Enhancing Customers’ Experience in Using ATM Services: A Proposal from the Perspective of Sustainable Business Practices

The relevance of customer experience in the banking sector has dramatically increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, with a particular focus on digital channels. Access to cash for many has remained essential during the COVID-19 lock-down around the globe. In India, post demonetisation, there has been tremendous growth in cashless transactions. Concurrently, there has also been a significant increase in the deployment of ATMs across the country for primarily for dispensing cash, especially in semi-urban and rural areas. This significant development indicates the unceasing demand for cash and the preference of ATMs by bank customers. However, customers, who reach out to an ATM, find it often run out of cash or not working, which causes inconvenience and leads to an unpleasant customer experience. This study proposes that banks leverage existing USSD technology to provide a service feature to improve customers' experience in using ATMs. This proposal will serve as a value addition to customer’s banking experience and banks’ service delivery from the perspective of sustainable business practices.