The bottom line? You can have top-class banking and financial services, but if you don’t deliver an exceptional customer experience to match, your customers may go elsewhere. That’s why customer service in financial services can no longer be an afterthought. 

So, how do you deliver an exceptional customer experience? A good first step is to optimize your financial services contact center. Below, we go over a few ways you can streamline operations to deliver the high-quality customer service your customers expect.

What are the top challenges for customer service in financial services?

In our increasingly technological age, the world of financial services moves fast. That makes it difficult to stay on top of the latest banking contact center trends. Yet despite new technology, many banks and financial services providers are still plagued by age-old problems. We go over some of the most notable challenges below. 

High contact center agent turnover

Turnover is disproportionately high for customer service positions. Research shows that seven out of 10 contact center agents are thinking about quitting their jobs. Additionally, according to the Harvard Business Review, contact center agent turnover is a staggering 45%.

All of this can quickly add up to an expensive problem for financial services providers. After all, it can cost as much as double an employee’s salary to replace them. This also affects the customer experience. If your contact center is a revolving door, you constantly have to train new agents, which can lead to a decline in customer service quality. It may also take these agents longer to resolve a customer service issue, increasing your average handle time (AHT).

Growing customer demands

Customer expectations are higher than ever. Customers want speedy and reliable support when they reach out to your business. Two-thirds of customers expect your company to respond to their communications in five minutes or less. However, that can be challenging when you service millions of customers across the U.S. or the globe. 

Customers are also more willing to switch banks or financial services providers if you fail to meet their expectations. However, they likely won’t do it by closing their bank account. Instead, many customers are opting for what J.D. Power calls “soft switching.” Basically, a customer opens a new account with a competitor and, over time, gradually stops using their account with your bank, without formally closing it. That means you might not be able to analyze customer attrition by looking at the number of closed accounts or other metrics.

Fraud and online safety

Digital banking has introduced new challenges in preventing fraud and ensuring customer online safety. Unfortunately, while innovations in AI have had a positive impact on our daily lives, they also have made fighting fraud and maintaining customer safety more challenging. Deepfakes have created scenarios that seem so realistic that scammers can trick even your most cautious customers or employees. 

These online threats not only affect customer safety but also your bank’s reputation. This can negatively impact your business, including your customer churn rate. Concerns about online safety are also driving customers to switch brands. According to a recent survey, one in 10 customers switched financial services providers due to security concerns. Fraud is no longer just a security issue for banks and other financial institutions - it’s now a critical factor in the customer experience.

How do you optimize your financial services contact center for success?

Your contact center plays a critical role in the customer experience. So, how do you ensure it’s optimized both for speed and good CX? Below are a few best practices you can implement to streamline call center operations.

Prioritize contact center agent onboarding

As mentioned earlier, customer service has a high attrition rate. So, what can you do to stop turnover in its tracks? A critical first step is implementing a strong contact center agent onboarding program. Customer service agents who have a poor onboarding experience are twice as likely to start looking for a new job compared to their peers. 

However, there is good news for businesses that get their onboarding right. Research shows that a strong onboarding program can reduce turnover by more than 80%. Here are a few guidelines for creating your contact center agent onboarding program: 

• Set clear goals and expectations for new hires
• Ensure your education and training materials are up-to-date
• Provide actionable feedback for trainees
• Consider implementing a mentorship program

By implementing the tips outlined here, you can create a strong onboarding experience that can help stop agent churn and ensure a consistent service experience for customers.

Leverage omnichannel customer service

Omnichannel customer service ensures a consistent, unified customer experience across all channels. Omnichannel support helps minimize customer frustration and streamline the customer support process. This is because all the information for service-related issues is the same, regardless of whether a customer reaches out by phone, via SMS, mobile app or chat. All knowledge across all channels is available in a single, unified platform. 

This can increase call center efficiency because information isn’t siloed, so customers don’t have to repeat themselves. As a result, your bank or financial services institution may be able to reduce customer churn, leading to valuable cost savings. It can also help increase first-call resolution rate (FCR) along with other key contact center metrics. 

Implement strong in-app customer support

Finance app customer support can no longer be an afterthought in 2026. It’s now a critical part of your brand reputation. That’s because trust is the number one factor for customers choosing a financial services provider.

Why does in-app customer support matter for brand trust? In short, the stakes are high for customers. After all, they’re trusting you with their savings, pension and personal information. They’re not giving any of that over lightly. If you have poor support, such as inaccurate information, or the customer has to call multiple times about an issue, they might begin to question whether you can protect their most valuable assets. 

That’s why it’s important to set the right tone with customers from the beginning. Implementing strong self-service onboarding can create the strong first impression you need to foster better customer relationships. But you can’t stop there. It’s important to provide customers with strong in-app support throughout the customer lifecycle by focusing on proactive customer service and ensuring speedy issue resolution. All of this can help show customers that you can be trusted to keep their money secure. 

Harness the power of AI tools

Leveraging tools like agent assist AI can help ensure you provide customers with speedy, accurate customer service. Agent-assist AI supports agents during live service interactions, enabling them to make accurate diagnoses and resolve issues quickly.

So, how does it work? During a call, the tool analyzes critical information such as the product or service the customer is calling about and any previous interactions with your institution. It then zeroes in on the most likely issue and provides the agent with relevant guidance for efficient troubleshooting. This helps the agent save valuable time since they don’t have to hunt around for information to make an accurate diagnosis and guide the customer through issue resolution.

AI tools like agent assist AI aren’t about replacing people with robots. The goal is to implement AI to improve call center agent productivity and to streamline operational efficiencies. 

Streamline operations in your financial services contact center

Financial services providers face numerous challenges when it comes to customer service. High agent attrition, increasing customer demands and fraud can make it difficult to deliver speedy customer service. However, there are still some steps you can take to help contact center agents work smarter, not harder. By following some of the steps outlined here, you may begin to reap the benefits of more streamlined contact center operations.

