The BCX Awards honored SF Fire Credit Union, Talkdesk and Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank for innovation in banking.
The winners of the 2024 Bank Customer Experience Awards were announced at the Bank Customer Experience Summit, held in Charlotte, North Carolina from Sept. 9 to 11. This year’s winners delivered innovative experiences that transformed the branch experience and digital inquiries with AI.
Judges selected the winners based on how innovative their solutions were, and how much those solutions impacted the overall customer experience.
This year’s winners included:
- Talkdesk for best AI Banking with its Financial Services Experience Cloud.
- Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank for Best Branch Design in its prototype branch design.
- SF Fire Credit Union for BCX Excellence and Innovator of the Year for its Stonestown branch.
Talkdesk
Talkdesk nominated its Financial Services Experience Cloud, an AI-powered contact center platform. The platform uses Talkdesk Autopilot for Banking virtual agent that uses generative AI to answer customer inquiries on account balances, transactions, loans and other questions.
The platform also delivers AI-powered biometrics, pre-integration with core banking and digital banking platforms and productivity tools via Talkdesk Copilot.
“Talkdesk stands out by integrating AI throughout its platform and these innovations have led to significant improvements for customers such as WaFd Bank, BankUnited and Tandem Bank, reducing handle times and call abandonment rates while boosting customer satisfaction,” Kasey DiLoreto, account manager for Talkdesk, wrote in the nomination.
The cloud has other services as well, including call routing; Mood Insights, which analyzes customer’s moods during interactions; and AI-suggested responses for human agents.
Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank
Shikatani Lacroix Design nominated Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank for its new prototype branch design. It worked with SLD to deliver a more immersive customer experience within the branch.
“Based on the 3 brand pillars: ‘approachable,’ ‘commitment,’ and ‘intelligence,’ a comprehensive design was developed for standard branches and the prototype location,” Michelle Kwok, marketing and communications coordinator at SLD, wrote in the nomination.
First, the bank upgraded the interior by adding wood finishes with red branding, wood inlay with a topographical map patterns and flooring that resembles the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers.
The bank also added digital solutions from digital mesh screens, an AR screen for wayfinding and a “Smart Banking” zone with a LED wall.
The branch focused on green finances, financial inclusion and technology for the overall design. In particular, it deployed a Green Home zone.
“The ‘Green Home’ zone tells the story of environmental protection in a more intuitive form. The richly layered ‘Green Wall’ purifies the air and creates a fresh, organic feeling. The ‘Rainwater Recycling Display’ provides customers with direct drinking water.”
On the inclusivity side, the bank uses a large screen on the first floor to promote its support for local businesses and allows them to promote products and services.
“Regarding technology, the branch encourages customers to use the ‘Chongqing Farmers and Merchants’ mobile app by scanning QR code to use convenient services, such as green home charging treasure, multi-functional conference room, and so on. This aims to increase the activity of using mobile app and strengthen the clients’ adhesiveness,” Kwok wrote in the nomination.
Innovator of the Year: SF Fire Credit Union
SF Fire Credit Union took home the top award at the event, winning Innovator of the Year for its Stonestown branch. DBSI Inc. nominated the credit union for its modernization work, which included technology and transformed employee training.
First founded in 1951 for firefighters in Fan Francisco, SF Fire Credit Union now has more than $1.8 billion in assets and more than 77,000 members. It began working with DBSI Inc. to upgrade its Stonestown branch to meet its members needs in a digital age.
“By integrating cutting-edge technology and digital signage throughout this retail-friendly space, SF Fire Credit Union’s front-line staff can deliver personalized, advisory- level service. This approach breaks down silos between banking channels, offering more convenient and seamless service,” Erin Callisch, marketing manager for DBSI, wrote in the nomination.
The credit union got rid of teller lines and replaced them with three Service Spots, which are “semi-private workstations” where associates can help customers. The credit union trained employees through DBSI’s Immersive Delivery Defined Program to become universal associates that can “provide hip-to-hip service, breaking free from traditional barriers like glass constraints and teller towers,” Callisch wrote.
It also added a 10-foot by 2-foot LED wall to act as a digital billboard for the brand, three cash recyclers to boost transaction speed and a Comfort Zone and Beverage Bar so members can enjoy coffee while banking.
Lastly, the credit union used baffles above Service Spots for privacy, reduced noise and to hide light fixtures.
“Working with DBSI has made the full transformation process really easy and made us feel like a true partner. They made every step of this project feel seamless as they kept track of everything going on in the background — from design, architecture, and construction to technology — and brought it all to life,” Dawn Chute, chief people officer, SF Fire Credit Union, said in the nomination.
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