WhatsApp banking: 19 examples for better customer experiences
Uncover all you need to know about WhatsApp banking, from benefits, best practices, and 19 use cases to get you started.
Can you remember the last time you visited your bank? It’s probably been a while since you can do almost everything over your smartphone.
That’s all thanks to the digital transformation banks and financial institutions have undergone over the last few years and the introduction of conversational banking.
Conversational banking allows financial providers to service customers over a chat app, like WhatsApp, while keeping the human touch to all interactions. Brands can design end-to-end journeys and keep customers engaged and satisfied with fast and efficient support on a channel their customers use daily.
So, let’s dive right into everything you should know about banking over WhatsApp and how to get started.
What is WhatsApp banking?
Banking over WhatsApp enables financial institutions to provide support, send marketing messages, and capitalize on cross sell and upsell opportunities over the popular chat app. From discovery and onboarding to conversions and re-engagement, WhatsApp banking can make automating use cases simpler, allowing banks to offer more convenient and better service to its customers.
What are the benefits of WhatsApp banking?
Conversational banking
One of the biggest advantages of WhatsApp is that it enables conversational banking. The channel makes it easy to implement banking chatbots, use engaging message types, and implement a wide range of use cases to create end to end journey. Younger generations specifically look for ways to easily connect with banks, and conversational banking on WhatsApp offers that edge.
Listen to how Zenith bank uses WhatsApp to create natural and conversational experiences with their customers:
Reach
A growing number of customers have turned to WhatsApp as a primary communication channel, reaching 2 billion users. This gives brands access to customers on a channel they regularly use to communicate with friends and family.
Security
Secure banking is an absolute must for both customers and banks. Every WhatsApp message is protected by Signal protocol encryption. This means that the message is secured before it leaves the device of the sender and is securely delivered to its desired destination. Signal protocol encryption protects the integrity of your messages and ensures businesses can send sensitive materials or information over WhatsApp.
Cost saving
Using instant messaging with rich media and chatbot automation on WhatsApp eliminates the need for lengthy calls to your contact center – and frequently asked questions taking up your agents’ time.
Agent efficiency
Automating messages on WhatsApp can help live agents focus on complex and urgent queries. If you connect your WhatsApp channel with a cloud contact center then you can also provide your agents with contextual information for every customer, so they can avoid asking repetitive questions and speeding up time to resolution.
Convenience
In the end, banking over WhatsApp makes the entire experience more convenient for users. They can resolve their own queries with self-service options, get support 24/7, and engage with their bank over the channel they are familiar with.
Best practices for using WhatsApp for banking
Set up multiple entry points
You want to make sure your customers know they have the option of interacting with their bank over WhatsApp. Adding entry points to your WhatsApp channel from multiple sources can help promote your WhatsApp service and encourage more customers to use WhatsApp for customer support.
Why is this important? Well, you cannot interact with customers without collecting their opt-in (aka consent), and if they are the first to open the conversation, then they have given your brand consent to send them messages in the future. They can always opt-out as well, so make sure your messages are helpful and not spammy.
Examples of entry points include:
- Click to chat ads
- QR codes
- Entry from your website
- Entry from your banking platform
Launch a WhatsApp chatbot for banking
To offer customers stellar customer service, you should consider implementing a WhatsApp chatbot. You can speed up time to resolution, improve satisfaction, reduce costs, and improve visibility of campaigns with a WhatsApp chatbot.
Here are just a few use cases that can be automated with a chatbot:
- Onboarding
- Answering FAQs
- Sharing branch locations
- Sending promotional offers
- Collecting feedback
Connect to a cloud contact center
Adding a cloud contact center will make your entire customer service processes seamless. Live agents can access a full view of the customer’s chat history and get real contextualized information on the customer. Using a cloud contact center allows for a chatbot and live agents to be aligned and in sync so that customers can get the best experience possible.
Stay compliant
Security is a priority for every bank, financial services, and fintech brands worldwide. Reassuring clients that their data is safe over a chat app can definitely be a challenge. Using WhatsApp might sound risky or uncertain, but choosing the right WhatsApp provider will help keep your messages compliant with local laws and regulations and secure.
Status Data provide data services to banks and fintechs, and their owner Stephen Gilmore discusses the challenges around compliance and security over chat apps for conversational banking:
Infobip is a fully compliant WhatsApp Business Platform partner that ensures every message that passes through our platform is a compliant one. Thanks to 24/7 support available in your local language, you can get the support you need to make sure you stay on top of security and compliance and keep your WhatsApp channel a success.
19 use cases for WhatsApp banking
1. Welcome messages
When you have collected your opt-in and can freely send messages to customers on WhatsApp, send a warm welcome message to start the conversation and give them some insight on everything they can do on the channel.
Tip: Make sure to personalize your welcome messages, go beyond just the first name of your customer to show that you understand them and their needs.
2. Onboarding
Launch your onboarding process over WhatsApp to speed it up and free up live agents for more pressing issues.