Ready to take your financial services contact center to the next level? Explore how Ozmo’s banking and finance support solutions can help you streamline operations and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

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Held March 2-5 at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via, the event welcomed nearly 105,000 attendees from 207 countries and territories, reinforcing its position as one of the most influential gatherings in the technology and connectivity ecosystem. Across the show floor, companies showcased the latest advancements shaping the future of artificial intelligence, connectivity and digital infrastructure.

Ozmo connects with telecom and emerging banking audiences

Ozmo exhibited throughout the four-day event, meeting with telecommunications providers, technology partners and industry leaders to demonstrate how its platform helps organizations deliver more effective support for devices, apps and connected services.

Visitors to the booth experienced Ozmo’s interactive support tools firsthand, including remote video capabilities that allow agents and customers to collaborate visually to troubleshoot issues in real time. Seeing the technology in action sparked strong interest from attendees looking for ways to improve digital support experiences and resolve complex issues faster.

While Ozmo has long worked with telecom providers, this year’s event also brought a new wave of conversations with banking and financial services organizations. As financial institutions increasingly rely on mobile apps and digital platforms to serve customers, many attendees were eager to explore how interactive support and guided troubleshooting could help reduce friction in digital banking experiences.

A global hub for technology collaboration

Beyond the exhibition floor, MWC Barcelona once again served as a global platform for collaboration across industries. The event featured more than 1,700 speakers and thought leaders discussing topics ranging from AI and intelligent infrastructure to emerging technologies shaping the next phase of digital transformation.

The show also drew strong media attention, with nearly 2,600 journalists and industry analysts covering announcements, product launches and key discussions from the week.

Looking ahead

As MWC Barcelona celebrated two decades in the city, the 2026 event highlighted how quickly the connectivity landscape continues to evolve. Artificial intelligence, cross-industry collaboration and new digital experiences were central themes across the conference and exhibition floor.

For Ozmo, the week reinforced a growing opportunity to support not only telecom providers but also new sectors, including banking and financial services, that are navigating increasingly complex digital support challenges.

To learn more about Ozmo’s support solutions or connect with the team in person, explore our events page for the latest schedule.

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However, with customers now able to access banking services from anywhere, the demand for support is on the rise. So, how can your institution deliver the experience customers expect without putting more strain on your budget? This is where digital banking self-service can help. 

The right customer self-service tools can help your institution cut costs without sacrificing the quality of the customer experience. Below, we go over some of the current challenges for financial services providers and how banking self-service support can potentially help you scale support without putting further strain on your budget. 

What are some of the current challenges in digital banking?

Digital banking teams face the challenge of lowering costs without sacrificing the customer experience. These pressures make it difficult for banks to scale support efficiently without adding more staff or compromising service quality.

Together, these challenges create the conditions where self-service becomes not just a convenience feature, but a core operational strategy.

Customer support costs are rising

Customer support costs are rising as many banks continue to operate on legacy contact center systems that weren’t designed for digital-first, self-guided experiences.

These platforms often introduce hidden costs that compound over time, including:

• High maintenance and licensing fees for aging infrastructure
• Fewer technicians who can help maintain and repair outdated infrastructure 
• Complex integrations between banking systems, mobile apps and support tools
• Manual processes when customer data and interaction history are not shared across systems

In some organizations, older infrastructure can consume up to eighty percent of the total IT budget, which limits the ability to invest in critical digital experience improvements and automated support tools. As a result, banks may choose to add more staff or increase agent workloads, which increases operational costs.

This makes it difficult to scale support as digital adoption grows, especially during critical periods such as service outages, fraud alerts or major product changes.

Customers have high expectations

Customers expect fast and consistent support in every service interaction. They don’t want to wait in a call center queue to speak to an agent. 

Many customers now interact with their bank primarily through mobile apps and online platforms. When something goes wrong, such as a declined transaction, missing deposit or locked account, they want the issue resolved fast. 

Providing timely and accurate support is critical for reducing customer churn. Research by HubSpot shows that two-thirds of customers expect a response to service inquiries within five minutes or less. If banks and other financial services providers fail to meet these rising expectations, customers are increasingly willing to go elsewhere. In fact, one in four customers say they’re thinking of switching to a different bank.

Yet meeting these standards through agents alone is difficult. As expectations rise, banks face increasing pressure to provide faster answers without significantly increasing staffing levels or support budgets.

Disconnected customer experiences

Multichannel support environments are often inconsistent and siloed, with separate systems for phone, chat, email and in-app support. This means customers may get different answers to questions depending on the channel they choose to use to engage with your company. 

This fragmentation creates friction in the customer experience. Customers frequently have to repeat themselves since agents lack context from previous interactions. Additionally, agents have to scour multiple tools or even the internet to reconstruct account history or locate answers to a customer’s urgent request. 

These gaps can lead to:

• Longer resolution times as context is gathered and verified
• Increased average handle time (AHT) due to inconsistent answers and repeat help requests
• Lower first-contact resolution rates (FCR)
• Increased customer frustration and churn

Over time, disconnected experiences push customers back toward phone-based support, even for simple questions. This increases call volume and staffing demands, reinforcing the same cost pressures banks are trying to reduce.

How does digital banking self-service help businesses cut costs?

Self-service can help banks cut costs by lowering call volume, improving customer retention and increasing call deflection rates. This allows support teams to focus on complex issues that require human expertise.

When done well, customer self-service can cut costs without sacrificing the quality of the customer experience. Below, we go over a few ways self-service can reduce business expenses. 

Improves customer retention

When done right, self-service can improve customer retention rates by streamlining the customer experience. When customers can access instant support to resolve common issues without waiting on hold, they’re less likely to churn. 

