Commonwealth Bank of Australia has re-affirmed its commitment to its 1000-strong branch network and call centre operations, despite figures showing almost 60% of all transactions at the bank are now conducted digitally,
While more than 6.5 million Australians use the bank's mobile app and five million log on every day, CBA chief Matt Comyn affirmed that the branch network and call centre would continue to remain relevant in providing a well-rounded proposition for customers.
Comyn says that in order to ensure the bank's position in the marketplace "it is going to be that combination of both the best digital experience in Australia combined with leading customer experience across all of our face to face and assisted channels".
Comyn is bidding to put a more human face on the bank in the wake of a series of scandals which have seen an outlay of $1.1 billion on penalties and regulatory costs and resulted in a 4.7% drop in operated profits for the full year.
“We just have to recognise we have not done a good enough job for our customers,” says Comyn. “We got some things wrong. We have made mistakes. We absolutely need to make sure we do not make them again."
Alongside the emphasis on face-to-face services, the digital aspect is not being ignored and is driving increased investment in the bank's mobile and online services. These include a series of iterative improvements to the bank's automated assistant Ceba, a customer pilot of an in-app budget management service, and a new digital service for SMEs under development with KPMG and Microsoft.