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Phone banking getting tedious for customers

Speaking to Khaleej Times several customers of Standard Chartered Bank have complained that even activating or operating an account through the phone has become a long drawn-out exercise.

“Nowadays, I am being asked to spell out my passport number by the customer service agent whenever I want to access my account through the phone. I do not always carry my passport or even a copy of it, and at times I urgently need to access my account, what do I do?” asks Mohammed Zahid.

“On one occasion, I was unable to convince the customer staff of Standard Chartered that I was the holder of the account even though I was furnishing the details regarding my date of birth and mother's name. The lady kept on insisting that I give her my passport number as an identification,” he said, adding, “Finally I had to drop the call and hunt for my passport number. I was very put off by her rudeness.”

A spokesperson from Standard Chartered Bank said, “We ensure a stringent identification and verification process which is carried out prior to sharing information on an account. A thorough identification process eliminates the possibility of divulging any information to a non-account holder.”

“We have a highly trained staff who are taught to talk politely to the customer and never raise their voice under any circumstances. Besides, all voice calls made to the bank are recorded so that any complaint can be verified and addressed,” clarified the spokesperson.

Most customers also complained about the lack of communication as they were not able to understand English or Arabic. “I am new in the country, and I cannot speak or understand English or Arabic. So whenever, I use phone banking, I have a problem comprehending what the automated machine and even the operator says,” said Mohammed Farid.

In response, the bank spokesperson said, “Keeping in mind customer convenience, Standard Chartered has recently added a third language IVR (integrated voice recorder) in Hindi/Urdu to the existing Arabic and English.”

He said recent figures from Standard Chartered show that in the UAE, the bank receives approximately 500,000 phone banking calls a month of which 65 per cent calls are for its automated banking service that are currently offered in Arabic and English. “Our phone banking team currently comprises staff from 14 countries and we anticipate scaling this up further,” he added.

• UAE