Half of People in Their 30s and 40s "Uncomfortable with AI Consultation, Will Switch to Competitors" [Bbaengbbaengi AI Call Center]③

Our Survey on Financial Company Call Center AI Consultation Service Satisfaction
48% of People in Their 30s Intend to Switch Financial Companies Due to AI Consultation Discomfort
46% Express "Dissatisfaction" with AI Consultation Service...Above Average Across All Age Groups

Editor's Note“It’s a ‘person,’ not AI, dear customer. How can I assist you?”
Call centers, which everyone has used at least once, have long been places where agents kindly answered calls and resolved issues. However, financial company call centers have gradually become inconvenient for financial consumers. The incomplete ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) consultation service’ has ironically delayed the problem-solving process and increased the time it takes for financial consumers. This is the irony that emerged as banks, card companies, and other financial institutions replaced human call center agents with AI consultation services. Accordingly, Asia Economy aims to explore the inside story of financial company call centers from various perspectives, including financial consumers and workers.

About half of people in their 30s and 40s, who are considered the ‘backbone’ of the Korean economy, expressed willingness to switch financial companies due to inconvenient call center consultations such as AI consultation services. Nearly 50% of respondents across all generations expressed dissatisfaction with the overall AI consultation services at financial company call centers, the highest among all age groups.

According to a panel survey conducted by Asia Economy through the polling agency Embrain on June 6, targeting 500 adult men and women nationwide (aged 19 to 69), 48.3% of respondents in their 30s (aged 30-39) and 43.7% of respondents in their 40s (aged 40-49) answered “yes” to the question, “Do you intend to change your financial company due to inconvenience caused by AI or other call center agents?”

These results show a significant difference compared to the overall response rate of 38.2% who expressed willingness to change financial companies due to call center issues. For those in their 30s (48.3%), the difference exceeded 10 percentage points, which is outside the margin of error (±4.38%), and for those in their 40s (43.7%), the difference was close to 5 percentage points. Other age groups were below the overall average in the order of 50s (37.0%), 60s (31.7%), and 20s (aged 19-29, 30.6%).

According to Statistics Korea, the economic activity participation rate of people in their 30s was 81% last year, ranking first among all age groups, and those in their 40s ranked second with 80.0%. The only age groups with an economic activity participation rate exceeding 80% are the 30s and 40s. In other words, these age groups are the backbone of our economy and also the largest potential customers for financial companies.

The percentage of respondents who have actually changed financial companies due to call center issues was highest among those in their 30s (22.5%). Those in their 40s also accounted for 21.4%, exceeding the average of all age groups (18.2%). Among those in their 30s who have changed or would consider changing financial companies, 46.5% cited the most important factor as whether they can connect to a human agent without going through complicated procedures, second only to those in their 60s (50.0%).

Contrary to the common belief that the elderly aged 60 and above are the main age group uncomfortable with new technologies such as AI, dissatisfaction with financial company call center AI consultation services was highest among people in their 30s and 40s in other survey items as well. When asked about overall satisfaction with financial company call center AI consultation services, 46.1% of those in their 30s responded that they were dissatisfied (16.9% very dissatisfied, 29.2% dissatisfied), surpassing other age groups. Those in their 40s also showed similar dissatisfaction at 43.7% (7.8% very dissatisfied, 35.9% dissatisfied), overwhelming those in their 50s (39.5%), 60s (36.5%), and 20s (30.6%). Notably, the 16.9% of very dissatisfied responses among those in their 30s was the only double-digit figure across all age groups.

The reasons for dissatisfaction with financial company call center AI consultation services among people in their 30s and 40s (multiple responses allowed) were led by “AI does not understand my requests,” with 80.5% (30s) and 75.6% (40s) respectively. “The process of connecting to a human agent is complicated and difficult” also accounted for 61.0% and 60.0% respectively. Other reasons included lower trust compared to connecting to a human agent at 43.9% and 35.6%, and difficulty in using AI services at 34.1% and 31.1%, respectively.

When asked how the time required to resolve issues through call center consultations has changed since the introduction of AI services, nearly half (49.4%) of those in their 30s answered that it has “lengthened” (24.7% much longer, 24.7% longer). Those in their 40s also showed a similar attitude, with 48.5% responding that it has lengthened (12.6% much longer, 35.9% longer). These figures are about 6 to 7 percentage points higher than the overall survey result for all age groups (42.6%). Conversely, the percentage of those who said the time has shortened was 19.1% (2.2% much shorter, 16.9% shorter) for those in their 30s and 20.4% (1.0% much shorter, 19.4% shorter) for those in their 40s, significantly lower than the overall survey result (27.0%).

In a survey asking about feelings when connected to a human agent after going through AI consultation services, 29.2% of those in their 30s responded that they “feel unpleasant due to delayed consultation time.” Those in their 40s also accounted for 29.1%, slightly exceeding the overall average of 26.2%. This explains the emotional difficulties human agents have been voicing on the ground since the expansion of AI consultation services.

Regarding the image of financial companies that heavily utilize AI in their call centers, 52.8% of those in their 30s and 56.3% of those in their 40s answered “not customer-oriented.” These figures are about 7 to 10 percentage points higher than the average (45.6%). When asked whether connecting to a human agent will continue to be necessary in financial company call centers in the future, 92.2% of those in their 30s answered “necessary” (37.1% necessary, 55.1% very necessary). This is the only age group exceeding 90% among all age groups. Those in their 40s also showed a similar trend at 89.3%.

Meanwhile, this survey was commissioned by Asia Economy to Macromill Embrain and conducted from July 12 to 16. The sampling error margin is ±4.38 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.