This, in turn, can reduce business expenses. Acquiring a new customer typically costs more than retaining an existing one, with some studies finding it costs up to seven times more to acquire new customers versus retain your current ones. Each time a customer leaves due to poor service experiences, banks not only lose revenue but also incur increased marketing expenses.

So, what does customer self-service look like in the financial services sector? Some examples of banking self-service include:

• Logging into the app to view account balances
• Freezing a lost or stolen credit card
• Using a banking app for mobile check deposits 

By implementing automated support tools, banks can empower their customers to complete these tasks independently which can increase digital adoption and customer satisfaction. 

Repeated delays, unclear answers or inconsistent service across channels increase the likelihood of attrition. Reliable, easy-to-use self-service helps strengthen long-term customer relationships and potentially reduce customer churn.

Meets the needs of Gen Z customers

Gen Z customers, born between 1997 and 2012, grew up with smartphones, grocery delivery and instant streaming. They grew up in an era of instant everything, and they expect the same out of their bank. 

Gen Z in particular is drawn to mobile-first banking experiences and self-service. This generation doesn’t want to wait on hold when they have pressing issues like a failed transaction or need to dispute a charge. In fact, research shows that Gen Z will hang up after waiting less than a minute to speak to someone over the phone. 

Gen Z also represents significant long-term value. With an estimated $360 billion in spending power, retaining these valuable customers through seamless digital support experiences can impact your institution’s future revenue or customer lifetime value. 

Reduces call volume for financial services providers

Self-service reduces call volume by deflecting repeat inquiries into digital channels where customers can resolve issues independently.

High-frequency call drivers such as balance checks, transaction questions, password resets and card management are often well suited for in-app guidance, self-service knowledge bases or interactive tutorials. When these tools are easy to find and tailored to the customer’s context, fewer issues escalate to live support.

Lower call volume can potentially lead to these key benefits:

• Shorter hold times for customers who need to speak with an agent
• Reduced case burden for support teams, allowing agents to focus on complex or sensitive issues that require human expertise

Over time, this shift improves both efficiency and service quality, as agents spend less time answering repetitive questions and more time resolving problems that directly affect customer trust.

How do I choose the right self-service solution for our institution's needs?

So, how do you choose the right digital banking self-service solution for your bank or financial services institution? Below are a few key features you may want to consider when evaluating your options:

• The ease of integration with your current tech stack
• Compliance with industry regulations and data privacy laws 
• Timeline for implementation
• Scalability to grow alongside your business
• Availability of data-driven insights into customer behavior

Of course, every financial institution is different. Be sure to assess tools with your organization’s specific goals and needs in mind. Additionally, consider attending product demos to see the tool in action to evaluate the best fit for your institution. 

Digital banking self-service is a foundation for scalable support

As digital adoption continues to grow, self-service is becoming a core part of modern banking support strategies. When customers can resolve common mobile banking issues on their own and agents have clear, reliable guidance for complex cases, institutions are better positioned to manage demand, maintain service quality and scale operations without adding unnecessary cost.

Looking to take your banking and finance app support to the next level? Ozmo’s comprehensive support platform is trusted by AT&T, Verizon, Google and more. Discover the future of tech support today!

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If customers struggle with mobile banking issues, not only does it create friction in the customer experience, but customers may decide to go elsewhere altogether. Research shows one in four customers is willing to switch banks.

Getting ahead of mobile banking issues can potentially help your institution in two ways:

• It can help reduce the risk of customer attrition.
• It can potentially position you to acquire new customers who are looking to switch financial services providers. 

So, how can you effectively handle banking app troubleshooting? Below, we go over why addressing finance app support issues matters, some of the most common mobile banking issues and steps you can take to mitigate them.

Why does addressing finance app support issues matter?

96% of customers leave after a single bad service experience. That means if your mobile banking app struggles with persistent finance app support issues, customers are likely to go elsewhere. 

High customer churn rates can have a devastating impact on your company’s reputation as well as your budget. It’s estimated that poor customer service costs businesses $1.6 trillion per year. Additionally, research shows it can cost up to seven times more to acquire new customers versus retaining your current customer base. 

Mobile banking issues can also damage the trust you have with your customers. That’s because money is deeply emotional for customers. When they open an account with your institution, they’re trusting you with their:

• Savings
• Pension 
• Emergency fund
• Child’s college tuition 

And so much more. If your company struggles to deliver a positive in-app experience, it can hurt your relationship with your customers. Over half of customers say trust is a critical factor for choosing a financial institution. Consistently providing reliable support can potentially help strengthen the relationship between customers and your brand.

What are the most common mobile banking issues? 

A good mobile banking experience is critical to improving customer retention and strengthening your brand’s reputation. Below, we go over a few of the most common mobile banking and finance app support issues, plus tips for resolving them.

Payment and transfer issues

A major mobile banking issue is confusion surrounding payments and transfers. Digital channels such as mobile banking and finance apps have become central to everyday banking in the U.S. Over half of U.S. banking customers say that they primarily use mobile apps to manage their accounts, so having clear information about transactions is critical.

When users don’t see a clear status for a transfer or payment, they often have to open support tickets to confirm whether a transaction is completed, is pending or requires additional steps. 

This can be a frequent occurrence in banking app troubleshooting, where ambiguity around transaction status leads to high ticket volume and potentially increased customer rage. Clear labels such as “completed,” “pending” or “failed,” combined with simple guidance and direct links to help resources, can reduce friction and lower support volume.

Sacrificing security for speed

Fast resolution is critical for finance app support issues, but in mobile banking environments, prioritizing speed over security can introduce serious risk. Industry research shows that as mobile banking adoption increases, so do the risks of fraud, account takeovers and data vulnerabilities.

In highly regulated industries, this trade-off can erode customer trust and brand reputation while increasing regulatory and compliance risk.

Support leaders can potentially reduce security-related incidents by pairing strong protections, such as multifactor authentication (MFA), with up-to-date fraud-detection best practices. It's also beneficial to include clear, in-app explanations that help users understand why specific verification steps are required.

