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Improved Customer Service

Information sharing in the financial services sector particularly benefits consumers by improving convenience and customer service. Call centers and Internet sites can give consumers the convenience of checking account balances, transferring funds, and conducting transactions among multiple accounts held by different companies thanks to information sharing. In a study for the Financial Services Roundtable (FSR), Ernst & Young found that customers of FSR member companies save about 70 million hours per year because of information sharing.

Consumers who want to sign up for new financial services often find that process very easy today because shared information allows their applications to be very accurately pre-filled. In the absence of information sharing, consumers would spend extra time filling out forms, and the error rate in financial services applications would rise, adding costs to transactions.

Consumers who do not wish to see information shared should have that option, but they should not complain when they have to contact multiple call centers, fill out extra forms, and access separate Web sites to conduct their financial activities.

Links:

Customer Benefits from Current Information Sharing by Financial Services Companies, by Ernst & Young (December, 2000)

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[updated 01/29/01]