What Customers Want: Fintech’s Complicated Relationship with Customer Service

Welcome to What Customers Want, a limited series from the Fintech Takes podcast, hosted by yours truly. In this 4-part series, I’ll be cracking open one of fintech’s most puzzling topics: customer service. And I’ll be joined by Corey Besaw, President of APAC and one of the founders of Ubiquity, a company that knows a thing or two about scaling up a customer service operation.  While fintechs are famously customer-obsessed —- from early paycheck access to compliance emails so spectacular they can move regulators —- that obsession hasn’t always extended to customer service. Fintechs love to "engineer around" customer service, but as they compete more directly with banks, this will shift. FAQs and chatbots can’t solve everything. Sometimes, people need to talk about their money, and that builds trust.  So, what’s the sweet spot between automation and human touch for fintechs? This series dives into what works and what doesn’t.  Over the next four episodes, we’ll explore customer service challenges, from BaaS and Reg E to generative AI, all while keeping in mind the human side of money. In this episode, episode 1, Alex and Corey explore how fintechs and traditional banks approach customer service and what customers actually want when they pick up their phone and try to solve a problem. Highlights include: The hidden costs of customer service and why "cost per contact" metrics can be misleading. The challenges fintechs face as they scale—managing fragmented tech stacks and organizational silos. How fintechs can differentiate by embracing human connection, using tools like generative AI to enhance (not replace) service. Is tech convenience enough, or is the reassuring voice of a real person still king? Tune in to find out. And don’t forget to subscribe and catch more insights on what customers want in upcoming episodes! Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Follow Corey: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-besaw-8004182/ Learn more about Ubiquity here: https://www.ubiquity.com/