2023-06-19 05:08:01
Dutch banks will work closely together to better help consumers if they are no longer able to arrange their banking affairs. This concerns, for example, the elderly and people who do not have a good command of Dutch or lack digital skills. There will be more joint bank information points where people can go for advice.
“We will be going from three to nineteen information points in the coming months. Customers can go there for most basic banking services, such as paying with a debit card, transferring money, requesting a balance, checking credit and debit entries and withdrawing money from an ATM,” says chairman Medy van der Laan of the Dutch Banking Association (NVB) once morest NU.nl.
“Furthermore, there is customization for different target groups. Digitization has also made it easier for many people. We no longer have to go to the Postbank to fill in a check, as we used to. Customers can now always contact the bank or the bank will come to the customer in all sorts of ways.”
Consumers are currently very concerned regarding the sky-high inflation in our country and whether they can still pay all the bills. There are also many questions regarding mortgages and investments. People therefore want to be able to turn to their bank for personal advice, according to previous research by SNS.
But the same banks have made significant cuts in their branch network in recent years. For example, ABN AMRO has only 27 branches and Rabobank 130. SNS, part of de Volksbank, has two hundred.
According to SNS director Angela Eijlander, this is essential, because customers like to visit the bank for advice. “We now have 200 bank branches, but that might be more. People need a listening ear, so we have to be more than an IT desk.”
‘Care coaches visiting people’
At ABN AMRO, offices are closed, because fewer and fewer people are coming. On average, there are two to three per hour. “There are many more ways to get in touch with us,” says board member Annerie Vreugdenhil. “You can do this via image banking when it comes to mortgages, we have a senior line and have appointed care coaches who visit people’s homes.”
ING currently has more than three hundred branches in the Netherlands, such as offices and service points. “Because more and more customers arrange their banking affairs online, our branches are visited less and less. In the end, there are not enough customers left to keep them all open,” says a spokesperson.
ING says it does everything it can to help customers who are not digitally skilled. “For example, we organize mobile banking workshops. People can also use more than forty explanation videos regarding internet banking and the ING Mobile Banking app.”
‘Customers can continue to use paper statements’
People who do not want to or cannot use mobile banking can still go to an ING branch. “They can also continue to use traditional means of payment such as paper statements, transfer cards and the balance line.”
If an ING customer cannot arrange his banking affairs online and must necessarily go to a branch, the travel distance is for the most part less than thirty minutes. “For more complex advice, customers can make an appointment with an advisor who will help through a video conversation. This is also possible in the evenings and on Saturdays.”
Rabobank is also seeing a change in customer behaviour. “And as a result, fewer and fewer people come to our offices. Corona has accelerated this and this development is still continuing,” said a spokesperson.
“An advisor can wait at a branch for customers who don’t come by, or as a mobile advisor at the same time on a home visit to help customers. We are not currently seeing an increase in the number of physical visits to our offices or in the number of customers seeking help. questions regarding money worries.
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