Banks, silos, and the systems that suck

It’s not the people sitting in those banks behind the glass walled cabins that are making your life difficult as a customer. It is the data sitting in concrete walled silos that you’re not even aware of.

This blog post is a rant on the banking system around the world partly because I experienced some difficulties with it lately and partly because during my day job, I keep thinking on how we can help traditional companies do even better with the data they have.

One month back I moved from India to Singapore, so, the first thing for me to do was to enrol myself in the banking system.

The bank recommends using their mobile app for filling out the application. So, I downloaded the app and started filling the details. As I didn’t have my Singpass account ready yet, I filled the form with details like Passport Number, MFIN etc manually.

This was quick and I received an email and an SMS that the application has been submitted and it will take around a week for them to review it due to Covid.

I heard back nothing for more than a week even after submitting multiple requests through the chat system of customer care. Finally, after 2 weeks, I get a response that the residential proof documents were not accepted.

I went to the bank branch and they mentioned that they cannot open the account with foreign address proof on a bank branch. It can only be done online. There is also no way to edit the application, so, I’ll have to start a new one.

Quite strange right? It shows that the systems inside the branch, and ones online are working in silos.

So, I went home and started filing a new application using their mobile app. I filled my details like Passport Number and MFIN but didn’t get any place to upload documents. After application submit, it showed that I’ll receive a response in 3 days, but no acknowledgement on email or sms.

I kept filing these applications using the mobile app every few days without any acknowledgement.

May be I’m doing something wrong, so, instead of filing this manually I got my Singpass activated and filed the application using that. It went through the same flow not asking for any proofs before submit and suggesting that they will get back in 3 days.

But no response at all on email/sms.

I called the support helpline. As you can imagine, calling the support helpline of banks these days is a tedious process. Their IVR makes sure that you don’t talk to a real person unless it is a fraudulent transaction report. Finally, I was routed to the banking division of the call center. I explained my situation to them.

Well they were unable to see or verify anything at their end as they had no access to the necessary systems, so, they noted my info and assured that someone will get back to me in a few days.

Traditional security models in the banks lead to even more silos.

Someone did get back to me the next day, and I explained my situation. I told them that on the Singpass history, I could see that the bank has accessed my info at so and so time. But they were not able to see it at their end. They could only see my first application where the address proof was not right.

Strange! I applied from the mobile app multiple times and there is nothing reflecting on their system.

I was frustrated and kept calling the support helpline to get the same responses. Nothing concrete.

I explained the situation to a colleague. She checked the bank website and suggested that I apply for a different type of account. I wasn’t hopeful but I tried, this time through the website not the mobile app.

I applied through Singpass. It asked for all the proofs which I uploaded, and on submit, it showed that they will get back in 3 days. Though there was no email/sms communication.

To my surprise, the bank did get back to me in a couple of days. They could see the new application.

Surprisingly, the bank website and their mobile apps are pointing to different APIs or even different databases at the backend which are reconciled in some form.

So, while my applications through the mobile app left no trace, my latest application through their website was a success.

There were still some gaps in the application, but this time, the bank officials were able to help me clear these due to continuous escalation processes that I had already been going through with them.

The experience of collecting my debit card etc. from their branch was very smooth.

It isn’t the bank officials but their systems which are letting them down.

My brother works for the largest public sector bank in India. We often joke and discuss how much people complain about the work of bank officials. But we regularly arrive at the conclusion that for most part, it is not the people but their systems in the current form which are letting them down.

Banks overtime have become so complex that it is an operational nightmare to get all the necessary information about the customer at a single place. But this is the only way forward for a better customer experience to serve the Gen-Z who no longer have the patience to wait in lines to get a pass-book entry.

IT systems of the banks are just playing a catch-up with the growing expectations of our generation.

If you related to this post, send me a note on your experience with banking systems. Cheers!