COMMUNICATION CCR-2 EDITOR’S LETTER


AS the credit and collections industry works towards an ever more compliant future, with the customer at its very heart, it is crucial to have the right conversations to ensure that you are doing the right thing by your customers, whether this is over the telephone, or by technological means. So it is key for all lenders, collections agencies, or debt


buyers, to have a comprehensive strategy for communications to bring themselves to the top of debtors’ minds in a competitive environment. As we see in the magazine each month,


the best debt buyers, collections agencies, and lenders have a range of options available from technology, telephone work, and advanced technology and strategies to guide the use of these options. They use a range of these options to build a complete


average banking service is 1.4 minutes away – closer than the average local pub (1.6 minutes) and primary school (1.7 minutes). t 97% of over 80s live within half a mile of a bank branch, Post Office or ATM. Anthony Browne, chief executive of the British Banker’s Association, says: “It is now easier than ever for people to do


The best debt buyers, collections agencies, and lenders have a range of options available from technology, telephone work, and advanced technology


picture of the customer and to allow them to make contact in any way that they choose. It was a message that was driven home, last month, by


research by CACI at the British Bankers’ Association, which found that consumers are now in touch with their bank more frequently than ever before. In 2015 UK customers interacted with their banks about


their current account 2.1 billion times – an average of 3.5 times per month each. This is an increase of nearly 50% compared to 2010. CACI predict that in 2020 customers will interact with their banks 3.2 billion times – more than five times a month on average. This is mainly being driven by a large increase in the uptake of digital banking. Some people however, are not comfortable banking digitally.


All the major high street banks have now done deals with the Post Office which allow their customers to carry out basic banking services in Post Office branches. This means that there is now a network of over 20,000 places where customers can bank. This is the largest effective bank branch network the UK has ever had. It has halved the distance people need to travel to get to a place where they can carry out basic banking face to face. According to the research:


t On average people live 2.1 minutes’ drive away from a place where they can bank face to face. t 99.9% of people in Britain live within 20 minutes’ drive of a bank branch or Post Office. t When the 68,000 ATMs in the UK are included, the


CONTENTS


Customer experience analysis Enhanced lending on offer


July 2015


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their banking. You can check your balance, pay back a friend digitally or speak to your bank for advice 24/7. That means we are all in touch with our banks now more than ever before. “But technology is not for everyone, which is why all the


major banks have done deals to allow you to do basic banking through Post Office branches. That means there are now more places where you can bank than ever before. “This is important to make sure that no-one gets left


behind, which is why banks are also investing in new ATMs and mobile bank branches to reach more rural communities.” As we will see in this edition of CCR-2, the entire industry


is on a communications journey with its customers. We will look at best practice in communications strategy at the moment – how are the best creditors and collectors adapting to the current environment and setting themselves apart from the competition? And we will see how new


ideas and new technologies are being put to use to get to the end of that journey quicker and more easily for all.


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