Additionally, educating customers on basic security habits, such as fully logging out of the app rather than simply closing it, or avoiding public Wi-Fi for banking activities, can also help protect them from malicious actors.

Lack of personalization

There are numerous advantages to providing personalized customer service in finance app support. 54% of U.S. customers want banks and other financial service providers to create more tailored interactions and experiences. By creating more customized in-app service interactions, you can meet customer expectations and differentiate your brand. 

Additionally, personalization can benefit your company or institution’s bottom line. Research by McKinsey shows that businesses that personalize customer interactions can increase revenue by as much as 40%. 

So, what does personalization look like for banking app troubleshooting? Here are a few examples of personalized in-app support in action:

• Offer multilingual customer support options so that customers can get help in their preferred language.
• Tips for improving credit scores.
• Suggesting relevant products based on a customer’s previous interactions or goals. 
• Using conversational, easy-to-understand language to help guide customers through finance app support issues.

The bottom line? Financial institutions that want to stand out to customers need to balance personalized, curated experiences with data security best practices.

Lack of clear communication

Another common issue in finance app support is vague or inconsistent communication. Over half of customers report feeling frustrated when banks and financial institutions do not clearly explain what’s happening, what action is required or what to do next.

In banking app troubleshooting, unclear messaging can surface at inconvenient times, such as failed logins, delayed transactions or additional verification requests. When customers see generic notifications like "something went wrong" or "try again later," they're left guessing what they should do next. This uncertainty frequently leads to repeat support tickets and escalations that could've been avoided with clear communication.

Support leaders can reduce this friction by focusing on proactive customer service, such as in-app notifications about system status, known outages or common transaction delays, as well as short, clear explanations that tell customers what happened and what their next step should be. Setting expectations up front, for example, by explaining how long a specific process may take or why a payment is pending, can help mitigate frustration and potentially reduce support ticket volume.

Over time, clear, proactive communication can strengthen customer relationships. When customers feel informed rather than left in the dark, they're more likely to remain with their financial institution, leading to higher satisfaction and customer retention rates.

How to measure and improve finance app support performance

Reducing mobile banking issues is not only about fixing what customers see, but also tracking what happens after a support interaction. Support and operations teams often monitor a small set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to understand whether in-app guidance and support are actually working.

Common metrics include first-call resolution (FCR), churn and average handle time (AHT), which can help highlight where customers are still getting stuck in transaction flows, security steps or self-service paths. Reviewing this data alongside customer behavior can help teams identify gaps between what the app is telling customers and what it actually delivers.

Over time, this allows teams to refine in-app messaging, update help content and prioritize fixes that reduce friction at scale. By tying support outcomes back to specific app experiences, financial services institutions can make more informed decisions about where to invest in usability, security communication and personalization efforts.

Don’t let mobile banking issues get in the way of a good customer experience

The customer experience (CX) is important to the success of any business, but especially for banks and other financial institutions. Good customer experiences are critical for building trust with your customers. 

Since finance institutions deal with very personal data and the customer’s money, trust is critical in maintaining a positive customer experience and improving brand loyalty. By getting ahead of some of the mobile banking issues outlined here, you can mitigate their impact on brand trust and potentially reduce the risk of customer attrition. 

Looking to take your support solutions to the next level? Ozmo’s comprehensive support platform is trusted by Google, Verizon, Rogers and more. Discover the future of banking and finance app support today!

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So, how can you boost brand trust to improve your customer retention rate and attract new customers? One critical step you can take is ensuring you have good in-app support. Below, we go over why brand trust is especially critical in finance and how providing a quality customer experience can potentially increase customer loyalty and slow churn.

Why does finance app trust matter more than in other industries?

Brand trust is critical for any business, but it’s especially vital for financial service institutions. Research shows that trust is the number one factor for choosing a bank or other financial services provider. Below, we explain why.

The stakes are higher for customers

Finance risk inherently changes customer expectations. This is an industry where the stakes are high. After all, your customers are trusting you with their:

• Savings
• Pension
• Personal information

None of that is given over to companies lightly. In fact, research by McKinsey shows that customers value trustworthiness almost as much as they do price when making a purchasing decision.

Customers expect your business to provide consistent, reliable information and communication. Despite our fast-paced digital world, nearly two-thirds of customers say trustworthy information is more important than speedy service interactions. That means accurate and timely communication is critical to creating a positive customer service experience.

Yet there is a huge gap between the customer experience most companies provide and what customers want. Research from the Consumer Bankers Association shows that while eight out of 10 banking leaders believe they provide good customer experiences, less than a quarter of customers agree. This can have a critical impact on the success of your banking or financial institution.

The impact on the customer experience (and your brand)

If your brand isn’t able to provide accurate answers to customer queries, it doesn’t just create friction in the customer experience; it can create perceived risks for the customer’s financial safety. 

That perceived risk, whether legitimate or not, can have real-world consequences for your brand. If customers have a poor customer experience, they’re likely to engage in what J.D. Power calls "soft switching." Changing bank accounts is extraordinarily difficult. So, instead, customers open a second account at a separate institution. Over time, these customers transfer money from their existing account with you to their new account with a competitor. 

Rather than formally closing their first account, customers simply stop using it. The bottom line? If your bank isn’t delivering the in-app experience customers expect, it leads to a loss of trust, and they’ll likely go elsewhere.

Where do traditional support models fall short?

Traditional support models often create inconsistent support experiences, forcing customers to navigate outside the app for help, and potentially requiring multiple interactions to resolve a problem. This is where finance app customer support strategies must evolve. Without a modern support approach, customers may experience increased frustration and a poor customer service journey.

Siloed customer support

Traditionally, many companies use a multichannel customer service model. Multichannel customer service allows your customers to access help through the app, email, chat or by calling your contact center. However, these channels are often siloed.

