Business Platform
Banorte
Providing customers fast, easily accessible service to increase satisfaction and lower call center volumes and operating costs
Brand
WhatsApp Business Solution Provider
Banorte develops a communications channel over WhatsApp that engages less digitally savvy customers with a secure, convenient way to access information about their pensions while significantly lowering operating costs associated with high call center volumes.
55%
increase in customers served attributable to WhatsApp
35%
decrease in operational costs attributable to WhatsApp
18%
decrease in the cost of serving each customer
80%
increase in net promoter score and 82% CSAT from customers using WhatsApp
*Results are unique and are provided by the featured business. Success story results will vary, as they depend on a variety of factors.
Their Story
Trusted retirement partner
Grupo Financiero Banorte, known as Banorte, is one of the largest commercial banks in Mexico based on assets and loans, and a prominent retirement fund administrator. Through its Pensiones Banorte group, the bank manages pension payments that protect customers who leave the workforce due to retirement, permanent disability, or unemployment at an advanced age.
Their Goal
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Efficient, accessible customer experiences
When pandemic-related lockdowns limited in-person banking, Banorte was concerned that pensioners would significantly increase already high call center volumes. To lower operational costs, the bank looked to develop a secure digital communications channel that less technically savvy customers could navigate.
Their Solution
Voice authentication provides the security to deliver additional financial services remotely
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An easy, automated channel
For pensioners across Mexico, Pensiones Banorte is a trusted steward of their livelihoods after retirement. As one of the largest banks in Mexico, the pensions group manages and distributes annuities to support retirees and others who have left the workforce permanently.
Traditionally, customers would visit Banorte branches to conduct transactions related to their pensions, which often involved a lot of administrative paperwork. Customers also had the option to call the bank, with live agents handling 95 percent of monthly inquiries. As pandemic-related lockdowns closed branch locations, Banorte was concerned that the contact center would be overwhelmed.
While Banorte wanted to engage more customers online, the bank knew that reaching pensioners digitally would be a challenge that required an easy-to-use and highly secure communications channel. After observing that WhatsApp was widely used in Mexico, including the age demographic of its Pensiones Banorte customers, the bank partnered with Aivo, a company that creates AI solutions, to develop an automated channel over WhatsApp Business Platform.
When customers are enrolled in a pension managed by Banorte, they receive access to a WhatsApp channel dedicated to Pensiones Banorte. Customers are able to call the contact center and connect directly to live agents through WhatsApp. If a customer prefers self-service, they will interact with a chatbot that provides a clear menu of options such as answering FAQs like payment distribution dates, receiving documents and statements, inquiring about the status of an application, or sending verifications related to their beneficiaries.
“The speed and convenience of WhatsApp encouraged more customers to resolve inquiries through the chatbot, leading to a 35 percent decrease in operational costs related to our call center. In roughly one year, the number of customers we’ve assisted has increased by 55 percent, even as the cost of serving individual customers has dropped by 18 percent,” says Andrés Gallegos Garza, Deputy Director of Alternate Channels and Customer Service, Banorte.
Though customers can always reach a live agent through WhatsApp at any point, the increasing numbers of customers engaging over WhatsApp has allowed customer care teams to focus on other valuable tasks.
“The speed and convenience of WhatsApp encouraged more customers to resolve inquiries through the chatbot, leading to a 35 percent decrease in operational costs related to our call center. In roughly one year, the number of customers we’ve assisted has increased by 55 percent, even as the cost of serving individual customers has dropped by 18 percent.”
Andrés Gallegos Garza
Deputy Director of Alternate Channels and Customer Service, Banorte
“Through Banorte’s immersive WhatsApp experience, customers can complete many transactions that would usually need to be done in-person on their phones, while feeling like they’ve received one-on-one attention,” says Caterina Francisca, Content Marketing Specialist, Aivo.
Like any financial institution, Banorte is heavily regulated when it comes to securing customers’ personal and financial information. To prevent identity theft, pensioners had to travel to a bank office and affirm their identity in-person every six months. Wanting to maintain high security standards while making the validation process easier for older or disabled customers, Banorte worked with Aivo to integrate voice recognition software into WhatsApp.
During a face-to-face meeting, Banorte representatives record each customer’s voice saying certain phrases. Whenever customers access their account over WhatsApp, they need to repeat those phrases – instantly authenticating their identities in a way that is difficult for scammers to replicate. If a customer’s voice is affected by an illness, they can always work with a customer service agent in WhatsApp to validate their identity.
“With the voice authentication capabilities in WhatsApp, customers and their families can feel confident that every transaction is secure. Customer satisfaction with WhatsApp is at 82 percent and the net promoter score has increased by 80 percent, along with massive engagement. In only four months, interactions over WhatsApp increased by 220 percent,” says Garza.
Based on the positive response from customers, Banorte plans to let pensioners apply for special credit offers directly through WhatsApp.
“By adopting WhatsApp, we’ve gained significant savings in customer service costs for our customers, while enhancing the quality of our services and giving customers greater peace of mind as they enjoy their retirement,” says Garza.
Virtual assistant enables customers to select from a wide range of services
Their Success
Banorte builds an automated communications channel through WhatsApp Business Platform to engage less digitally savvy customers while reducing call center volumes and lowering operational costs.
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Lower call center volumes and costs
- 55% increase in customers served attributable to WhatsApp
- 35% decrease in operational costs attributable to WhatsApp
- 18% decrease in the cost of serving each customer
- 80% increase in net promoter score and 82% CSAT from customers using WhatsApp
*Results are unique and are provided by the featured business. Success story results will vary, as they depend on a variety of factors.
“With the voice authentication capabilities in WhatsApp, customers and their families can feel confident that every transaction is secure. Customer satisfaction with WhatsApp is at 82 percent and the net promoter score has increased by 80 percent, along with massive engagement. In only four months, interactions over WhatsApp increased by 220 percent.”
Andrés Gallegos Garza
Deputy Director of Alternate Channels and Customer Service, Banorte
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