Higher expectations from a digitally and technologically loaded world have given birth to Rich Communication Services (RCS). While most of the human communities have been dependent on digital media, OTT channels, Email, SMS, and many others with assured security, RCS can be thought of as a game-changer in the field of telecommunication and related services.
A further twist to RCS for businesses has brought in RCS Business Messaging for businesses to increase and improve the ways in which businesses communicate with their customers. It proffers brands and enterprises with an opportunity to increase their engagement with customers through business messaging using chatbots and Artificial Intelligence.
To put it more precisely, a brand or an enterprise has got multiple ways by which it can communicate with its customers. Some of the most commonly used modes include:
- Text/ Chat
- Social Media
- Voice
What if we bring the best of business messaging technology and banking on a single platform?
Banking is a gigantic industry that not only holds importance in the life of the general public but also businesses. In spite of more than thousands of banks across the globe, the average waiting time in a bank’s lobby is 4-5 minutes.
The era of digitisation has enabled about 50.8 percent of the global population to be online. Having said that, mobile banking is one of the most popular terms in the lives of many.
These banks provide mobile banking services in the following ways:
- Mobile Banking over Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
- Mobile Banking over SMS (also known as SMS Banking)
- Mobile Banking over Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)
What makes RCS Business messaging a hit for the banking industry?
With a huge number of active users base, RCS Business Messaging foresees a market worth of USD 74 billion by 2021. The newness of technology along with existing features of SMS, RCS is a new channel to gain traction in the worldwide market with a notable number of consumers already using its functions.
RCS Business Messaging is designed to provide banks with rich features as follows:
- Branded and verified business messaging
- Payments
- Request for opening a new account
- Bank & ATM Locator
- Find IFSC code
- Request for Cheque Book, Credit Card, Debit Card
- Customer Support
- Apply for loan
- Apply for insurance
- Bill Payments
- Integration with apps like calendar and maps
- High volume support with rich card carousels in a single message
- High-level authentication
Adding on to the list above, RCS Business Messaging comes with a bucket load of functionalities curated for banks with data such as deep-linking for web-based campaigns and/or emails. It also encompasses features like read recipients, delivery receipts, on-screen event tracking, and customised information of customers on the basis of their responses to a message.
Drilling down to customer behavior and responses using RCS helps banks in fetching data to optimise their campaigns. The research conducted by GSMA suggests that consumers are highly responsive to a well-structured and effectively designed RCS campaign. Other than the above-mentioned merits, one of the most cardinal edges is that its cost-effectiveness and eliminated the need of investment in stand-alone applications.
RCS Business Messaging is designed to provide banks with rich features as follows:
Branded and verified business messaging, Payments, Request for opening a new account, Bank & ATM Locator, Find IFSC code, Request for Cheque Book/Credit Card/Debit Card, Customer Support, Apply for a loan, Apply for insurance, Bill Payments, Integration with apps like calendar and maps, High volume support with rich card carousels in a single message, High-level authentication.
Adding on to the list above, RCS Business Messaging comes with a bucket load of functionalities curated for banks with data such as deep-linking for web-based campaigns and/or emails. It also encompasses features like read recipients, delivery receipts, on-screen event tracking, and customized information of customers on the basis of their responses to a message.
Some of its major factors that make RCS suitable for the banking industry are as follows:
Need for richer content and communication
The ease in communication across geographies along with the ability to send multimedia messages has given rise to the need for richer media in multiple domains. RCS Business Messaging supports not only rich media but also richer content and communication. Banks can be greatly benefited as it will let them include a horizontally scrollable carousel of up to 10 vertical rich cards, branch locator, suggestive replies, and many more.
Secure and Reliable
An ever-increasing dependency and interference of digitisation and technology have brought in a sense of fear in terms of data security amongst the consumers. Not neglecting the vitality of personal information involved during banking transactions, more than 60 percent of the consumers are worried about their information being misused. RCS Business Messaging aims to discard the feeling of data insecurity with its strong consumer preference for communication that happens from trusted companies and brands only. Additionally, it provides ways to make consumers believe that the channel they are using is reliable through its branding, customised logo, and a verified symbol against its name.
Enhanced customer satisfaction and engagement
About 59 percent of people believe that interactive and intelligent models can improve customer engagement. A personalized message and way of communication have at all times resulted in the happiness of customers. While a huge chunk of consumers ends up feeling an insignificant part of the crowd, 61 percent of consumers show their interest in engaging with brands offering a personalized service. RCS Business Messaging is primarily engineered in a way that brings in a tinge of personal touch across the realms of a digital platform. Along with it, personalized service in most cases is guaranteed to elevate customer satisfaction.
Quick delivery and acknowledgment of messages
Typically, 90 percent of SMS are read within three minutes in ideal situations. Whereas, the time spent between receiving and reading a message sent through RCS Business Messaging campaigns was just two minutes. RCS Business Messaging enables banks to identify the nature of their customers’ response, time is taken to respond, the facility of reading receipts, and the choice of their suggestive replies. These factors not only make the delivery of the message quick but it helps in maintaining the crispness of the conversation between banks and their customers.
Intelligent Business Models
Engaging efficient and workable business models are the need of the hour which would ultimately lead to amplified customer engagement and hence retargeting. According to the latest research, the average rate at which users uninstall android apps on the very first day are 38 percent; this demands a model that would not only increase the number of customers using the service but at the same time ensuring that these customers continue with their interactivity.
With the help of intelligent business models, banks will be in a better position to suggest their customers with various products and services. RCS Business Messaging being a great technology in itself can help businesses benefit in terms of understanding the customer behavior, usual choices, and deeper insights.
Easy to use and understand
RCS Business Messaging is a phenomenal technology that comes with great technical superiority along with simplicity. By that, it means consumers can easily understand, use, and
complete various banking transactions with the utmost ease. The suggestive reply also acts as a guide for them to navigate across the platform.
Distinctly customisable, steady, conversational, and reliable, RCS Business Messaging is a power pack of features that proposes a chance to serve its users with the innovative and engrossing user experience. Tailored for a broad spectrum of businesses and verticals, RCS Business Messaging is the present and the future of communicating across geographies of the world!
(Views expressed above are the personal opinion of Rajdip Kumar Gupta, Managing Director & Group CEO, Route Mobile Limited.)
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