So, a customer who starts in the app and is unable to get an answer to their question may find that the answer differs depending on whether they call to speak to an agent or send a secure email. This inconsistent guidance can erode trust in critical moments, such as trying to activate a new card, transferring funds or making a payment.

Technology limitations that often hinder scale

As financial institutions grow, many find their support infrastructure struggles to keep pace with new features and evolving customer expectations. Legacy contact center systems and tools can make it difficult to update help content consistently when products change, which can create a disconnect between what the app actually does and what customers expect it to do.

As support ticket volume increases, this often leads to longer resolution times and inconsistent guidance across channels, especially during high-impact moments like payments, account changes or transaction issues. Over time, that friction can undermine customer confidence in your brand and make it harder to deliver a reliable experience at scale.

The emotional impact on customers

All of these things can lead to the customer having to repeat themselves or force them to reach out to your company multiple times about an ongoing issue. This can lead to longer resolution times and increased customer frustration. 

As a result, customer rage may increase. This rage can spill out in the form of negative online reviews, angry phone calls or even on social media. These negative reviews and social posts are seen by other people, meaning that poor customer service not only damages trust with the customer in question, but may make it more difficult for prospective customers to trust your brand.

How can my team provide good in-app support?

Improving customer app support is critical for brand trust and business success. Over half of customers say that apps are their preferred way for managing their banking. That’s because in-app support makes it easy for customers to get the help they need. When done right, it builds trust by giving customers reliable, consistent guidance without having to leave the app, creating a more streamlined customer service experience. 

So, how can you make sure your company delivers the best mobile app customer experience possible Below are a few key considerations.

Use onboarding to create a strong first impression

The customer onboarding process is critical for setting the tone of your relationship with the customer. Research shows that nearly seven out of 10 customers have abandoned the onboarding process with a financial services provider. 

Why? Often, it’s due to lengthy onboarding processes. This is especially true for Gen Z customers. However, it’s not just unique to your younger customer base. In fact, 50% of customers will abandon efforts to open an account if it takes longer than five minutes.

So, what can you do to streamline the onboarding process? If possible, consider leveraging self-serve onboarding. This ensures customers don’t have to wait for an employee. Additionally, where permitted, consider using autofill for entering relevant information, allowing customers to upload documents through the app or automating processes for verifying a customer’s identity.

Finance apps have to carefully balance creating an onboarding process that’s fast, secure and as frictionless as possible.

Harness the power of omnichannel customer service

Omnichannel customer service is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have for fintech brands. Unlike multichannel customer service which is often inconsistent and siloed, omnichannel customer support ensures a cohesive, unified experience across all channels. 

What makes omnichannel customer service so powerful is that it retains context from one platform to the next, ensuring the customer doesn’t have to repeat themselves. For example, a customer that starts out by calling into your bank can receive a message via SMS that redirects them to an interactive tutorial in your app. 

This reduces friction in the customer experience and allows for a streamlined experience across the customer lifecycle. It also shows the customer that you’re a source of reliable information, which can build trust and foster a strong customer relationship. Some additional benefits of omnichannel customer support may include:

• Reduce the risk of customer churn
• Drive digital adoption by redirecting people to engage with your app
• Faster issue resolution for customers (since context is retained)

Use in-app support to build trust and drive long-term loyalty 

Trust is paramount for a successful customer relationship in any industry, but this is especially true for financial services. Customers trust banks and fintech companies with some of their most sensitive information, so it’s vital to provide them with consistent and reliable customer service to foster trust and long-term loyalty. 

To do this successfully, don’t overlook the importance of using in-app support to meet the needs of today’s finance customers. Meet them where they are, which is overwhelmingly in your mobile app. By showing them that they can depend on you for fast, reliable in-app customer support, you can potentially boost customer retention and long-term loyalty for your brand.

Looking to take your banking and finance app support to the next level? Ozmo’s comprehensive support platform is trusted by Google, Verizon, Asurion and more. Discover the future of tech support today! Learn more.

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However, it’s not enough for finance companies to simply have an app. Customer support is now more critical than ever for the success of your business. Below, we go over the finance app customer support trends and challenges you need to be aware of for 2026.

Why is finance app customer support critical for brand reputation?

App-based customer support is now mission-critical for reputation management and trust. 83% of customers say they trust a brand more if they have good quality customer service. This means that positive app-based support experiences are vital for attracting and retaining customers. That’s because bad news travels fast, especially in our digital age. 

Research by Qualtrics found that 45% of customers who have a poor support experience told their family and friends, and 22% posted a rating on a third-party site. One bad service experience can lead to customers amplifying it en masse through word-of-mouth or digital platforms, which can negatively impact brand perception. 

However, the good news is that if you prioritize fintech customer support experiences, customers are also likely to amplify positive interactions with your brand. That same survey found 49% of customers will tell friends and family about a good experience, and over a quarter of them will post a review on a third-party site. That means the quality of your in-app support directly impacts brand reputation and trust not just with your current customer base, but with potential future customers.

What are the current challenges in fintech app support?

As finance continues to shift toward app-based experiences, support teams face numerous challenges. They can show up daily in the form of longer resolution times, frustrated customers and increased risk to trust and security. We dive into some of the most critical challenges below.

Fragmented experiences

One of the most common challenges in fintech customer support is inconsistent experiences across channels. Customers may start in an app, call your contact center, and then switch to chat — often without critical context transferred between those touchpoints.

When systems aren’t connected, customers have to repeat themselves, agents lack full context and answers can vary depending on the channel. This leads to longer resolution times and runs the risk of increased customer rage.

This challenge often results from siloed multi-channel support setups. Customers expect a single, consistent experience across all touchpoints. Companies can deliver the experience customers expect by adopting omnichannel customer service to streamline customer support.

