The customer experience crisis in banking contact centers—and how to fix it

Long wait times, confusing support, and frustrated customers

Today’s banking customers expect fast, seamless, and efficient support. But when they reach out for help, they often face frustrations. According to Capgemini, major pain points include:

• Long wait times: 61% of customers expect instant digital interactions and feel frustrated when waiting for resolutions.
• Inconsistent communication: 65% of customers want clear, reliable, and unified responses, yet misaligned messaging from agents leads to confusion.
• Lack of real-time updates: 63% of customers say that not having real-time information during interactions is a major challenge.

Despite major investments in IVR systems, chatbots, and self-service tools, banking contact centers remain overwhelmed with high call volumes for routine inquiries like balance checks, fund transfers, and transaction disputes. Customers bypass self-service, leading to longer wait times, higher operational costs, and lower customer satisfaction​.

These challenges aren’t necessarily a failure of technology. The problem is that banks don’t have visibility into the real customer experience—what’s working, what’s not, and what’s causing customers to opt out of self-service.

Real customers share their frustrations

Banks may have the data on call volumes, containment rates, and escalation trends, but numbers alone don’t tell the full story. What does it feel like for customers trying to resolve their issues?

Watch the video below for a highlight reel of customers sharing their experiences calling their banks and navigating IVR menus.

Remote video URL

Customers report:

• “It takes way too long to go through all the menu options.”

• “None of the options fit what I needed, but there was no way to reach an agent.”

• “The menu options were confusing—I wasn’t sure which one to pick.”

• “The voice recognition didn’t understand me, no matter how many times I tried.”

• “There were so many options I felt overwhelmed—I forgot what I was even calling about.”

• “It’s frustrating dealing with my money and feeling like no one understands or cares.”

Customers don’t necessarily dislike self-service—they abandon it when it doesn’t match their expectations or fails to guide them to a resolution.

Why banks struggle to fix self-service abandonment

Banks know that self-service adoption is critical to reducing operational costs and improving efficiency. But without understanding why customers are bypassing these tools, improvements are often just surface-level fixes that don’t address the root cause.

• 70% of customers bypass IVR menus and press "0" to speak with a live agent (Clutch)—not because they want to, but because they feel like they have to​
• Only 32% of customers globally are satisfied with their bank’s contact center experience (Capgemini)
• 26% of customers who switch banks cite poor service as the main reason​ (JD Power)

When customers are forced to repeat themselves across channels, get lost in IVR loops, or receive inconsistent agent responses, they don’t just feel frustrated—they lose trust in their bank.

The solution: human insight to improve containment

To improve self-service containment, banks need visibility into why customers abandon self-service. Leading banks use real human insights to go beyond the data and understand the full customer experience.

With UserTesting, banks can:

• Pinpoint where and why customers drop off in IVR, chatbots, and self-service portals through real-time customer feedback
• Improve clarity in automated messaging to ensure customers understand how to resolve issues without needing live support
• Test and refine self-service experiences to make them more intuitive, reducing frustration and increasing containment rates​

The future of banking support: seamless, customer-centric, and efficient

By improving self-service based on real customer interactions, banks can increase containment rates, reduce escalations, and ensure digital support truly works for their customers. The result? Lower operational costs, higher customer satisfaction, and a more competitive banking experience.