India's HDFC Bank is to install information software from IBM to examine customer feedback in e-mails and phone calls from among its 535 branches in 300 cities
The software - developed by IBM India Research Laboratory - automatically correlates incoming information with existing customer data and other business intelligence sources in an effort to identify changing customer needs and banking trends.
C. N. Ram, head, information technology, HDFC Bank, says: "The ability to associate this information with emerging customer needs will help our bank deliver superior service to our more than 10 million customers and will be a massive competitive differentiator for us."
Using IBM's OmniFind search technology, the system categorises and manages a wide variety of customer e-mails and calls on numerous subjects, such as complaints, billing questions, and identifies specific issues for each inquiry such as late payment, service charges or interest rates. The software also automatically assesses the customer’s sentiment, determining a level of concern or satisfaction, and identifies key words.
The data is pulled together and made available to call centre agents, providing banks reps with a more complete case history and identifying opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling.