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Checklist · Banks

10 contact reasons that shouldn’t exist

Good self-service exists for every one of these reasons today. Your customers still call. In 15 minutes you’ll see where your money sits.

up to 70%

of calls to bank contact centres count as avoidable or better solved digitally. At PostFinance, 40 percent of enquiries outside opening hours are about blocking a card.Sources: market studies and practice reports from the industry, details at the end of the checklist.

1 · TickCan your customers already handle this themselves, without calling?
2 · Enter the shareHow many of your calls are about this? From your ticket system, or one week of tally marks in the team.
3 · CalculateBelow, your ticks and shares turn into a range in euros.

	Contact reason	How it works without a call	Can your customers already do this themselves?			Share of your calls
	Contact reason	How it works without a call	Yes	Partly	No	Share of your calls
1	Login, password, authenticator appReset in the app, switch device via video ident	Reset in the app, switch device via video ident	YesLogin, password, authenticator app: Yes	PartlyLogin, password, authenticator app: Partly	NoLogin, password, authenticator app: No	%
2	Transfer, payment statusStatus in the app, notification when executed	Status in the app, notification when executed	YesTransfer, payment status: Yes	PartlyTransfer, payment status: Partly	NoTransfer, payment status: No	%
3	Address, personal detailsChange in the app yourself	Change in the app yourself	YesAddress, personal details: Yes	PartlyAddress, personal details: Partly	NoAddress, personal details: No	%
4	Balance, transactionsApp, voicebot	App, voicebot	YesBalance, transactions: Yes	PartlyBalance, transactions: Partly	NoBalance, transactions: No	%
5	Block card, replacementBlock via app or emergency number, order replacement right away	Block via app or emergency number, order replacement right away	YesBlock card, replacement: Yes	PartlyBlock card, replacement: Partly	NoBlock card, replacement: No	%
6	Statements, documentsInbox in the app	Inbox in the app	YesStatements, documents: Yes	PartlyStatements, documents: Partly	NoStatements, documents: No	%
7	Standing order, stop paymentChange or delete in the app	Change or delete in the app	YesStanding order, stop payment: Yes	PartlyStanding order, stop payment: Partly	NoStanding order, stop payment: No	%
8	Card limit, unblock cardToggle in the app	Toggle in the app	YesCard limit, unblock card: Yes	PartlyCard limit, unblock card: Partly	NoCard limit, unblock card: No	%
9	Understand fees, bookingsClear price list, explanation for each booking	Clear price list, explanation for each booking	YesUnderstand fees, bookings: Yes	PartlyUnderstand fees, bookings: Partly	NoUnderstand fees, bookings: No	%
10	Tax forms, loan statusForm in the app, status page for the loan	Form in the app, status page for the loan	YesTax forms, loan status: Yes	PartlyTax forms, loan status: Partly	NoTax forms, loan status: No	%

The order follows figures from the US, where around 28–29 percent of enquiries are about login and password. There is no public breakdown of contact reasons for Germany, so your own numbers are the best yardstick.

Your most common contact reason isn’t on the list? Bring it to the results check and we’ll work it out with your numbers.

Checklist · Banks

What these calls cost you

Your tick	Sum of your shares	of which realistically shiftable	cautious	optimistic
Yesself-service exists	%	30–40%	%	%
Partlyexists, but snags	%	20–30%	%	%
Nostill needs building	%	10–20%	%	%
= Shiftable share of all calls			%	%

Calls per yearall channels together, if you count themNo call numbers at hand? Work it out roughly with your service FTE →

×Shiftable sharefrom the table aboveMore than 20% of all calls? Then take a closer look: that’s the ceiling McKinsey publicly names for reducing contact volume.% to %

×Cost per callservice costs per year divided by calls per yearNot at hand? Service costs per year: €€

= Your lever per year

€ to €

Tick above, enter shares, then calls and costs here. A first order of magnitude, not a business case. We calculate on the cautious side: where self-service already exists, a bigger part of your calls counts as shiftable. Where it still needs building, a smaller part. What building it costs and what it brings, we work out in the lever analysis on site.

Worked example, all assumptions open: 100 service FTE × €50,000 fully loaded cost = €5m a year. At 720,000 calls a year that’s around €6.90 per call. Say your ticks split like this: yes 20%, partly 15%, no 10% of calls. Then a cautious 10% can be shifted (6 + 3 + 1), an optimistic 14.5% (8 + 4.5 + 2). That’s 72,000–104,400 calls, so around €500,000–720,000 a year.

Why customers still call

Can’t find it. The self-service exists, but the invoice, website and IVR don’t point to it.
Drop out. Forgotten login, form too long, photo not recognised. In the end there’s a call.
No confirmation. Customers don’t know if it worked and call to be sure.
The team doesn’t redirect. Agents who handle everything on the phone don’t bring customers to self-service.

Somewhere between the call and the invoice, your money is slipping away.

We’ll show you where, and how much. In unnecessary contacts, in the conversation or in your contract with the provider. Often a bit of each.

One figure in euros. The three biggest levers. One action for Monday.

30 minutes · free · confidential · directly with Matthias Werlich · Your checklist figures go straight into the booking.30 minutes · free · confidential · directly with Matthias Werlich · Just bring this checklist along.

Book a results check calendly.com/dstraticx/30min

Sources

Bain & Company, “Bank contact centers: Dial T for transformation”, 2017 (“As many as 70% of calls … are avoidable”).
Bain & Company, “Escaping the doom loop in contact center operations”, 2015 (50–70 percent).
Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, retail banking blog, “Contact Center, Chatbot und Co.: Wie PostFinance Kundenanfragen lenkt”, 04/2022.
Finn AI 2020, MeasuringU 2018 (login and password around 28–29 percent, US).
Worked example and assumptions: DStratiCX. 20% ceiling for avoidable contact volume based on public statements by McKinsey.