No matter where you find yourself at an industry conference — whether in a grand ballroom for a panel discussion, at a roundtable networking with peers, or connecting with old friends and new colleagues in a vast exhibit hall — all conversations lately circle back to a single common theme: the omnichannel experience.

Meeting the customer where they want to be. Having multiple touchpoints where the customer can start, stop, or resume their shopping and financing experience or business relationship.

The omnichannel experience is more than just a buzz phrase fated to fall out of the collective discourse in financial services. It is rather the evolution of a trend set in motion in 1969 with the advent of the automatic teller machine, iterated upon with mobile banking 30 years later, then accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a trend that is now driving lenders’ technology advancements and operational strategies.

“The silver lining in COVID is it has really accelerated digital transformation,” Tricia Price, senior vice president of customer experience operations at GM Financial, said at the Auto Finance Summit last month. “People got more comfortable in very short order with doing things online.”

But the omnichannel approach isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. In fact, the auto finance industry represents a unique example of how nuanced an omnichannel approach can be, depending on the financial institution — and even the products they offer.

Defining omnichannel

Defining exactly what an omnichannel experience looks like differs from lender to lender and is driven by the customer and their expectations of how they want to interact with the companies they do business with.

At used-car retailer CarMax and its captive financier CarMax Auto Finance (CAF), the omnichannel experience must be “both seamless and iconic,” CarMax Vice President and Chief Credit Officer Denise Brown said at the Summit. “We want the kind of experience that a customer says, ‘I just had this amazing experience,’ and tell someone else about it.”

The seamless aspect of the experience, however, isn’t so easy to implement, Brown said. “Customers start on their couch, they go to a retail location, they go back to their couch, they test drive, they don’t test drive, they want home delivery,” Brown said. The trick is “making it seamless, no matter what that customer journey wants to be, whether it’s finance first or car first.”

A key element to creating a seamless experience is giving the customer the ability to pick up where they left off, GM Financial’s Price said. “From the shop, click, drive perspective, when the customer is starting their shopping experience — typically online — it has to be frictionless between those channels. They start online and then they move to the mobile app, and they expect us to know where they’ve been [and] what they need.”

Yet, an omnichannel experience isn’t achieved within a digital vacuum and still requires a human touch, especially for customers considering big-ticket purchases, such as an automobile.

“Buying a car is, for most customers, the second-most expensive investment that they make,” Kristina Bolte, vice president of dealer services for digital, direct and alliance programs at U.S. Bank, said at the Summit.

“When you talk about that type of money, it’s very personal,” Bolte said. “So, while customers absolutely want seamless and frictionless and integrated experiences, they also just don’t want to be left alone with those [decisions]. They want to know that someone’s there to help them.”

Still, no matter which product is being financed, financial institutions are now largely being held to the standards of Amazon and food or grocery delivery services that provide near instant service, Bolte said.

“Customers don’t buy cars every day. They don’t even buy them every year,” she said. “So, when they look at their experiences and the expectations they have of us as lenders, it’s not compared to buying a car, it’s what they did last week. We’re competing against companies like Amazon.

“Customers continue to need support from us, whether it’s in between purchasing experiences, whether it’s setting up their payments, maintenance schedules — but it’s all those in-between moments that really create loyalty from customers,” Bolte said.

Bridging the omnichannel gap

To deliver such services, banks must reevaluate their tech stacks to determine where they need to bridge the gap between technology and personal touchpoints. Banks can start by leveraging client data to better understand how to meet customers where they are — digitally, in-person or in between.

GM Financial, for example, recognizes that it is collecting a lot of “rich, unstructured data” based on consumer comments, social media interactions and complaint tracking, Price said. “We’re working to leverage that [data] to really get some deep insights to understand the key drivers overall and really anticipate what [consumer] needs are going to be.”

In order to compartmentalize and make that data palatable, the captive is investing in data analytics tools, she said, noting, “It’s really about reaching that customer where they want, when they want and how they want,” and visibility into a client’s usership allows GM Financial to personalize the client experience.

CAF, too, is investing in advanced analytics to better serve its customers, Brown said. At CarMax, the focus is on recognizing how a customer wants to engage throughout a transaction. “We’re using a lot of advanced analytics to help with sensing what state the customer is in and trying to be there for them in the right way at the right time,” she said.

New offerings

Once a bank can better understand its client needs via data analysis, new offerings can hit the market.

CAF, for one, has expanded its omnichannel offerings through its shopping experience, Brown said. The captive now offers prequalified customers monthly payment estimates in real time as they peruse dealership inventory, both online and in person. Through the technology, customers can browse inventory, scan the car window sticker and receive a personalized payment based on the soft-pull prequalification.

U.S. Bank also rolled out a new offering, U.S. Bank Vehicle Manager, which gives bank clients access to recommended maintenance schedules, recall information and real-time estimated trade-in values, Bolte said, noting the program also collects client data to give the bank a better understanding of clients and the vehicles they drive, which can lead to a better customer experience and relevant offerings when those clients are back in market.

Enhancing AI to reduce friction

In addition to new offerings, banks are also investing in technology that pinpoints friction within existing offerings.

Truist Financial, for one, launched artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced virtual assistant Truist Assist, which uses natural language processing and natural language understanding to improve its customer call center experience, Sherry Graziano, head of digital banking and contact centers at Truist, previously told Bank Automation News.

The technology allows for self-service when desired, but also offers customers frictionless transition to associates at contact centers when needed, reducing client frustration, Graziano said.

Similarly, TD Bank announced a new AI assistant in Q3, and U.S. Bank added multilingual offerings to its own voice-enabled Smart Assistant in May.

A balancing act

Whether a client prefers self-service, virtual assistance, face-to-face interaction or a combination of all three, banks are working toward implementing all the personnel, tools and technology needed to create customized lending experiences.

“While customers absolutely want seamless, frictionless and integrated experiences, they also just don’t want to be left alone with those. They want to know that someone’s there to help them and that they have a person behind all of that technology that can be there to support them,” Bolte said.

Bank Automation Summit US 2023, taking place March 2-3 in Charlotte, is a crucial event on automation and automation technology in banking. Learn more and register for Bank Automation Summit US 2023.