A recent Semafone survey found that 40 percent of respondents said they're less likely to trust customer care agents with their personal information knowing the agents could be working remotely. This shows that putting customer data at risk directly impacts brand trust and credibility and, in turn, could lead to a diminished customer experience. But in today's omnichannel world, where customers expect to interact and transact on any channel they choose (whether it be phone, web chat, social media, text/SMS or QR), it's increasingly critical to secure payment capabilities across all channels.
Why? Customers don't want to start a transaction in one channel only to be transferred to another due to disjointed processes. Take, for example, customers using an interactive voice response (IVR), an automated phone system that gathers information by giving choices rather than connecting with an actual agent. When using an IVR, customers might have difficulty keying in their information and often can't troubleshoot. One wrong stroke of the keypad or inaudible word can lead to a frustrated customer trying to connect with a live agent to complete the transaction, which also carries a risk of the call being dropped. Transferring calls during a transaction like this creates a disrupted customer journey and often duplicates efforts, with the customer having to repeat information already shared.