We’ve been writing a lot about the Metaverse and VR lately, but with good reason. Virtual reality is becoming increasingly widely accepted, and some of the industries that are adopting it at a faster rate may surprise you.
Financial services is an industry that traditionally takes longer to adopt new technologies. This is why it’s so unexpected that some of the most prominent players in the banking industry are embracing a more substantial VR presence.
How can you use VR and the Metaverse if you're in financial services? We’re going to cover some of the cool ways that the Metaverse is being utilized by banks and how you can design a cool VR banking experience for your employees and customers.
Training
After 2020, many businesses were looking for ways to improve their employee experience and engage them in new ways. The truth is that people were leaving their jobs at higher rates, and businesses were scrambling to retain what talent they had left. This was especially true in financial services.
Virtual reality training puts employees in real-world situations where they have to problem-solve in real-time, in a bank setting. This makes training exciting and versatile, engaging current employees in new ways and helping them retain what they’ve learned.
A great example of this is Bank of America. They started working with VR startup, Strivr, to create an interactive training program for their employees. So far, they’ve used VR training for several programs, from notary services to fraud detection.
Improving the customer experience
VR training goes a long way, but we think that the biggest improvements will be reflected in the overall customer experience. Some banks are already looking at ways for customers to literally bank in VR.
We are still in the throes of a pandemic, and people are still nervous about visiting high-traffic places like their local banks. Giving customers the option to chat about wealth management or their next big purchase in VR still lends that in-person touch but eliminates the potential risk.
Hold times would be drastically reduced, and people wouldn’t have to battle with AI on the front end of customer service calls. The dreaded script:
Customer: Customer service, please
AI: To better serve you…
Customer: Customer service!
AI: To better–
Customer: I WANT TO SPEAK WITH AN AGENT!!!!
Customer: *smashes 00000000000*
Would be a thing of the past…finally.
<div class="c-blog_comp-cta cc-component-1"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-wrap"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6334d81a29c751ccd8c26638_brain-orchestra.png" loading="lazy" alt="" sizes="(max-width: 479px) 93vw, (max-width: 767px) 96vw, 363px" srcset="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6334d81a29c751ccd8c26638_brain-orchestra-p-500.png 500w, https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6334d81a29c751ccd8c26638_brain-orchestra.png 500w" class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-img"></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-right"><div class="c-blog_comp-content"><div class="c-text-wrapper cc-mb-32"><div class="c-title-4 cc-bold">Ready to engage your audience on a whole new level?</div></div><div class="c-text-wrapper"><div class="c-text-2">Stay ahead of the latest design trends and stand out in your market, no matter how saturated it is.</div></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-wrapper"><a href="/2022-life-changing-design-trends" class="c-button cc-primary cc-inverted w-button"><strong>Download Latest Design Trends</strong></a></div></div></div>
Engagement for newer generations.
Imagine being able to schedule an appointment for a free VR consultation with a financial advisor right from your home. Or get answers to questions simply by plugging in and meeting a customer service representative in a VR coffee shop setting.
This is the ideal. Especially for newer generations who would typically just plug their financial questions into Google or TikTok and take risky financial advice from…well, the internet.
Quontic, for example, has taken the VR customer experience to new heights by creating a safe space for customers to learn about Decentraland, crypto wallets, and tradable digital assets in a (really freaking cool) VR setting.
JP Morgan Chase released its summer reading list in their VR Onyx Lounge, a virtual lounge created in February in Decentraland. Is this the icebreaker to a larger virtual reality banking experience?
What about security and regulations?
VR and the Metaverse are still relatively new for banking, this means that while the future of banking in VR is blindingly bright, not enough is known about security in the Metaverse.
The financial services industry is heavily relegated, as it should be. One area of concern when it comes to operating full-scale banking branches is identity management, something that has been a huge concern in the digital age.
Despite this, banks can still use virtual reality for training and to attract and retain customers. JP Morgan uses their space as a marketing tool and as a customer lounge. HSBC has already purchased a plot of ‘land’ in The Sandbox for their e-sports and gaming enthusiasts. Quontic is slowly changing the game of banking with their space in Decentraland.
Designing amazing VR experiences.
Ideas are like seeds. They need the right soil, water, and the perfect pot to help them flourish from a thought to a tangible reality.
Designity can help the financial services industry take that first step into an immersive VR experience for customers and employees. We are a modern creative community that lives partially in VR (we’ve got the screenshots to prove it!)
Our experienced creative directors can help you create VR brand guidelines, mood boards, and even help you design full-scale virtual reality events. Got a vision? Contact us to learn more about what we can design together.
