Bank description
Telephone banking is a service
provided by a financial institution which allows its
customers to perform transactions over the telephone,
usually 24/7.
A telephone banking system consists of an interactive
voice response (IVR). To guarantee security, the
customer must first authenticate through a numeric or
verbal password or through security questions. With the
obvious exception of cash withdrawals and deposits, it
offers virtually all the features of an automated teller
machine: account balance information and list of latest
transactions, electronic bill payments, funds transfers
between a customer's accounts, etc.
Most telephone banking services also offer the
possibility to speak to a live representative located in
a call centre or a branch, although this feature is not
guaranteed to be offered 24/7. In addition to the
self-service transactions listed earlier, telephone
banking representatives are usually trained to do what
was traditionally available only at the branch: loan
applications, investment purchases and redemptions,
chequebook orders, debit card replacements, change of
address, etc.
Banks which operate mostly or exclusively by telephone
are known as phone banks.
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