Getting on board with the digital agenda; e-enablement; the benefits of the app.

Following the recent milestone of the savings app turning 2, we wanted to highlight some of the key app achievements, why members being web/app enabled is beneficial to your agencies and what you and your teams can do to improve your digital skills.

The Savings app turns 2!

Since we launched the App in 2020, it’s gone from strength to strength thanks to the huge and continued efforts from everyone involved. We’ve introduced loads of new features and functionality, making it easier for customers to manage their accounts through this channel.

And while we’re singing our own praises, let’s take a little look at our achievements so far:

• 173k app users onboarded to date (against 175k end of year target).
• 224k app downloads to date (against 250k end of year target).
• 58 million web and app logins so far (against 13.2m end of year target).
• Our combined app store rating is 4.6 (against a 4.5+ end of year target).
• Our mobile Net Promoter Score is currently sitting at 48.
• 6% of our achievable base of customers are e-enabled (against 45% end of year target).

Keeping the momentum going

We’re making amazing progress against our targets…but there’s always room for improvement. So, we took the opportunity to promote the App with an external campaign. The aim, to raise more awareness of the digital self-serve options we have available and encourage more downloads of our App – hopefully getting us that bit closer to our targets.

Why are members being web/ app enabled so important?

We all know how much our worlds, and those of our members, are becoming increasingly digitalised; the global pandemic moved more of our lives online than ever before, and that’s very much here to stay. Our members want a quick and efficient service which fits with their busy lives - to be able to check balances on the go, from the sofa, or wherever.

But some of us may be thinking, why is digital so important for our members, Adam Waterfall, Retail Area Manager, North East says…

“Supporting customers with digital queries is no longer seen as an additional service but as a basic expectation of many customers. Not offering this service in a confident and informed way, will have a negative impact on the outlook of your service and potentially lose custom. It also helps us appeal to a younger demographic, which can create additional business and could be the solution to transfer limits, as these do not apply online. Embracing our digital services today, will help us future proof our business and remain relevant for many years to come.”

Ways members can manage their accounts Digitally.

But how does this help my agency?

The most common question we get, is but WHY are we focusing on digitally enabling members that come into branches / agencies, as some of them will never want to get online. And it’s true that we do have a range of customers that still prefer to come into and speak to a friendly face, and that’s ok! But for the members that are perhaps starting to venture into the world of digital, being able to manage their account online, and knowing their options is very beneficial to them, and will eventually save agencies precious time.

Adam Waterfall says…

The good news is, there are plenty of benefits as well. E-enabling your customer base allows you to reach more people and frees up time to do meaningful business, rather than serving day to day transactions. This does not mean you will never see these customers again, but instead you will see them at meaningful points in their journey with YBS.

Brush up on your digital skills.

As more essential services move online, and the digital world continues to evolve - we must make sure we aren’t leaving people behind. Most of us this morning have probably picked up our mobiles scrolled through Instagram, sent a WhatsApp message to a friend and maybe have even done some online shopping and thought nothing of it. But for some people this is challenging or not even possible, with 11.8 million working adults still lacking the digital skills needed for work and nearly 2 million over 75s in England being digitally excluded.

Sometimes its easy to think that because you know how to get online, that our digital skills program isn’t for you, however you’d be surprised the things you forget over time, or you may even find a new quicker way of working.

Our new digital skills program is here for all colleagues to bridge any gaps in their knowledge. Alasdair Lenman commented on how he’s found it really useful

‘Technology is central to every part of my life, at home, at work and socially. And I’m not afraid to admit trying to figure out how it all works can be overwhelming at times, and I know there’s a lot I still don’t understand! I also know there are lots of useful new features I haven’t used before that would no doubt make my life a heck of a lot easier.

Even simple things like changing some of my phone settings will make a difference to the effort and time it takes to do what I need to.

So, that’s why I’ll be taking the digital skills checker to find out to how I can get more out of the technology I use at work and at home.

And I hope, like me, you’ll take control of your digital learning and see just how much more you can get out of the technology available to us at work and in everyday life.’

The Digital Skills Program 

The Digital Skills program isn’t just a quick test of how much you know. It is a resource there to guide you and improve your overall working environment. Digital Skills is a varied term that covers everything from how to use Microsoft teams more efficiently, Microsoft Excel shortcuts, Folder management and even just how to set up your workspace so it works for you, things like dark mode, making text bigger and other accessibility tips. It's easy to get into a daily routine and cast digital skills to the back of your mind, but it is an ever-important skill we need to practice.

The Digital Skills program makes you complete an online skills checker, which will take between ten and 30 mins, after this it gives you a diagnosis on the areas you need to work on. Then you have options on how you can work on these skills, but the best and easiest way would be to then sign up for one of the masterclasses that are ran by the digital services team. These masterclasses run once a month for the next 6 months and give all colleagues the opportunity to put time aside to develop their skills. They are also a great opportunity for colleagues to network as you get access to the Microsoft teams’ Team where you can ask questions and use the group as a forum. Then at the end of the program, you will complete a final skills checker, where hopefully you will have seen an increase of your knowledge.

Scott Hartley, Infrastructure and Digital Lead says…

“Putting 30 mins aside a week or a month may sometimes feel impossible if you work in a busy agency, however it is so important to build your confidence in digital, as this will make staff confident in promoting the safety of going digital to members. At the moment, only 4% of agency staff are using the program. We’d like you to encourage your team to set aside these 30 mins, to work on their development. If I could set all agencies a goal, it would be to have at least one member of staff having completed the skills checker by the end of the week! And this should really help with setting personal development goals for 2023”

You can find out more and how to get started by watching our short film Here, or you’ll find this video in the usual media folder in the Word drive.