Tip: Use educational videos to explain processes and FAQs and take advantage of WhatsA Flows to offer a complete in-app experience for onboarding like filling in contact information and choosing account settings.
3. Automate new account creation
If a customer wants to open a new savings account, or even apply for a credit card, streamline the entire process over WhatsApp so they don’t have to go into a branch or wait on the line for a live agent.
Tip: WhatsApp Flows can make this entire process seamless. Banks can set up an application flow all within the chat app and avoid any complications or long wait times.
4. Form-fill abandonment
You can send reminders to customers over WhatsApp to complete abandoned forms, be it for a mortgage application, student loan quote, or any other form processes you might have.
Tip: With a customer engagement platform, you can set up triggered reminders based on customer behavior. If a user abandoned their form, schedule a reminder to be sent with the link included 24 hours later.
5. OTPs
Use WhatsApp to securely send one-time passwords (OTP) to customers. Authenticating customer identity is essential for banks and sending these messages on WhatsApp can speed up the process and improve visibility rates for users.
Tip: Setting up triggered messages for OTPs can be done over API or over the Infobip platform with ease, it all depends on how much coding you want to do – if any at all.
6. Appointment booking
Avoid unnecessary phone calls to your support agents and branches with appointment booking on WhatsApp. Customers can book themselves a time to visit your branch or schedule a call with a consultant when it works for them.
Tip: List messages and WhatsApp Flows are both great options for appointment booking over WhatsApp.
7. Promotional messages
If a potential customer has reached out over WhatsApp, but hasn’t yet opened an account, send a promotional message in the same chat to incentivize them to become a customer. A time sensitive offer is a great way to restart the conversation and get them to act quickly to move onto onboarding.
Tip: Use a product catalog so users can browse their options within WhatsApp and select which card they prefer. This speeds up and smooths the path to conversion.
8. Payment due reminder
If customers miss a bill payment, send them a friendly reminder on WhatsApp to help ensure they see the message. This can go a long way with helping improve customer satisfaction rates because you are helping customers stay on top of their payments and avoid interest charges.
Tip: Follow up your reminder with an offer to set up automatic payments so they won’t miss a payment in the future.
9. E-policy and invoice sharing
WhatsApp media message templates enable you to share invoices, e-policies, and e-receipts – without any friction.
Tip: Use WhatsApp payments if available in your region to speed up invoicing and payment processes. Currently available in India and Brazil but will expand to other countries soon. Prepare and learn about WhatsApp payments in this blog.
10. Pre-approval offers
Use recent customer activity to offer customers pre-approval offers for loans, lines of credit, or credit cards. Sending a WhatsApp message about what pre-approved loans they are eligible for can help you upsell your services and result in more active customer engagement.
Tip: Use interactive buttons over WhatsApp to make interactions faster and simpler and guide customers through their offer with choosing options with one click.
11. Card delivery
Make card delivery or pick-up seamless. Keep active engagement by informing customers about the status of their card delivery on WhatsApp and use call-to-action buttons to keep them connected in case they have any questions or concerns.
Tip: Send links to live tracking so that customers can track their delivery and keep them updated regularly with the status of their delivery to avoid any uncomfortable situations.
12. Share branch locations
Help your customers quickly find the nearest branch or ATM with rich media functionalities, such as maps. A customer can send a message to your WhatsApp chatbot to get information on where the nearest branch locations are relative to their location.
Tip: Include hours of operation and other information that might be helpful for the customer to know within the location message.
13. Answer FAQs
Often, call centers and front desk staff get bombarded with simple FAQ questions that can be resolved with self-service options. By using WhatsApp as a communication channel, you can lower the load of redundant questions and offer customers faster and better customer service.
Tip: Launch a simple self-service chatbot that can answer FAQs and guide customers through simple processes so that live agents can focus on more complex queries.
14. Card activation
Using call-to-action buttons you can guide customers through an easy activation process for bank cards. WhatsApp is a secure channel to send verification codes over, offering your customers a safe and fast activation process.
Tip: Use interactive buttons to make activation simple, and a second communication channel to send a verification message to ensure the upmost security when dealing with credit card activation.
15. Suspicious transactions
Notify customers in real-time of any transactional updates that happen on their account. These automated alerts keep your customers informed and give them peace of mind that they can track their own accounts and notify support if they notice transactions they did not make.
Tip: Use interactive buttons to make activation simple, and a second communication channel to send a verification message to ensure the upmost security when dealing with credit card activation.
16. Contract renewals
Retain customers by offering them an easy way to deal with insurance renewals. Simply send a personalized message when their contract is about to expire asking if they are interested in renewing their insurance with you. When they reply confirming, they can be transferred to an agent who will complete the processes. Don’t let your customers forget to renew contracts and engage with them before they contact you.
Tip: Use a customer engagement platform to send triggered messages to customers when they are one month away from their expiration date. This will help you streamline processes and reduce the risk of customers forgetting to renew.
