into the branch instead.
How should we interpret that stat? By acknowledging that 82% of those customers left those interactions without a successful outcome. And instead of looking to other digital tools that might be able to provide a successful outcome, half chose to drive to a physical branch.
Automation that doesn’t produce tangibly successful outcomes undercuts digital customer service strategies.
Solving the Problem Is What Builds Trust
At its core, banking is built on trust. Even with mobile and online banking at an all-time high, 93% of customers in 2025 said that trust and transparency are critical when choosing a financial institution. Banks and credit unions that present automation tools that are supposed to be convenient, but instead create frustration, chip away at that trust.
The problem isn’t automation itself, but a failure to turn automation into success, not just for staff, but for customers. How is it that 96% of banking customers rate their mobile and online banking experience as good or better, and yet nearly half of customers who switched financial institutions in the past two years did so due to poor customer service?
Or, from the perspective of financial institutions, why are customers leaving financial institutions even though they are happy with their digital offerings?
Automation isn’t about speed, it’s about convenience. In 2026, let’s make sure our digital offerings are producing the right outcomes.
Who is Invo?
Invo helps banks and credit unions deliver personal, one-on-one service – no matter where customers are. Our video banking platform, along with features such as text, appointment scheduling, and co-browsing, work to create successful outcomes out of every interaction a customer has with their financial institution.
Want to learn more? Schedule a 15-minute call →