Although contactless solutions are becoming popular these days in the age of social distancing, an executive of a major Philippine bank pointed out human touch still remains relevant in these transactions in order for them to become more meaningful for the end-users.

Ana Delgado, chief customer experience officer and consumer finance center head of UnionBank of the Philippines (UnionBank), stressed that human interaction is still important because a contactless experience will be “an experience devoid of human feelings and interactions.” 

“Rather, we feel that the experience should still, perhaps even more at this time, allow people to connect with each other,” Delgado said in a recent media webinar that discussed contactless banking solutions and their importance in the new normal.

Although known as a pioneer in digitalization in the banking industry, Delgado said UnionBank has always employed a human-centric approach when it comes to the creation of digital solutions, and part of this is ensuring that customers are able to enjoy contactless experiences that are seamless while still being able to create meaningful human connections, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic where physical interactions must be minimized as much as possible.

“What we are now focusing on is how we can increase the ability for people to connect to other people as they are doing financial transactions in a contactless world. For instance, when buying things via Viber groups, how do we design our receipts to be more friendly? How do we make it easier for people to transfer using QR code?” Delgado explained.

By embarking on digital transformation, Delgado said UnionBank will have hire more data scientists, artificial intelligence (AI) specialists and app developers. 

Also read: Reaping the benefits of digital transformation

Aside from evaluating the features of their products, Delgado explained how UnionBank is redesigning and repositioning these features. She said this is part of the bank’s culture that involves continuous cycle of testing, redefining and deploying that allows them to deliver contactless solutions that address the different pain points of customers when making financial transactions online.

“We are constantly reviewing what we’ve launched. When we look at our design process, there are several layers to it. We always start with the customer and are led by the customer, which is why we have a purely digital and a hybrid approach,” she added.

UnionBank also touts its Facebook page, chatbots and call center to answer customer’s complaints.

Furthermore, Delgado said the hybrid approach remains relevant as it helps customers open a bank account using two methods led by a relationship manager.

To reach out to more customers, the bank has also formed a partnership with the 7-11 group that makes it possible for clients to deposit money to their account to any branch of 24/7 convenience store.

She pointed out the agile work culture of the bank enabled it to quickly serve the ever-changing needs of customers during the pandemic period.

“We expect that we will learn about more things that need to be prioritized, and I think, thanks to our agile way of working as part of our digital transformation, we are confident that we will be able to respond quickly,” Delgado said.