Security issues

Security is a critical challenge for fintech app support. Financial institutions are frequent targets for cybercriminals, which raises the stakes for every support interaction.

Research shows that financial organizations experience up to 300 times more cyberattacks than companies in other industries. Additionally, ransomware attacks are also on the rise. A report by Sophos found that nearly two-thirds of financial businesses experienced a ransomware attack in 2024.

This makes providing a seamless support experience all the more challenging. On the one hand, strong authentication and verification measures are vital for protecting your customers' data. However, they can also slow average handle time (AHT) in emotionally charged situations for customers, such as account lockouts, suspected fraud or failed payments.

Security failures can have a devastating impact on your company's finances. According to IBM, a data breach costs financial businesses more than $6 million, about 22% higher than the global industry average.

However, the consequences of data breaches go far beyond your company's finances. They directly undermine customer trust in your brand. Financial organizations have to juggle providing fast customer service while minimizing the risk of harm to customers from bad actors.

High volume of support requests and tickets

As digital banking and fintech brands scale, support ticket volume grows fast. Login issues, transaction failures or service outages can quickly generate large spikes in tickets.

At the same time, customers expect near-instant responses for digital banking customer service. Without effective customer self-service and in-app support, high ticket volumes can lead to longer wait times, inconsistent answers and increased frustration. This, in turn, can lead to a spike in customer rage.

So, how can your team keep up? This is where scalable support capabilities become critical, not just to reduce costs, but to ensure a positive customer experience as the company grows.

For example, your brand might benefit from leveraging chatbots to address frequently asked questions and reduce case burdens on agents. A truly comprehensive support platform can help your business effectively handle an increase in support requests as it grows.

What are the current trends in finance app customer support?

As customer expectations rise and digital adoption increases, good finance app customer support is becoming a critical part of the customer experience. Three trends in particular are reshaping the tech support landscape for digital banking and fintech brands.

AI customer service

Companies are using AI to handle routine support interactions, assist agents and provide faster responses inside apps. Rather than replacing human support, successful companies are using AI to augment agent performance. For example, they might use AI for agent onboarding and training, or to automate repetitive tasks so agents can focus on tasks that require human expertise.

There are many benefits to leveraging AI customer care tools. Technology such as large language models (LLMs) use natural language processing to better understand customer requests and provide more accurate tech support and troubleshooting. This can improve key contact center metrics such as first-call resolution and average handle time.

The biggest takeaway? The future of fintech app support isn't humans or AI. It's a hybrid strategy that leverages the strengths of both to create a scalable, streamlined customer experience.

Omnichannel customer support

Customers expect the same answers and quality of service whether they reach out through an app, website, chat or phone. In short, if your company is looking to get ahead of the competition, you need to prioritize an omnichannel customer service strategy.

Omnichannel customer support creates a more streamlined support experience for both customers and agents. This is because omnichannel platforms retain context across all channels. Therefore, agents have critical information from previous service interactions, whether they took place over the phone, email or through customer self-service.

As a result, agents can provide customers with more accurate resolutions to their service requests. This, in turn, can lead to faster resolution times and an improved net promoter score (NPS), a metric vital for gauging the success of your business.

Personalization

Did you know that eight out of 10 customers expect you to provide personalized customer experiences? There are numerous advantages to providing personalized customer service. For example, companies that personalize service interactions can see up to a 20% improvement in customer satisfaction. 

The Financial Brand reports that personalization is a growing focus for the financial services industry, with institutions investing in creating tailored digital experiences balanced with privacy and compliance.

In practice, this can mean serving relevant help content based on the customer's goal, routing cases to specialized agents or ensuring that self-serve content is available in the customer's preferred language.

When done well, personalization reduces friction in the customer experience, builds brand loyalty and can even lead to increased profitability. According to McKinsey, companies that create personalized experiences could increase revenue by as much as 40%. 

Good finance app customer support is critical in 2026

Mobile usage is rapidly increasing in fintech customer support. As a result, high-quality support is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have for the new year. Customer support is vital for maintaining brand loyalty and reducing customer churn rates. 

CX leaders need to strike a careful balance between keeping up with the latest trends and ensuring customer information is secure and safe. Customer service is no longer just a cost center; it’s critical for differentiating your brand from the competition. 

The same support challenges facing finance apps — scale, security and trust — are already being solved in telecom. See how a tier one U.S. mobile network operator partnered with Ozmo to support its My Account app in our free case study.

The post The state of finance app customer support in 2026 appeared first on Ozmo.

Over the past two decades, MWC Barcelona and the city itself have grown in parallel, evolving into a global hub for mobile technology, smart-city innovation and cross-industry collaboration. This year’s milestone event reflects that legacy while looking ahead to what MWC describes as the “IQ Era,” where intelligence, not just connectivity, shapes how technology is built, deployed and governed.

MWC Barcelona 2026 will once again bring together tens of thousands of senior leaders from across the connectivity ecosystem, global business and government. The event’s programming emphasizes industry intelligence powered by connection, amplifying expert voices, technical excellence and policy-driven dialogue across technology and society.

Six themes guiding the conversation

New for 2026, six event themes reflect the questions shaping the next phase of digital transformation: Intelligent Infrastructure, ConnectAI, AI 4 Enterprise, AI Nexus, Tech4All and Game Changers.

AI 4 Enterprise explores how organizations across industries are applying AI in practical, measurable ways — from predictive maintenance and fraud prevention to digital twins and agentic AI that supports the workforce. Security, governance and return on investment remain central to these discussions.

AI Nexus examines the convergence of generative, multimodal and quantum-enhanced AI, with a focus on responsible governance, hyper-personalized experiences and emerging standards that balance innovation with ethics and human collaboration.

ConnectAI focuses on the evolution of networks into intelligent platforms, highlighting AI-driven automation, edge intelligence and new revenue opportunities for AI-native telcos. Intelligent Infrastructure looks at how next-generation networks, cloud and edge computing and open architectures are transforming connectivity into a strategic asset.

