UOB Group Channels & Digitalisation (GCD) division enables end-to-end seamless connectivity for customers across UOB’s physical and digital touchpoints.
By harnessing customer insights for the delivery of exemplary customer experience at all of UOB’s touchpoints, new business models and digital innovation, GCD continuously strives for closer engagement and deeper relationships with its customers in the digital world.
To carry out UOB’s brick-and-mortar to hybrid model transformation, the bank redesigned its physical branches – enhancing digital platforms for customers to self-help, leveraging data and upskilling employees to focus on personalised assistance.
This approach has helped the bank create customer-centric journeys integrating digital experiences with physical branches seamlessly. Utilising data-driven insights has allowed it to provide personalised services that suit its customers’ needs.
Lauding the bank’s efforts to meet customers’ evolving needs, The Digital Banker presented UOB GCD with the award for the Best Hybrid Customer Experience – Branch at the Digital CX Awards 2024, held in Singapore.
Hybrid Branch Model
UOB focused on four key areas as part of its strategic approach – people strategy, physical space, digital space and AIDA (artificial intelligence and data analytics) strategy.
People strategy
To better serve customers and ensure employees stay relevant and keep abreast with the environment, UOB provides necessary training to upskill employees and deliver convenient, efficient and appropriate banking services to customers across all channels.
The bank revamped its training regime to add a fifth new pillar: sustainability. It also launched an annual thematic training with the intention of embracing inclusiveness in their interactions with customers.
Physical space
In 2023, the bank redefined its branch service model by putting in place a Customer Experience Manager to welcome and guide customers from the moment they step into the branch. This new service model also encompasses a new “Quick Serve” counter that is meant to assist customers with simple transactions. Vulnerable customers are also given priority treatment.
Digital space
In addition to the physical space and processes redesigned to improve the hybrid customer journey, UOB enhanced its digital platforms to ensure they complement and support existing branch models. This includes addition of new features such as requesting a branch queue number via digital channels (website, app, SMS) to save customers’ time, the launch of Lunar New Year ATMs to boost convenience and reservation facility for bank notes for the Lunar New Year.
AIDA strategy
Leveraging data-driven insights to drive personalisation has helped UOB make informed decisions as it studies the patterns and behaviours of its customers to better understand and serve them.
UOB’s AIDA roadmap includes involvement of its colleagues in data analytics workshops where participants brainstorm and think of ways to solve actual business cases, helping bring new ideas to the table and carry them from the experimental stage through to project realisation.
Omni-Channel CX
The bank launched Wellness@UOB to enhance customer experience by imbuing banking services with an experiential wellness proposal to support customers’ physical, emotional and mental wellness and build more meaningful relationships with them.
Features include engagement booths with complimentary services, wellness events and solutions, being the programme partner for Wellness Festival Singapore 2023, and digital wellness surveys conducted with customers.
Through this, Wellness@UOB has enhanced customer experience, culminating in 50,000 customer engagements, 20,000 new product sign-ups, 2,500 New-To-Bank customers, and 750 segment upgrades in 2023.
Acknowledging the success of the initiative, The Digital Banker highly acclaimed UOB in the Excellence in Omni-Channel Customer Experience category at the Digital CX Awards 2024.
