Kuwait Finance House

In the digital age, customers expect fast, convenient service. NCR helped Kuwait Finance House meet those expectations with more than 100 new enterprise-enabled self-service kiosks, which reduced queues and helped them offer more services to more people.

WHAT THEY NEEDED

Faster, more efficient in-branch solutions

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) was established in 1977 as Kuwait’s first truly Islamic bank. Since then it has grown rapidly and had become aware of the need to keep up with wider technological advancements. Since 2017, new management arrived at the bank and shifted focus to a larger and younger demographic. They aspired to offer the best banking experience in Kuwait but were increasingly worried by the poor service they were getting from their existing service providers and the inflexibility of their legacy software platform. This was creating poor customer experience. For example, if people wanted certain services such as card printing, they could only go to branches during opening hours, and it was slow, inflexible and caused long lines in the branch. KFH wanted a faster, high-tech solution so their ATM network could offer more branch and digital services and provide access to these services round the clock and in more locations for the convenience of their customers.

WHAT WE DELIVERED

A truly self-service branch experience

NCR introduced a customer experience led solution which provided 100% of branch transactions including card issuance and gold purchases in a self-service format. We provided more than 100 enterprise enabled self-service kiosks, which reduced queues and helped them offer more services to more people. Enabled with the NDC Enterprise platform, these kiosks were capable of issuing cards and providing a wide range of non-cash services such as account opening, updating IDs and other administrative services. They also provided customers with the option of buying gold directly from the ATM. The aim of these new solutions was to reduce operational costs and improve the customer experience by reducing the need to engage with the branch. But for those who still wanted that face-to-face support, NCR provided an assisted service solution where staff support customers through tablets. They can access the customers' accounts and drive the transaction from the tablet.

The new ATM environment also includes digital remittance transactions, something that is important for Kuwaiti residents and very profitable to the bank.‍‍

BUSINESS OUTCOMES

Customer experience transformed

The transformation for KFH was almost immediate. Within a month they had increased the number of new accounts and cards issued through self-service threefold thanks to the new processes and technology. It also led to a new small branch concept KFH Go – which extended KFH's reach into new areas. This boosts financial inclusion by allowing KFH to provide services in locations and communities which they had previously been unable to reach.

A great test of the new software platform came during the pandemic when the Kuwaiti government introduced Covid loan payment holidays. This enabled citizens with bank loans to request a 1 year break from payments to help with pandemic hardships. All banks were given 1 month to make it possible to opt-in to this offer at the ATM. KFH in partnership with NCR had this capability available at their ATMs in just 3 days, while non-NCR ATMs never did get it to work.

NCR delivered innovative technology bridging the physical world with digital and lightning fast experiences. KFH have completely revolutionized their service offering and given their customers a faster, more convenient and altogether more enjoyable experience.