Additional themes include Game Changers, spotlighting breakthrough technologies poised to redefine industries, and Tech4All, which centers on inclusive innovation, digital access and the policies needed to ensure technology benefits are widely shared.

Ozmo at MWC Barcelona 2026

Ozmo will be exhibiting at MWC Barcelona 2026 at booth #5E84, connecting with mobile operators, service providers and technology leaders focused on improving digital experiences through smarter support. Attendees can learn more about Ozmo’s presence at the event and schedule a meeting with the team here.

As MWC Barcelona celebrates 20 years in the city, the 2026 event positions itself not just as a reflection on past innovation, but as a forward-looking forum for defining how intelligence, connectivity and responsibility intersect in the years ahead.

The post MWC Barcelona 2026 preview: Connected intelligence takes center stage appeared first on Ozmo.

However, despite this, it soon becomes apparent that customers are unhappy. Tech support tickets aren’t resolved any faster and key contact center metrics haven’t improved. So, what’s going on?

Many telecom and broadband businesses implement AI in contact centers to reduce business expenses and lower call volume. After some initial easy wins, the benefits soon stall. Typically, it’s not because there’s something wrong with the AI software itself. Rather, the source of the problem is how businesses use AI once it's implemented. 

However, the solution isn’t to add more tools to your tech stack. Instead, you need to rethink how you use AI in your contact center. Below, we’ll go over some of the most common reasons AI fails in contact centers and what you can do to address these issues head-on. 

Why AI call center software fails (and how to fix it)

Earlier, we mentioned that the reason AI in contact centers fails is usually due to how it’s used, versus a bug in the software itself. Below, we cover some of the most common AI implementation mistakes and steps you can take to course correct. 

Mistake one: You’re using AI to replace human agents instead of supporting them

While technology can do many things, AI can’t replace humans. Your contact center agents still have a vital role to play in the customer experience. Eight out of 10 customers say they prefer speaking to a person  for complex service issues. 

However the issue isn’t choosing between humans or AI. Companies truly looking to get ahead will use a hybrid strategy that includes both humans and AI. 

Human agents are mission-critical to the success of your contact center. Instead of using AI to replace them, you’ll need to use AI to help agents do their jobs better. Use AI in your customer service strategy to augment your human agents’ performance. 

For example, you could use AI to improve the agent onboarding process so new hires can hit the ground running quickly and with confidence. You could also use tools like agent assist AI to coach them through live interactions, helping them diagnose and troubleshoot tech issues faster without losing the human touch that customers crave. 

Mistake two: Your AI tool can't access reliable information

AI call center software is only as effective as the knowledge base it relies on. If your underlying support content is outdated, inconsistent or spread across disconnected systems, AI can't deliver the streamlined tech support experience you intended.

Many contact centers store troubleshooting steps, device instructions and service policies across multiple tools and documents. As a result, AI delivers inaccurate or conflicting answers, which leads to a poor customer service experience. Customers and agents notice these inconsistencies across channels, and both can quickly lose trust in the AI tool's recommendations.

This fragmentation creates a ripple effect. Agents stop relying on AI and revert to searching manually or escalating issues. Customers receive inconsistent support depending on who they speak with or where they start their journey. Over time, the AI tool becomes underused, and your company never sees the promised gains in efficiency.

To fix this, businesses need to strengthen their self-service knowledge base so that the AI delivers accurate results. That means centralizing support content, validating the accuracy of the information and ensuring consistent answers across every channel. When AI tools have access to accurate, trusted knowledge, they can provide effective guidance to both agents and customers.

As a result, agents gain confidence knowing the information surfaced during live interactions is reliable. In turn, customers benefit from faster, more accurate resolutions, and AI becomes an integral part of creating a more streamlined customer service experience. 

Mistake three: AI doesn’t fit into agents’ day-to-day workflows

Even with access to a strong knowledge base, AI can still fail if it doesn’t naturally integrate into how agents actually work. Contact center agents operate under constant time pressure. They’re juggling multiple live conversations, tools, and customer expectations at once. If AI adds more to their already full plates or forces agents to switch tools, it quickly becomes a hindrance instead of a support mechanism.

This can cause AI adoption to stall. When guidance appears in the wrong place, arrives too late or requires agents to leave the interaction to access it, agents stop using it. No one wants to use a tool that interrupts their day-to-day workflow.

In telecom and broadband environments, this problem is even more pronounced. Agents may need to troubleshoot a wide range of devices, services and configurations in a single shift. If AI doesn’t surface relevant guidance in real time or align with existing workflows, it slows agents down rather than helping them resolve issues faster.

To address this, AI must be embedded in a way that supports the agent experience. Guidance should appear at the right time within the tools agents already use, without forcing them to leave the live interaction or current platform. When AI integrates naturally into the established workflow, agents are more likely to use it during live interactions.

When done right, AI reduces cognitive load instead of adding to it. Agents can stay focused on the customer, resolve issues more confidently and handle complex scenarios without unnecessary friction or interruptions. 

How to get the most out of AI tools in your contact center

Now that you know the common mistakes that hinder AI adoption, how can you ensure your team is getting the maximum benefit from your AI tools? Below are a few tips to keep in mind. 

Leverage AI to amplify your human agents’ performance

As mentioned previously, AI isn’t meant to replace your human agents. Telecom and broadband companies looking to leverage AI strategically in their contact centers should use AI to augment agent performance. 

Instead of looking at AI through the lens of replacing people, ask yourself how you can use it to enhance their performance. For example, use AI to improve contact center agent productivity. AI can handle customers’ frequently asked questions or repetitive tasks, allowing agents to take on more complex tech support requests that require human expertise. 

You can also use AI to create more personalized customer service experiences. AI can help agents tailor recommendations based on a customer’s previous service interactions or purchase history. When done right, using AI to enhance agent performance can improve your customer retention rate and net promoters score (NPS).

