BOV holds first customer experience (cx) conference

As part of its CX Week celebrations Bank of Valletta hosted Malta’s first-ever Customer Experience (CX) Conference, an event organised exclusively for BOV employees. This milestone event brought together lead international speakers and innovators, as well as customer experience experts from within the Bank to share insights and strategies focused on enhancing customers’ long-term working relationships.

The exclusivity of this event to BOV employees reflects the importance that the Bank places on customer experience. The conference underlined the significant investment that the Bank is making in its people to ensure they are empowered and equipped to deliver the highest levels of service to all its customers across all touchpoints.

As explained by CEO Kenneth Farrugia during his address, “Bank of Valletta is committed to foster a culture that prioritises customer experience at all levels of the organisation. The insights and strategies that will be shared during the conference will shape our future CX efforts and will continue to elevate customer experience as a key differentiator in the financial services industry. We are excited to take all lessons learned, and build on them to provide unparalleled experiences for our customers.”

A Stellar Line-Up of Speakers

The event featured a number of prominent speakers, including Betul Yilmaz, Managing Partner at Elephant & CX Consultant who highlighted the key principles of empathy, proactivity, personalisation, and empowerment in customer experience. Professor Georgios Yannakakis and Dr Ahmed Khalifa from the Institute of Digital Games at the University of Malta illustrated how innovations in AI and UX modelling from the video gaming industry can be applied to banking to create personalised experiences and deepen customer engagement.

The conference featured a panel discussion that included other top industry experts such as Benji Borg, CEO of 9H Digital, Christabelle Camilleri, CEO and co-founder of Health & Co &Lil’Ville Childcare, and Theodoros Papadopoulos, Acting Chief CX Officer at BOV. The panel explored how technology and AI can support an organisation’s customer-centric culture. It also highlighted the importance of maintaining a customer-focused approach in product development and suggested strategies on how to overcome challenges in building a customer-centric culture.

Recognising Customer-Centric Employees

A special moment of the conference was the presentation of awards to BOV employees who exemplified customer-centric behaviour throughout the year, demonstrating the Bank’s commitment to recognising and rewarding those who go above and beyond the call of duty to assist customers. These individuals serve as a source of inspiration to all employees, setting the standard for current and future customer engagement.

A Proud First for BOV and Malta

This event marked a new chapter for BOV, further positioning it as a leader and innovator in the market. As Theodoros Papadopoulos stated in his closing address, “By investing in our people, we are equipping them with the tools and knowledge to ensure that our customers always receive the service they have come to expect from a bank like Bank of Valletta. This conference represents a significant step in elevating CX across our Bank and the broader Maltese business community.”

CX Week 2024

In addition to the conference, the Bank’s Customer Experience (CX) Team is organising a series of activities this week aimed at fostering a customer-centric mindset across the Bank.  A key highlight is the return of the annual BOV CX Week Frontline Experience, where back-office employees are given the opportunity to immerse themselves in frontline operations. This initiative provides a hands-on approach to better understand the customer journey, including the challenges and opportunities faced by frontline staff, ultimately driving a deeper commitment to enhancing the overall customer experience.