17. Transfer to an agent
When customers have more complex issues, or a chatbot can no longer assist them, set up easy transfer to a live agent. Depending on your set up and customer preferences, you can allow agents to continue the conversation on WhatsApp or deflect to a voice call.
Tip: You can connect your WhatsApp channel to a cloud contact center to give live agents easy access to chat history, reduce the need for customers to repeat themselves.
18. Satisfaction survey
After engaging with customers on WhatsApp, send a satisfaction survey to get real-time feedback. Sending surveys is a great way to learn more about how to optimize and improve your WhatsApp service so that you can continue to offer quality customer care. The best part – customers don’t have to leave the WhatsApp chat to complete it.
Tip: Use WhatsApp list messages or WhatsApp Flows to keep the survey within the chat app. You’re more likely to collect responses from customers when there are less steps involved.
19. Loyalty offers
Remind customers to use their loyalty points to pay for credit card bills or to notify them of a loyalty status upgrade that gets them a better interest rate on insurance. These offers keep your relationship with your customers thriving and offering them over WhatsApp makes the engagement experience easier, faster and smoother than ever before.
Tip: By sending loyalty offers over WhatsApp, customers are more likely to see the message and act on it. Personalize the message based on past interactions and data you from the customer that could include travel and shopping habits, payment due dates, and special occasions.
Which banks use WhatsApp?
Zenith Bank
Nigeria’s leading financial institution, Zenith Bank, used WhatsApp to reduce the number of calls made to their contact center for mundane or simple queries. They used a WhatsApp chatbot to give customers self-service options, available 24/7 and get real-time support.
Zenith Bank reduced the cost of their call center and improved their reach with their customers all thanks to a self-service WhatsApp chatbot.
Anand Rathi
One of India’s leading financial institutions was looking for ways to interact with younger generations and offer convenient and interactive experiences. Anand Rathi built a highly customized WhatsApp chatbot with Infobip to offer an engaging customer journey over the chat app.
They reported 98% decrease in time taken to access research reports, a 40% click-through rate, and a 10% increase in conversions.
Reflect
Reflect, a neobank in Jordan, wanted to improve their engagement rates and offer an overall better customer experience. Reflect worked with Infobip to design an end-to-end banking journey using multiple solutions, including a WhatsApp chatbot.
The chatbot provided a response time of less than 30 seconds, offering fast answers to FAQs, and transferring to live agents when necessary.
DinarPAY
DinarPAY enables mobile wallet services across the Middle East and North Africa. To reach more of its customers and improve their customer service, they introduced WhatsApp as a customer service channel in addition to SMS.
Since its launch, WhatsApp helped expand their customer base by 50% and reach a 70% success ratio in handling queries.
Angel Broking
Proving broking and advisory services in India, Angel Broking wanted to digitalize their services and improve experiences for people who are new to stock trading. They opted to use WhatsApp as the channel to offer customers easy onboarding, one-on-one support, verification services and more.
Creating a digital journey on WhatsApp resulted in 39% of customers being onboarded over WhatsApp, and 47% engaging with Angel Broking over WhatsApp every month.
Edenred UAE
A payroll service provider in the UAE was quickly scaling its businesses and needed to implement a solution that would improve customer experience and keep costs low.
By implementing a WhatsApp chatbot, Edenred could offer customer service in multiple languages, offer support 24/7, and transfer to an agent for more complex queries. They were able to reduce wait times to their call center by 96%, and 70% of customers could find the solution to their issues without being transferred to an agent.
WhatsApp API for banking
The WhatsApp Business Platform API offers easy integration into a bank’s existing systems. That means banks can continue to use any existing software like CRMs, contact centers, and customer data platforms and easily integrate WhatsApp into their tech stack. WhatsApp APIs enable banks to scale their messages to customers, automate interactions and use cases, implement chatbots, and much more.
Banks can program and create customized communication flows using all the features available over WhatsApp so that they can streamline processes like onboarding or account creation, and guide customers through their journey.
WhatsApp banking FAQs
Got more questions about WhatsApp?
Finding the right WhatsApp provider for banking and finance brands
As a WhatsApp Business solution provider and trusted Meta partner, Infobip provides banking institutions with the tools and guidance they need to create a solid communication strategy.
With our SaaS solutions and CX consulting, banks can maximize their use of WhatsApp by:
- Sending targeting and personalized sales and marketing campaigns on Moments
- Automate interactions with a custom built chatbot through Answers
- Improve agent efficiency and provide personalized support with Conversations
For example, Bank Alibillad wanted to create automated and personalized marketing interactions over WhatsApp for their clients using Infobip solutions. Check out what their Chief marketing Officer, Abdulmohsen Al-Mulhem had to say about the solution:
Utilizing the world’s most popular chat app allows banks to connect with customers in a personal, trusted, and familiar way. Banks and financial institutions that offered their services via WhatsApp with Infobip were able to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and continue to improve customer satisfaction – all on a single platform.
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