Use AI as part of an omnichannel customer service strategy

Customers rarely stick to a single support channel. For example, they might start troubleshooting an issue through self-service, switch to chat and then call your contact center. When these channels are siloed, customers have to repeat themselves, and agents lack the context they need to resolve their issues quickly.

AI can help bridge these gaps when used as part of an omnichannel customer service strategy. Instead of inconsistent experiences that vary by channel, AI can help maintain continuity across self-service, chat and agent-assisted support. That means preserving interaction history, serving up relevant knowledge and ensuring customers receive consistent answers no matter where they engage.

For telecom and broadband companies, this is especially important. Customers may troubleshoot on their own before escalating issues related to device setup, WiFi performance or service disruptions. When AI connects these touchpoints, agents can immediately see what steps the customer has already taken and avoid restarting the process from scratch. This reduces frustration and shortens resolution time.

Using AI across channels also improves customer self-service experiences. Customers who prefer to resolve issues on their own can access the same accurate guidance that agents rely on. When self-service and agent support are aligned, customers experience smoother handoffs.

Ultimately, AI works best when it supports the entire customer journey rather than isolated interactions. An omnichannel approach ensures AI enhances continuity, reduces friction and helps deliver a more cohesive support experience from start to finish.

There's a better way to use AI

AI can be a powerful differentiator for telecom and broadband companies, but only when used strategically. AI call center software often fails not because the technology is flawed, but because it's deployed for the wrong reasons, lacks access to accurate answers or decision-makers misunderstand how agents and customers actually interact.

The most effective AI strategies don't try to replace people. Instead, they focus on supporting agents with accurate knowledge, integrating naturally into daily workflows and delivering consistent experiences across channels. When AI is grounded in reliable information and aligned with current support operations, it helps agents resolve issues faster and with confidence.

For contact centers navigating rising expectations and increasing complexity, the path forward is to use AI to strengthen human support, reduce friction and streamline the customer experience.

Are you looking for more guidance on how to reap the benefits of AI customer service? Download our free e-book to learn more about how to use AI strategically to improve self-service and provide a better end-to-end customer experience. Grab your copy today.

The post Why AI fails in contact centers (and how to fix it) appeared first on Ozmo.

Bringing tier one tools to local providers

This new collaboration marks a major step forward for NCTC member companies, which collectively connect one-third of all U.S. households and businesses. Through the agreement, NCTC members will gain access to Ozmo’s industry-proven consumer and agent-facing support solutions, historically used by tier one telecom providers.

“This partnership ensures that the same tools used by the largest names in telecom are now available to the independent providers powering communities across North America,” said Aaron Herrington, co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at Ozmo. “We’re excited to support NCTC members in delivering faster, more effective support and improving the overall customer experience.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Ozmo will provide scalable solutions designed to meet the diverse needs of NCTC’s member companies to support their video, broadband and mobile services. Ozmo’s support tools will empower members to deliver consistent, high-quality support experiences across their subscriber base. These solutions are designed to enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction across the board. 

The offering includes AI-powered Conversational Support, interactive training content and virtual devices and apps, providing flexible tools that help support teams and end users resolve issues quickly.

For NCTC member companies launching an MVNO service — or looking to enhance an existing one — Ozmo provides a unique library of virtual devices and support tools that cover the entire North American mobile phone market, enabling accurate, efficient support across a wide range of devices and platforms.

Helping independent providers compete and thrive

This partnership reflects a shared dedication to modernizing tech support for today’s communications providers and delivering a best-in-class user experience. By collaborating, Ozmo and NCTC are equipping independent operators with the advanced tools and technologies needed to deliver more streamlined service, drive customer loyalty and stay competitive in fast-changing competitive markets.

Visit our official partnership page to explore how Ozmo supports NCTC members, and dive deeper with our guide, Enterprise-level support, scaled for every provider, to learn how scalable, high-quality tools can empower both agents and customers.

The post Ozmo partners with NCTC to bring tier one tech support to 650+ communication service providers appeared first on Ozmo.

Members of the Ozmo team attended CES to engage in conversations, observe emerging trends and better understand how companies across industries are thinking about technology adoption and customer experience. These discussions provided valuable perspective on how support, education and usability must evolve alongside increasingly sophisticated digital products.

AI embedded everywhere

Rather than standing alone as a headline feature, artificial intelligence was deeply embedded into products and platforms across CES. From smart devices and robotics to enterprise applications, AI was positioned as an enabler of more intuitive, responsive and personalized experiences. The emphasis throughout the show was on practical application, using AI to solve real-world problems and improve how users interact with technology.

From concept to real-world deployment

Another consistent theme was the shift from experimental concepts to deployable solutions. Robotics, automation and “physical intelligence” showcased tangible progress, with demonstrations focused on reliability, scalability and everyday use cases rather than futuristic spectacle. This evolution reflected a broader industry push toward technologies that are ready to be integrated into existing ecosystems.

Emerging expectations for modern app ecosystems

Conversations around connectivity and digital ecosystems remained central, particularly as connected devices and applications become more complex. Alongside familiar discussions tied to telecom and connected experiences, the Ozmo team also encountered growing curiosity around banking and finance applications. Topics included digital trust, secure AI and how users are supported within mobile banking and financial platforms — signaling a widening overlap between consumer technology, fintech and enterprise app experiences.

Overall, attending CES gave Ozmo profound insight on how expectations for digital experiences are evolving across industries. As technology becomes more powerful and interconnected, the need for clear, reliable support remains constant — especially as companies expand into new app-driven experiences across telecom, financial services and beyond.

To learn where the team will be next and connect in person, visit Ozmo’s events page to explore upcoming conferences and meetups.

The post Ozmo’s takeaways from CES 2026: Where innovation and app experiences are headed appeared first on Ozmo.