Westpac is redeploying 1,000 overseas call center jobs back to Australia - Business Insider

The bank will redeploy 1,000 jobs from India and the Philippines to Australia and hire new workers over the next year. Westpac CEO Peter King said, "while we have added additional resourcing to support unprecedented demand following COVID-19 … at times our response rates have been too slow." Some roles will be kept overseas, but King noted that if a customer called the bank, their call would be answered by someone in Australia.

Call centers became the front line of communication between customers and banks during the onset of the pandemic — and were inundated with requests for payments holidays. Bank call centers flooded with inquiries from concerned customers about deferring payments on mortgages, credit cards, and business loans.

Call centers also became lifelines for high-risk and quarantined consumers who didn't have an option to go into the branches that remained open. This overwhelming volume led to substantial wait times for many consumers. Westpac's move — which it anticipates will generate $45 million in initial annual costs — indicates that call centers will remain paramount to customer service for the foreseeable future.

The move highlights the disconnect in customer service options between what customers want and what banks are offering on their digital platforms. Continued high call center volume suggests that a significant number of customers still aren't relying on digital channels for support. And many have indicated they human expertise when it comes to financial dealings, particularly during a time of crisis — making call centers especially valuable right now.

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