Aryan picks up the phone to call your bank. As a personal banking customer, he wants to find out why his savings account has been closed and where his money has gone. Aryan is from Pakistan and doesn’t speak English very well. He used Google Translate to prepare for the call, but once on the line, he still struggles to explain himself. Once your employee understands his question, they attempt to explain what happened to his savings account. It's not a complicated situation, but because of the language barrier, Aryan struggles to get the details. After 15 minutes of back-and-forth, he gets frustrated. Your employee gets stressed. The call is taking much longer than needed. The conversation isn't going anywhere, and Aryan hangs up without a clear answer. He’s annoyed and disheartened. Over the following weeks, he tells everyone he meets about the poor experience he had with your bank. He starts thinking about switching providers and asks friends and family if their bank handles situations like this better.

What if Aryan was the victim of fraud and your fraud department needed to ask him questions to resolve the case? How would that go? Language barriers can make situations like this far more difficult than they need to be. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Innovative and inclusive financial institutions have started to offer language support like telephone interpreting, translated documents, and instructional/informative videos to customers.

Here are five benefits you would gain from doing the same, whether you are a retail or commercial bank, a pension provider, an insurance or investment company.

1. Increased customer satisfaction

What if Ayran had been offered a telephone interpreter in his mother tongue when he called? He’d likely have said yes, and within 40 seconds, an interpreter would have joined the call. The conversation would have flowed effortlessly, leaving Ayran feeling genuinely supported and impressed with the service he received. He’d hang up, not just satisfied, but eager to tell everyone who’d listen how fantastic his bank is.

In the 2021 Census, 880,000 people in England and Wales reported they couldn’t speak English well, and 161,000 couldn’t speak it at all. With so many individuals facing language challenges, this represents a significant opportunity to improve accessibility and satisfaction.

Removing language barriers by providing on-demand phone interpreters and offering content in multiple languages is a straightforward yet powerful way to make customers feel valued. These services enhance customer satisfaction and positive word-of-mouth referrals. As banks continue to close branches – often negatively impacting customer experience – investing in inclusive services like this shows you genuinely care. 35.7% of consumers cite poor customer experience as a top reason to switch providers. With this in mind, taking proactive steps to remove language barriers could be part of your strategy to set your financial service business apart in a competitive market.

2. Stronger compliance with regulation

Many financial services are already well versed with the Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination based on disability. This has led many financial services to focus on inclusivity and enhance accessibility by offering support for blind, visually impaired, and deaf customers, including services like British Sign Language interpreters and Braille documents.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Regulations require financial services to treat customers fairly and ensure services are accessible to vulnerable customers, including those with language barriers. Implementing measures like telephone interpreting and providing translated content can help financial services comply with these regulations and better serve their diverse customer base.

3. Improved reputation

Financial services, including banks, face constant pressure to maintain a positive reputation. Factors such as customer service, transparency, corporate social responsibility, branch closures, scandals and how they’re handled, media coverage and so on, all play a part in shaping public perception.

With regular surveys from organisations like Which? there is nowhere for banks to hide when it comes to how they’re viewed by the public. The financial market has also become more competitive than ever, driven by new entrants like digital banks, advancing technology, and evolving customer expectations, making reputation more important than before.

Improving access for people with limited English proficiency is an opportunity to improve reputation and show you're willing to go the extra mile to look after your customers. Now, that would be something nice to shout about!

4. Running more efficiently

A 2023 study by Microsoft revealed that the finance sector has an average call wait time of 8 minutes and 27 seconds, with the longest wait reaching 1 hour and 8 minutes. Reducing call wait times can help call centre staff handle more enquiries, boosting both efficiency and customer satisfaction. Language barriers can often lead to misunderstandings, causing delays and making calls longer than they need, particularly in sensitive situations like fraud investigations, where detailed questioning is required. Providing follow-up documentation and forms in a variety of languages can also ensure things run more smoothly. By removing language barriers, you ensure calls and enquiries are dealt with as efficiently and quickly as possible.

5. Boost revenue and retain business

Enhancing support for individuals with limited English proficiency is a strategic approach to boost revenue and encourage customer loyalty. With just over a million people who don’t speak English well or at all living in the UK, this is a significant segment of the population that may face challenges accessing financial services. By offering multilingual support, financial services companies can tap into this underserved market, attracting both personal and business customers.

Providing support in multiple languages can also lead to increased customer retention and loyalty. When customers feel understood and valued, they are more likely to remain with their provider and recommend its services to others, in turn driving growth and profitability.

In an increasingly competitive market for financial services, innovations like telephone interpreting and offering content in multiple languages can have a big impact on customer satisfaction, retention, and reputation. It can also help organisations comply with regulations set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to avoid fines and scandals. From an operational perspective, they can streamline processes, improve efficiency, and drive revenue growth.

To find out more about how you could implement on-demand phone interpreting and multi-language content, get in touch with Jane at [email protected] now.