Citizens Bank is refining its approach to consumer data usage, chatbot tech and combining online experiences with human expertise, thanks to new data from the bank’s inaugural “Banking Experience Survey,” which ran June to July and was released last week.

Citizens found a generational divide when it comes to privacy and data sharing. Younger consumers aged 18-24 were the age group least comfortable with sharing personal data with their banks. Only 42% said they were likely to be comfortable with giving personal data, compared to 65% for those aged 35-44, who were the most comfortable.

That intel is prompting the $180 billion dollar bank to invest in increasing transparency about the data it’s using and how it’s being used, said Beth Johnson, chief experience officer at Citizens. “My sense is they frankly didn’t have enough history or knowledge to realize the value they could get for the information they would be sharing,” Johnson said of the younger cohort. As a result, “We’re looking at tools to enable customers to have more of that transparency through their mobile apps, to ensure they understand — and particularly when there are partners involved — those uses of data,” she said. She did not include specifics about the tools as this project is currently underway.

Citizens is not alone in boosting data usage transparency. Earlier this year Wells Fargo’s head of digital payments and virtual channels, Ben Soccorsy, told Bank Innovation that the $1.9 trillion bank is investing in additional tools within Control Tower, a feature that provides consumers transparency into recurring payments and control over data sharing with third parties.

The study also revealed chatbot technology is becoming table stakes among business clients, with 60% of businesses saying they expect their bank to provide virtual assistants to help manage company finances. Citizens, like other big banks, is expanding on some of the chatbot tech solutions it developed in the wake of the pandemic, specifically around connecting the chatbot channel to other service channels at the bank, like the contact center or for scheduling in-branch appointments.

While the pandemic has accelerated digital adoption among consumers and businesses alike, human expertise is still essential. According to the survey, 69% of consumers already prefer banking online some or all of the time; however 65% said they prefer human expertise for financial advice. That number was higher for business respondents, with the need for in-person banking outpacing the need for online banking tools at 74% to 71%. The most common reasons for preferring in-person banking were safety and security, accuracy and accountability, and personal service.

The paradigm between online and in-person banking is prompting Citizens to rethink how the bank can better marry the two experiences.

“We are looking at our staffing models in our branches to ensure we have the expertise available when our customers need it,” Johnson said. Citizens is exploring ways to expand its “checkup” feature to other digital channels, in-person interactions and virtually over video. The feature allows customers to have a financial checkup and conversation with bankers.

Portland-based Umpqua Bank benefitted from having its Go-To tool available when the pandemic hit the U.S. in March. Launched in April 2019, the digital tool connects customers with the banker of their choice via message.

“We never imagined a crisis of this nature, of course, but Go-To has proven to be a uniquely powerful tool as people are facing an unprecedented disruption to all facets of life,” Brian Read, head of retail and small business banking, previously told Bank Innovation.  “They’re looking for help and to communicate with a real person they know and trust. An anonymous customer service loop or a chat bot isn’t going to cut it.”

The “Banking Experience Survey” gathered data from more than 1,000 consumers and 250-plus business leaders between early June and late-July, and explored topics around how customers currently interact with their financial institutions and how they would like to interact with them in the future.