Even when people are using digital tools, the second most important driver of trust (after ease of use, at 81 percent) is being able to get hold of human customer service easily (79 percent).
Just because they use robos, that doesn't mean they don't want human interaction at all.
So find the results of a Charles Schwab study, “Consumer Digital Demands,” which reports that although Americans are “more likely to automate their day-to-day finances than other activities,” they still feel better with human assistance rather than robo help.
Related: What's ahead for fintech in 2018
As might be expected, boomers are the most reluctant to interact primarily with technology rather than humans, but all generations are still more in favor of people than machines.
Overall, the percentages are pretty close and technology actually wins out, with 52 percent more comfortable relying on technology and 48 percent preferring humans, especially in customer service.
In fact, 64 percent of respondents “only turn to a person when they can't find what they're looking for online.” And 47 percent of people didn't follow through on some action because it would have meant talking to a live human being instead of taking care of it online.
A surprising 46 percent of people—millennials in particular, at 57 percent—get uncomfortable having to talk on the phone to someone they don't know.
That said, 86 percent of Americans want to be able to get a living, breathing person on the line when they need one, and prefer brands that allow them to do so.
Businesses that want to build trust should know that 89 percent of people trust professionals more when it's easy to contact them; 88 percent do so when those professionals understand their problems quickly; and 88 percent do so when said professionals respond quickly.
In fact, even when people are taking action online, the second most important driver of trust (after ease of use, at 81 percent) is being able to get hold of human customer service easily (79 percent).
Technology should make managing money easier, respondents say, and 55 percent of them think managing money is at least as hard as training for a marathon. Fifty-six percent want it to be as easy as booking a hotel.
But people don't know where to start on the money management issue, or they think investing is too hard to do without help—so hard, in fact, that they'd rather get a root canal, troubleshoot with an ISP or clean their gutters than invest.
But if they had the right tools, they'd be willing to spend more time on investing—millennials the most willing, of course. And while among all fintech, robo advisors are seen as having the most impact on financial services (48 percent of respondents say so), 70 percent still want humans involved for more complex issues.
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
