Customer experience technology company Lightico has teamed up with the UK’s leading bereavement charity, Cruse Bereavement Support, to make it easier for grieving people to close loved ones’ financial accounts.
The amount of red tape, delays and upsetting admin errors within financial institutions adds unnecessary stress for grieving and emotionally vulnerable people.
After learning of many people who had negative and distressing experiences with estate companies, Cruse launched its ‘Bereaved Customers First’ campaign in 2019 to urge companies to simplify their bereavement journey.
Lightico specialises in helping organisations streamline their processes with a number of leading banks and building societies already using its platform to achieve significant results. NatWest, for example, has significantly cut the time it takes to process bereavement-related notifications by an average of 23 days. This streamlined bereavement practice not only simplifies the process but also reduces the emotional burden bereaved people face when closing bank accounts.
In order to continue this consistent response to bereaved customers, Cruse will continue to highlight the importance of ensuring bereaved customers are understood, while Lightico will provide an informed solution. Together, making a real difference within financial institutions.
Steven Wibberley, Chief Executive of Cruse Bereavement Support said: “At Cruse, we are passionate about our ongoing campaign ‘Bereaved Customers First’ and this exciting partnership with Lightico will help ensure customer journeys are considered and made as easy as possible to navigate, at a time that is already extremely difficult.
We’ve seen first-hand how many thousands of people are faced with confusing and distressing situations when dealing with the estate of someone close who has died. People are at the centre of all these stories and that’s why partnerships like this are vital to ensure a compassionate response is offered by companies when dealing with the death of a customer.”
Problems faced by the bereaved have been amplified by the pandemic, with more services moving online. The shift highlights inefficiencies in digital processes just as people try to use them more.
Zviki Ben-Ishay, CEO of Lightico, said: “Our goal is to simplify and streamline bereavement journeys so that they are no longer challenging for banking customers.
“To do this, we deliver ‘high tech yet high touch’ journeys, so bereaved people can close a bank account themselves without any pain points. And if they need support, it is readily available - irrespective of whether they want to self-serve on the internet or talk with a contact centre agent.
“The Cruse campaign highlights perfectly the problems the bereaved can face when dealing with companies, so we are delighted to team up with the charity and make a difference.”
For more information about how Lightico can help simplify your bereavement process and how Cruse can help train frontline staff, watch our joint webinar: “How to put bereaved customers first (and stay compliant)“ below.
