OREANDA-NEWS. October 27, 2014. After launching the WeChat banking for more than a year, Industrial Bank (IB) recently announced to release the upgraded WeChat banking. Now, the new version has been put into trial operation and it will provide service to the outside soon.

As learnt by the reporter, the new version of WeChat banking after upgrading establishes a universal portal for mobile social platform, with which it can internally access the direct bank and smart customer service and carry various business products, and externally realize access and cooperation with other mobile social platforms such as Laiwang and YiChat gradually. In this way, it can form a three-in-one customer service model integrating “self-service, smart service and operator-based service”.

“After upgrading, services become more customizable, smarter, more customer-oriented and more considerate to meet the needs of customers”, said Yang Zhong, General Manager of the Electronic Banking Department of IB.

The upgraded WeChat banking pays more attention to user experience. After following the public WeChat account “Industrial Bank” or “cibebanking”, the reporter first saw the following menu options: “Private Customization”, “Investment and Wealth Management”, and “Life Service”. “Private Customization” is to customize individualized account services for customers. After bundling his or her bank account, one can, without entering the card number and password in the dialogue interface, inquire various information on his or her wealth management card, including account balance, transaction details, and credit card statement, with one key, and check the returns on various investment including direct bank easily and conveniently. If the mobile banking transfer power is activated for the wealth management card, the customer can also make fast transfer conveniently. For the changes of funds in the card, one can receive the message on changes in the corresponding account on WeChat on a real-time basis.

In terms of convenient services, the new version of WeChat banking makes it easy for customer to handle various businesses including transfer, investment and wealth management, payment of fees, repayment of credit card, and installment. The most distinctive feature is the access to IB Direct Bank – the internet wealth management tool highly praised by investors, with which customers can purchase Industrial Treasure (Xingyebao), Zhiyingbao, wealth management products, and fund products, and make fixed deposits. In the menu of “Life Service”, not only can customers inquire information about IB business outlet, ATM, merchants offering special concessions for IB credit card, and financial market quotations by way of self-service, but when they can provide their own locations, they can also receive corresponding map service to inquire various outlet information accurately.

Interactive consulting will be a highlight. When a user says “I’m exhausted”, the WeChat customer service operator of IB will immediately reply “have a good rest and take care of yourself”. It turns out to be that, after upgrading, IB WeChat banking will soon introduce the smart robot operator. Under the circumstance of man-machine interaction, the robot operator can identify diversified questions of customers in a smarter way and give accurate answers. Compared with the former replies based on keywords, the accuracy of answers will be improved substantially.

It is said that, after upgrading, the backstage management of IB WeChat banking will combine operators and smart robot. When the smart robot cannot answer a question raised by a customer, it will seek help from a customer service operator, and the two can have smoother connection. The customer can communicate with the customer service operator in the WeChat dialogue interface by way of text, voice, etc.

General Manager Yang Zhong introduced, “it can not only improve the customer experience and reduce the service cost considerably to replace traditional operator seats with smart WeChat customer service and replace SMS notice with WeChat notice”. It is estimated that such replacement will save the telephone service fees for the bank by more than RMB 15 million each year, and SMS fees by about RMB 30 million. In addition, WeChat banking can also save the service cost in many other areas, such as gradual replacement of paper statement and offering new channels for low-cost card issuance and sale of wealth management products.

“WeChat banking is an unavoidable choice for conventional banks to embrace the mobile internet, and it is also an important measure for banks to push forward innovation and transformation. In the future, our WeChat banking will further intensify our efforts, accelerate innovation, improve customer experience, and keep fortifying the role of banks as a financial medium in the new mobile social media.” General Manager Yang Zhong also told the reporter that the launch of the new version of WeChat Banking represents the in-depth consideration of the bank over the evolution of domestic mobile social platforms and changes in customers’ needs, and reflects the strategic layout that the bank deepen reform and accelerate business upgrading by resorting to mobile internet.